(Image credit: Single Grain)
Social media is a natural marketing tool for authors. It goes beyond book signing events and appealing to librarians and bookstore owners to promote your books. Social media sites take you directly to the reader, not only in your hometown, but around the world. What’s more: in most cases, it’s free!
However, if you are marketing your book on Facebook, with its one billion users, your message can get lost among all of the appeals from other products and other friends. Did you know there are social media sites designed specifically for authors and readers? Below are just a few to consider:
Good Reads – Good Reads is the largest social media site for authors and readers in the world, with more than 14,000,000 registered users. Launched in 2007, the site allows readers to write reviews, share favorite books, compile notes for book clubs and interact with their favorite authors. For authors, the site offers a number of free marketing possibilities. Good Reads’ author program gives you the chance to host a blog on the site, make announcements of book promotions and target marketing messages to readers who have read your work and/or have enjoyed similar authors. You can also post videos, share book excerpts and a score of other marketing tools.
Amazon — Amazon.com, the world’s largest book seller, is not just a place to buy books online. The site has several options that allow authors to interact with their readers. The site’s “Look inside” option allows online browsers to read an excerpt of the book and view the content page and other pages, blurring the distinction between bricks-and-mortar booksellers and online stores. In addition, the site’s Author Central program allows authors to set up a profile page, write a blog and send targeted messages about book events and new releases to past readers and readers of similar titles.
The Library Thing — Partially owned by Amazon, the Library Thing makes early reviewer books available to users via monthly contests, getting the word out early about new releases. Users are strongly encouraged to post reviews of these books. Authors can also set up a profile page that readers can add to their favorite authors list, participate in the forum, set up author chats and much more.
If you’re only concentrating your book marketing efforts on Facebook, you’re missing a chance to connect one-on-one with readers of your genre. Check out one or more social media book sites and watch awareness (and sales) of your books grow and grow and grow.