My first novel came out at the end of April this year. It is available on Amazon in paperback form and ebook. The last few months I have been trying different types of marketing platforms, but mainly using facebook and twitter.
In the beginning I did not understand the value of facebook as a marketing tool for authors so I focused on twitter. Facebook seemed to be something people use to put up cute pictures of their 2 year old, or their dog, or let you know what they made for dinner. In the first couple months I only had my personal facebook, the same one everyone has, which is made up of friends, family and coworkers. I only belonged to one group and that was a high school alumni page. When my book was available I posted on my existing facebook pages, with little results - only 1 paperback version bought, and very few comments - mostly from my mom, and siblings. (Note: my novel had been available from Blurb before and most of my immediate family already owned a copy). I was hoping that old friends, co-workers and school mates would be excited to hear I had written and published a book but it did not turn out that way. As I said, I only sold 1 paperback.
Then, I made an author facebook page strictly to meet authors/readers and to promote my book - no family or friends. It still took me awhile to comprehend how to use facebook as a marketing tool. My genre is dystopian / apocalypse but somehow I got grouped in with the romance authors, so my first 'friends' were all romance authors. Even today, the auto-friends suggestion list is still mostly romance authors.
I started joining generic author pages and quickly learned that they were just filled with other authors like me plugging their own book. There are tonnes of these authors groups and you see the same authors posting the same books. I still use them myself, but try not to post often.I think you might get the odd sale, but probably not worth the effort. My perception is that the only ones in these groups are authors and not readers/buyers - even if the group is called something like "Writers and Readers Book Love".
Recently, I found groups related to my genre, which I included anything close - horror, thriller, mystery, scifi, zombie, dystopian. Once I joined these genre specific groups, I clicked with fans of the genres. This is when I started to have success not only in sales (still small) but also making real connections with other authors and readers. I think this is were facebook can shine. I have found a few really supportive individuals through the various groups, they support me and I support them.
July has been my best month ever, and I owe it all to the connections I have made in the genre specific author/fan groups. This is something I have never had with over 1500 tweets using twitter.
Note: My birthday was the end of July, I got about 20 birthday wishes from "friends" on facebook. I was shocked that strangers would make the effort to wish me a happy birthday.
I like to compare twitter and facebook with big city vs small town. Twitter is like a big bustling city, you pass countless strangers in the street and may never see them again, they may give you a nod, but not much more. Facebook is like living in a small town, you might see the same faces over and over again, and eventually strike up a conversation with that person, just because they are available and familiar. Then you talk to them again the next time you see them and build up a relationship, even if it is just chitchat.
Like I said, July is my first remotely successful month, and I will continue to learn and make marketing mistakes as I go, but using facebook looks promising.
To find me on facebook or twitter, go to the top of the page and click on the icons in the top right.
Thanks to all my facebook friends.
Next up: My experience with twitter.
In the beginning I did not understand the value of facebook as a marketing tool for authors so I focused on twitter. Facebook seemed to be something people use to put up cute pictures of their 2 year old, or their dog, or let you know what they made for dinner. In the first couple months I only had my personal facebook, the same one everyone has, which is made up of friends, family and coworkers. I only belonged to one group and that was a high school alumni page. When my book was available I posted on my existing facebook pages, with little results - only 1 paperback version bought, and very few comments - mostly from my mom, and siblings. (Note: my novel had been available from Blurb before and most of my immediate family already owned a copy). I was hoping that old friends, co-workers and school mates would be excited to hear I had written and published a book but it did not turn out that way. As I said, I only sold 1 paperback.
Then, I made an author facebook page strictly to meet authors/readers and to promote my book - no family or friends. It still took me awhile to comprehend how to use facebook as a marketing tool. My genre is dystopian / apocalypse but somehow I got grouped in with the romance authors, so my first 'friends' were all romance authors. Even today, the auto-friends suggestion list is still mostly romance authors.
I started joining generic author pages and quickly learned that they were just filled with other authors like me plugging their own book. There are tonnes of these authors groups and you see the same authors posting the same books. I still use them myself, but try not to post often.I think you might get the odd sale, but probably not worth the effort. My perception is that the only ones in these groups are authors and not readers/buyers - even if the group is called something like "Writers and Readers Book Love".
Recently, I found groups related to my genre, which I included anything close - horror, thriller, mystery, scifi, zombie, dystopian. Once I joined these genre specific groups, I clicked with fans of the genres. This is when I started to have success not only in sales (still small) but also making real connections with other authors and readers. I think this is were facebook can shine. I have found a few really supportive individuals through the various groups, they support me and I support them.
July has been my best month ever, and I owe it all to the connections I have made in the genre specific author/fan groups. This is something I have never had with over 1500 tweets using twitter.
Note: My birthday was the end of July, I got about 20 birthday wishes from "friends" on facebook. I was shocked that strangers would make the effort to wish me a happy birthday.
I like to compare twitter and facebook with big city vs small town. Twitter is like a big bustling city, you pass countless strangers in the street and may never see them again, they may give you a nod, but not much more. Facebook is like living in a small town, you might see the same faces over and over again, and eventually strike up a conversation with that person, just because they are available and familiar. Then you talk to them again the next time you see them and build up a relationship, even if it is just chitchat.
Like I said, July is my first remotely successful month, and I will continue to learn and make marketing mistakes as I go, but using facebook looks promising.
To find me on facebook or twitter, go to the top of the page and click on the icons in the top right.
Thanks to all my facebook friends.
Next up: My experience with twitter.