I’m going to dub today “Marketing Monday.” Marketing is one of those things about writing that I hate most. I don’t like to talk about myself. I don’t like to be pushy. I don’t want to force people to buy my books. Fortunately, there are some ways to get my name out there where I don’t have to talk about myself, be pushy, or force feed people. One of those ways is through Twitter. Here are several tips you can start using today to help give you more productive tweets.
· Don’t just tweet about your books. I try to post quotes from writers, re-tweet others, send out tweets about others, and also post book trailers just for something different.
· Don’t always tweet the same things. Do you always post links to your books on Amazon? Instead, post a link to a sample chapter or a blog post.
· Tweet seasonably. By this I mean use the seasons, weather, anything around you that could change things up in your personal tweets. Are the seasons a part of your book? In one of my books, lilacs are a big part of the story. Since spring and lilac season is coming up, I’m preparing appropriate tweets.
· Tweet according to the holidays. Send out tweets that talk about Christmas, Easter Mother’s and Father’s Day, and tailor those tweets for your books. If you write for women, come up with tweets sending people to your book links, encouraging them to buy books for Mom. I am just beginning to promote my children’s books more since Easter is coming quickly. Books make great gifts for Easter baskets.
· Tweet for other people. If you can find a group of like-minded authors to share tweets, it’s wonderful. One group in particular that I work with is Tweet Campaigns for Christian Books (https://www.facebook.com/groups/TweetChristianBookRelease/). It's free to use. Each week there is one particular author that is highlighted; however, there is a thread for everyone else to post a tweet for the week that people will schedule daily. When looking for a group of authors to work with, make sure you follow the rules of the group. Participate so that when your turn for promotion comes up, people will be happy to reciprocate. Make sure to work with authors in at least a similar genre. Their readership can become yours.
Tweets can increase your sales, but they can also increase the number of followers you have. These people are potential customers, after all, they chose to follow you and you didn’t even have to beg! In the long run, that's a good thing. Tweets can be very beneficial to you if you just know how to use them.
· Don’t just tweet about your books. I try to post quotes from writers, re-tweet others, send out tweets about others, and also post book trailers just for something different.
· Don’t always tweet the same things. Do you always post links to your books on Amazon? Instead, post a link to a sample chapter or a blog post.
· Tweet seasonably. By this I mean use the seasons, weather, anything around you that could change things up in your personal tweets. Are the seasons a part of your book? In one of my books, lilacs are a big part of the story. Since spring and lilac season is coming up, I’m preparing appropriate tweets.
· Tweet according to the holidays. Send out tweets that talk about Christmas, Easter Mother’s and Father’s Day, and tailor those tweets for your books. If you write for women, come up with tweets sending people to your book links, encouraging them to buy books for Mom. I am just beginning to promote my children’s books more since Easter is coming quickly. Books make great gifts for Easter baskets.
· Tweet for other people. If you can find a group of like-minded authors to share tweets, it’s wonderful. One group in particular that I work with is Tweet Campaigns for Christian Books (https://www.facebook.com/groups/TweetChristianBookRelease/). It's free to use. Each week there is one particular author that is highlighted; however, there is a thread for everyone else to post a tweet for the week that people will schedule daily. When looking for a group of authors to work with, make sure you follow the rules of the group. Participate so that when your turn for promotion comes up, people will be happy to reciprocate. Make sure to work with authors in at least a similar genre. Their readership can become yours.
Tweets can increase your sales, but they can also increase the number of followers you have. These people are potential customers, after all, they chose to follow you and you didn’t even have to beg! In the long run, that's a good thing. Tweets can be very beneficial to you if you just know how to use them.
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