Painting With Light

Last weekend, my wife and I were wandering around our local Costco. We had a list for that shopping trip, but we got sidetracked by one of the giveaway stations offering free pastry samples.

We went past, tried one, and were very pleased with the tasty little chunks of poppy seed roll. We found an excuse to wander past again, and help ourselves to another sample (at least, I did).

“Didn’t your grandmother make these?” I asked. My wife nodded, and took the second sample away from me.

“Yes, and these are almost as good,” she said, smiling as she ate it herself. Too embarrassed to go back a third time for a freebie, I caved-in and bought a whole roll.

Be Personal
Believe it or not, a good use of social media for the indie-author works in a similar way. The writer gives a small, free sample of their life or, as with this blog, shares some of the things they’ve discovered about the world of independent publishing.

Writing about your discoveries, as well as your likes and dislikes, gives readers an opportunity to meet you, to know a bit of what’s going on in your life, and connect in a friendly way.

Think of your social media posts like the little free chunks of pastry at the Costco giveaway station. The samples you give away help readers become invested in your whole story.

You want them to feel like they know you, after all … and the reason should be obvious. The hope of every indie-author in doing this is always the same … to entice followers into buying a book.

I confess … I’m guilty.

Ratings & Reviews
However, sometimes authors struggle to find the right voice with their social media. If you choose to write a blog, starting one is easy. But please realize I’m not talking about giving away personal secrets, or anything else you feel uncomfortable sharing.

It’s up to you to draw the line at what you feel is appropriate, but your social media will always benefit greatly from posts that talk about your writing process, books that truly inspire you, how you go about crafting your stories, or what you do when you get stuck.

I’ve done that often, and find fellow storytellers relish the chance to read personal thoughts on the creative process.

Since your main goal is to get more readers interested in following you as a person it’s okay to show off a bit. Opening up about your experiences is a great way to help to grow your readership.

Don’t forget to also offer readers a chance to comment on what you say … and be sure to respond to those comments. What readers say is important, because ratings, reviews and comments are things people will look at before deciding to buy.

Don’t Forget the Links
If you’re an indie-author, I’m sure you already know there’s no room full of marketers helping you figure out how to sell what you write. For a newbie, that fact alone can be discouraging.

Once you start on this road, you will soon discover that it’s a whole lot of work trying to promote yourself … far more work than you might have imagined.

But I guarantee it’s worth it.

At the end of the day, staying trustworthy to your customer base is simply about being honest, consistent and, most of all, sharing the love of what you do.

As a final point, be certain to remember the real purpose of an indie-author blog, as I said earlier, is to convince people to buy your books, so make sure readers know where to go if they want one.

Don’t overdo it, of course, but be sure to mention your books, and make sure it’s easy for readers to find where to buy them.

Write regularly, without spamming people, and you’ll also discover folks interested in what you say are coming back often to visit their new-found friend … and the more times they visit, the more likely they are to cave in and buy that whole poppy seed roll.

Just be sure to give them value for their time.

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My books have all garnered some terrific reviews, and you can see the ones I have available by using the Amazon link below. Look for them. Better yet, buy one and read it. You just might like it.

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You’re invited to visit my website, BROKEN GLASS to hear the remarkable radio interview about my novel “Blood Lake” on The Authors Show, or like my Book of Face page.

You can also find me on Goodreads, or follow some of my shorter ramblings on The Twitter.

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Comments posted below will be read, greatly appreciated and perhaps even answered.

Tags: book marketing, storytelling, using social media

This entry was posted on February 12, 2018 at 12:30 pm and is filed under Book Promotion, Branding, Market Your Book, Storytelling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.