How to Network Online to Promote Your Book
by Ernest Dempsey
Marketing and promotion can be a tricky game for authors. After all, most writers just want to write. They don’t want to be bogged down with the details of driving traffic to their website or getting new followers on social media.
Here’s the thing: no matter if you are signed with a major publisher or are a one-person self-published operation, you are going to have to do your own marketing and promotion.
Fortunately, there are some great, inexpensive ways to do this that will only cost you time and effort.
The Secret to Networking
I see people make the single biggest networking mistake all the time. They get introduced to someone, online or off, and immediately start talking about themselves.
How much do you like it when you meet a new person and all they do is talk about what they have going on? Sure, it’s okay for a minute, but when you can’t get a word in, it can be really annoying.
The key to being a good networker is to listen. Ask lots of questions. Take an interest in what other people are doing or saying. And then offer insights, help, or suggestions about what they are talking about.
This overarching theme should guide everything you do online in regards to networking.
Commenting On Blogs or Forums
A great way to meet new people and find potential readers is on blogs or forums. These are places where people are actively talking about ideas, problems, and issues they care about.
You can take part in the discussion, be helpful, and offer assistance. Leave a comment on your thoughts about a blog post or say something that adds some substance to what has been said by others.
Keep in mind that these things are not huge traffic drivers. You aren’t going to get ten thousand visits to your website by leaving comments. You will, however, get on the blogger’s radar, the forum moderator’s radar, and start becoming a known commodity in the online community.
When you’re looking for blogs or forums to interact with, be sure you find topics you have an interest in or can contribute to. If you’re a science fiction writer, hanging out on a blog or forum that features recently divorced women looking for romance might not be the best place to go.
Find a crossover between your books or website theme, and network with those people.
*Important: Be sure to sign up for free at gravatar and disqus so that people can click on your name and go straight to your website.
Social Media
One of my biggest pet peeves is some of the authors I find on Twitter. All they do 99% of the time is talk about their books, post quotes from their books, mention how they just got another five star review on Amazon.
Sure, these people may have 20,000 followers, but most of those are other authors who are doing the exact same thing. You don’t want to be followed by lots of other authors. You want to be followed by readers.
How do you do that?
Say it together with me, “By being helpful, interesting, and a good listener.”
Guy Kawasaki is a master with social media. In fact, he doesn’t even operate a blog site anymore. He only uses Google+ for all his content. He has a Twitter and Facebook feed too but his main thing is Google+.
Guy recommends that you use 90% of your social media activity promoting, or curating other content. This means finding interesting articles in a topic relevant to your niche, and posting pictures and links of that content on your social media outlets.
This doesn’t drive traffic to your book page.
It establishes you as an expert in a field, as someone who is interesting and knowledgeable. And as someone who is helpful. You set yourself apart by not talking about yourself all the time.
Sure, when you release a new book or a promotion, mention it a little bit. But you’re main purpose isn’t to sell. It’s to get noticed.
The selling will take care of its self.
Using these strategies can help you grow a readership the right way. You won’t grow a huge following overnight. It takes time, but they don’t cost you anything in terms of money.
If you’re willing to put in some time and effort, you will be well on your way to developing an audience of loyal followers.
When you wake up, does it seem like your dreams were real? Maybe they were.
Imagine if Stephanie Meyer and Suzanne Collins sat down together to write an up-tempo, action packed sci-fi thriller featuring terrifying nightmares, an evil emperor, a beautiful princess, and gladtiator games on another planet.
That’s The Dream Rider, the newest release from Ernest Dempsey, the author who brought you The Secret of the Stones and The Cleric’s Vault.
Falling from buildings, being attacked by terrifying strangers, and ghostly hands that strangle in the night are just some of the fears The Dream Rider must overcome.
Finn McClaren is an average college student, mediocre in every possible way, until one day, when strange men try to kill him. Finn wakes up in his dorm room to realize the whole thing was just a dream. Or was it?
The nightmares continue, forcing Finn to face his deepest fears until one night, he stops running and fights back. When he awakens, he is no longer in his dorm room, but on a strange planet on the other side of the galaxy.
After being arrested, Finn is thrust into an underground prison where the inmates are forced to fight to the death in the arena games. While there, he learns he has incredible powers, and of the true reason he has come to the alien world.
The Dream Rider is a fun, fast-paced, science fiction adventure that also asks serious questions about our fears, self-esteem, beliefs, and facing challenges in life.
Buy Now @ Amazon
Genre – Science Fiction
Rating – PG13
More details about the author
Connect with Ernest Dempsey on Facebook & Twitter
Website http://ernestdempsey.net/
No comments:
Post a Comment