Social Media for Writers - Marketing Strategies for Building Your Audience and Selling Books

Social Media for Writers Marketing Strategies for Building Your Audience and Selling Books Tee Morris & Pip Ballantine Cincinnati, Ohio Social Media for Writers Copyright © 2015 by Tee Morris & Pip Ballantine Manufactured in the United States of America All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review Published by Writer’s Digest Books, an imprint of F+W Media, Inc., 10151 Carver Road, Suite # 200, Blue Ash, OH 45242 (800) 289-0963 First edition For more resources for writers, visit www.writersdigest.com/ Distributed in Canada by Fraser Direct 100 Armstrong Avenue Georgetown, Ontario, Canada L7G 5S4 Tel: (905) 877-4411 Distributed in the U.K and Europe by F&W Media International Brunel House, Newton Abbot, Devon, TQ12 4PU, England Tel: (+44) 1626-323200, Fax: (+44) 1626-323319 E-mail: postmaster@davidandcharles.co.uk Distributed in Australia by Capricorn Link P.O Box 704, Windsor, NSW 2756 Australia Tel: (02) 4577-3555, Fax: (02)4577-5288 E-mail: books@capricornlink.com.au ISBN-13:9781599639284 WritersDigest.com Cincinnati, Ohio Contents Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Acknowledgments About the Authors Foreword Introduction: Welcome to Your Social Media Survival Guide Understanding Social Media What You Need to Make This Book Work Chapter 1: WordPress Why WordPress? Chapter 2: Tumblr What Is the Difference Between WordPress and Tumblr? Expressing Yourself: Producing Content What to Expect from the Tumblr Community Sharing with the Class: Syndicating Media Tumblr Strategies Chapter 3: Podcasting Writers Gone Wild: Talk Shows Anthologies in Audio: Short Stories Going All In: Podcast Novels Why Should You Podcast? Why Shouldn’t You Podcast? Why Do We Still Podcast? Chapter 4: Facebook Facebook for Writers Content Marketing: The Science of Promotion by Example Chapter 5: Twitter First Impressions at a Glance Mastering Tweet Speak: Composing Messages on Twitter Best Practices for Twitter You Did Not Just Tweet That: Worst Practices for Twitter Chapter 6: Google+ Google+ for Writers: The Account vs The Page Chapter 7: YouTube Action Editing: Software for Video Editing Turning Authors on to YouTube Best Practices on YouTube Chapter 8: Pinterest Tools of the Trade: Pinterest Applications Game On: Pinterest Competitions It’s Business Time: Pinterest Business Watch Where You Point That Pin: Pinterest Strategies Chapter 9: Instagram Platform Management: Connecting Instagram with Other Social Networks Beyond Instagram: Third-Party Apps Best Practices on Instagram Chapter 10: Additional Options Goodreads Reddit Storify A Social’s Social: Untappd, Vivino, and Distiller Tsu.co Chapter 11: SEO Why SEO Doesn’t Work (as the “Gurus” Claim It Does) How to Make SEO Work for You The SEO That Can Hurt You Best Practices of SEO Chapter 12: Content Marketing How Does Promoting Others Really Work for You? What Content to Look for in Content Marketing When Content Marketing Goes Bad Chapter 13: Best Practices in Social Media Create an Editorial Calendar Think Before You Post Participate in Blog Tours Create Quality Content Be Visual When Possible A New Use for the Pound Symbol: Hashtags Taking P!nk’s Advice: Facebook Parties Planning Makes Perfect: Before That Social Media Event Attribution, Not Imitation, Is the Sincerest Form of Flattery Seek Out Your Audience Have a Plan Focus on Maintaining a Signal, Not Creating Noise Antisocial Media: What to Avoid in Online Promotion and Networking Appendix A: WordPress Setting up a WordPress Account Getting to Know WordPress Creating Content Appendix B: Tumblr Setting up a Tumblr Account Getting to Know Tumblr Posting to Tumblr Reblogging Appendix C: Podcasting An Introduction to Podcasting The Mixing Board: Bridging the Gap Between Microphone and Computer What’s Next: Other Details for an Audio Studio Appendix D: Facebook Setting Up a Facebook Account Getting to Know Facebook The Left-Hand Sidebar Appendix E: Twitter Setting Up a Twitter Account Getting to Know Twitter Talking on Twitter Direct Messages Appendix F: Google+ Setting Up a Google+ Account Getting to Know Google+ Appendix G: YouTube Setting Up a YouTube Account Getting to Know YouTube Uploading Your Video on YouTube Embedding Your YouTube Video in a Blog Appendix H: Pinterest Setting Up a Pinterest Account Getting to Know Pinterest Working with Pinterest Making Your First Board Appendix I: Instagram Setting Up an Instagram Account Getting to Know Instagram Taking a Photo on Instagram Dedication To writers of all genres, of all backgrounds, everywhere If you walk away from this book with a new idea for your social media strategy, mission accomplished Acknowledgments Social media has made an astounding impact on our lives, and we are reminded of this every day through Likes, retweets, and voice mails we receive from the platforms covered here The inspiration behind this guide comes from the many questions we have received at conventions, at workshops, and even over a cup of coffee (or tea, in Pip’s case); but this book currently in your hands would have never happened had it not been for Laurie McLean of Fuse Literary and the talents of Alex Rixey and Cristopher Freese at Writer’s Digest Books Thank you all for making things happen A huge thank you, as well, to Chuck Wendig for our Foreword and all the authors who offered their own opinions, strategies, and best practices, making this book more about the community of authors who all came together to offer their own opinions on what works in social media Social media, we know, is more than just a new marketing platform for authors, but it is a foundation for writing communities This book has only reinforced that opinion About the Authors TEE MORRIS has been writing science fiction, fantasy, horror, and nonfiction for over a decade His first novel, MOREVI: The Chronicles of Rafe & Askana, was a nominee for the 2003 Eppie for Best Fantasy, and in 2005 the book became the first novel to be podcast in its entirety, ushering in a new age for authors Following the podcast of MOREVI, he co-founded the audio literature hub Podiobooks.com with Evo Terra and Chris Miller, offering hours of original audio content from firsttime writers and New York Times bestsellers in a podcast format He then went on with Evo Terra to write Podcasting for Dummies (as well as the 2nd Edition alongside Chuck Tomasi) His expertise reached deeper into social media when he penned All a Twitter and Sams Teach Yourself Twitter in 10 Minutes In 2011, Tee returned to fiction with Phoenix Rising, the first novel in The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series, written alongside his wife, Pip Ballantine The title went on to win the Airship Award for Best Steampunk Literature and become a finalist for Goodreads’ Choice Awards for Best Science Fiction of 2011 Now on to their fourth book in the series, The Diamond Conspiracy, and the fourth season of Tales from the Archives, a podcast anthology featuring short stories set in their steampunk universe, the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series has won several awards including the Parsec Award for the best of science fiction podcasts and RT Reviews’ Choice Awards Tee and Pip also host The Shared Desk, a podcast covering collaboration and other aspects of a writer’s lifestyle He now runs the social media initiatives for Stratford University located in Maryland and Virginia Explore the works of Tee Morris, and his occasional geek rants, at TeeMorris.com PIP BALLANTINE started life in Wellington, New Zealand as a corporate librarian Pip earned a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Political Science and then a Bachelor of Applied Science in Library and Information Science Her first professional sale as a writer was a piece on the history of Wellington, written for The Evening Post in 1997 Since then she has gone on to produce both novel-length and short-form fiction In 2006, she became New Zealand’s first podcast novelist with her debut fantasy novel, Weaver’s Web She went on to podcast three other novels and host her own slice-of-life podcast, Whispers at the Edge Her podcasts have won both a Parsec Award as well as the Sir Julius Vogel award for excellence Pip’s first byline in the United States was Geist (Ace Books), launching the Books of the Order series At the same time, she also wrote for Pyr Books Hunter, Fox and Kindred, Making Your First Board Creating boards on Pinterest is easy, and don't be afraid of making too many The more boards, the more interests, and the more views From your profile, click on the large gray plus sign with Create a board From here give your board a name and a description, and find a category it fits into Map will create a map, which will link to Pins—this is a great idea if your board is travel themed You can also choose to make the board secret or not Secret boards, as we talked about in Chapter 8, are great for saving items to Pin later, or for boards about projects you're not quite ready to talk about yet You can also add collaborators and choose if they can add new members to this board themselves Uploading a Pin of Your Own Now to the exciting stuff Let's add some content of your own Book covers, fan art, images of people you'd like to see play your characters, places where you have set your stories—all of these make excellent uploads Click on the plus icon and chose the image from your computer It can be a GIF, JPEG, or PNG file Choose the board you want to add it to, or create a new board for this image but only if it fits in with your interests Too many boards with only a few images are not enticing The important part of this Pin is the description Keep in mind what your readers might be looking for Include a substantial description about what this image means to you Don't forget a couple of hashtags, and if it is relevant, now is the time to insert a link The link should, at the very least, lead back to your website; if not, link to a location where the allimportant impulse buy can be made Finally, if you have connected other social networks, you can choose to post it there There—you've done it You have your first original Pins! Appendix I Instagram Setting Up an Instagram Account Getting an account together on Instagram is quite easy, provided you have the app loaded onto your smartphone Instagram is available on iOS (iPhone), Android, and Windows, and runs on all varieties of smartphones First, download and install Instagram onto your smartphone from the App Store for your device Launch Instagram on your phone Your options for establishing an Instagram account include using your Facebook credentials or your e-mail Use whichever method works best for you The steps we outline here apply to using an e-mail to register your Instagram account Tap Register with E-mail, and on the next screen, enter the following: a username (the nickname you want to go by on Instagram) a password a valid e-mail address Tap the Photo icon in the center of the screen and select a photo (or take a new one) for your profile picture Choose one that best represents you as an author Tap the arrow pointing right to follow validation steps (which requires you to reply via e-mail) to finish your profile The profile, like other profiles you will find online, is the place where you can introduce yourself You can edit this content at any time from your account or from the app by tapping on the profile icon on the far right of the menu bar and then tapping the Edit Your Profile option Getting to Know Instagram Now your account is ready to go, so let's check out some of the features First off, you will see immediately that Instagram is not designed as a desktop app but more for “capturing it instantly” through your smartphone (Now the name makes sense, right?) In fact, you cannot upload photos or video from your computer—all your Instagram posting has to be done through your phone Bookmark Another terrific way to track popular tags on Instagram is by allowing the website Statigram1 access to your Timeline Statigram allows you to look up photos through hashtags in a gallery-style format, unlike Instagram, which allows you to look up hashtags one account at a time Other options that Statigram offers include account statistics, enhanced comment postings, and network maintenance Take a look at the menu bar running along the bottom of Instagram These five icons are all the options you need to get around the Instagram app, build your Instagram network, and interact with others From left to right, your icons are as follows: Home: The Home icon takes you to your Timeline of Instagram users Their posts will appear here You will also see an inbox icon, which is where you can send and receive direct messages Explore: If you want to check out and follow popular accounts on Instagram, search for users you might know, or look up hashtags people are attaching to their images, you can all this in the Explore option by tapping on the compass rose icon Camera: When you are ready to take a photograph with Instagram, tap the camera icon Depending on your preferences, your screen will be divided into thirds (a photographer’s trick for framing up your subject), or it will provide just a clear view from the lens Tapping on the screen will establish what you want the focus point of the photo to be You can also flip the camera around for selfies (self-portraits), choose a flash mode, and switch to video mode (the icon to the right) or back to still camera mode (the icon to the left) The center button can take photos (when blue) or shoot video (when red) Notifications: The speech bubble with the heart is where you go to receive and track Notifications There are two modes here: Following and News Keep your Notifications on News in order to see who’s following you and to track who Likes your photos Profile: This final icon is where you can edit your profile Once in your profile, edit your Preferences by tapping the gear icon in the top-right corner of your smartphone This option also lets you find out what photos you’ve been tagged in Let’s jump right in and start taking photos with Instagram More important, let’s look at how we can take a photograph with the app and then share the photo across a number of social networks Taking a Photo on Instagram Tap on the Camera icon and take a photo You can now apply some of the various filters Instagram offers There are quite a few of them, and you can have a lot of fun trying to find the best one for your image Instagram lets you see exactly how the photo will look with the filter applied before you commit to it Tap the far-left icon, the Straighten tool Place and hold your finger on the Adjustment wheel and rotate the image either right or left Then tap Done to return to the Edit mode With the Border option, you can determine whether you want your image to have a border (blue) or no border (white) The Blur option offers three modes: None (white), Circle (blue drop with circle), and Bar (blue drop with bar) Tap each mode to decide where you want the blur and which design works best for your image Lux allows you to adjust the contrast in the photo Tap to make adjustments, and then tap Done to return to the original image 10 Tap Next to enter the Share mode, or tap the left arrow at the top of the screen to return to Photo Edit mode The appeal of Instagram is taking a simple image and getting creative with it After applying filters and effects on this image, you can then post on Instagram, and on Facebook and Twitter as well It gives amateurs the chance to have some fun with photographs Now we have to share this image through our social networks In Instagram’s Share to mode, compose a caption for the photo Don't forget that there are two kinds of sharing in Instagram: Followers and Direct Followers are open posts on your network Direct messages are similar to DMs on Twitter Images and video shared in Direct mode allow you to share with select members of your network Add two hashtags related to your photo, then tap OK in the upper-right corner of the screen The Tag People option is best used only after your network is up and running This is how you can tag friends who appear in the image Notification of tagging appears under your Profile option Now tap Name This Location to tag your location If you are tagging your location, leave Add to Photo Map turned on Some people not like others to know where they are or where they have been Use your own discretion on this There are eight social networks you can connect to your Instagram: Facebook Twitter Tumblr Flickr 10 Foursquare 11 Mixi (Japan) 12 Weibo (China) 13 NKontakte (Russia) 14 Tap each network where you want to share this image If you have not connected your networks to Instagram, you will be walked through a log-in process You will only have to make this connection once 15 Tap Share to post your image There you go! You will see your image appear instantly on your Instagram Timeline; if you also tapped Facebook and Twitter before tapping the Share feature, you have effectively shared your image across three networks in one post Many popular applications—Pinterest, YouTube, Yelp, Starbucks, Vivino, and Untappd, for example—allow for multiplatform posting like this The networks offered may differ from app to app, but Facebook and Twitter are often offered as posting platforms Instagram is one such app that is popular among apps for its artistic capabilities, its ease of use, and its engaging content generated for Facebook and Twitter Bookmark Instagram can post on Facebook accounts but not on Pages accounts To put Instagram postings on Pages, you will need to share them from your personal account to your Page http://statigr.am