# Use Twitter/Facebook/Goodreads to get your book in everyone's face!!



## TKent (Sep 9, 2014)

Hey all, I'm sure that many of you already do/know these things, but I keep seeing authors on this site who are not using twitter and other social media to their full advantage. If you have a book and you want it to get seen, at a minimum, I highly recommend:

-  Setup a twitter page and a facebook page for you as the author - put your book cover in as the headers. Link these 2 accounts so your tweets go to your facebook page etc.
- Every day, without fail, tweet a line from your book with a link to it on amazon (use bitly to make the link small), and include hashtags to get in front of your audience:

Examples of the hashtags you are going for: if you are writing horror, every tweet should include #horror #horrorstories #scarystories #goodreads ETC... This puts your tweet in front of people who are interested in those topics. (you will have to go to twitter and figure out which hashtags to use - you can do this by searching for key phrases that you think would be  popular then linking to them to see how busy they are with posts, etc. Also see what hashtags authors in your genre are using in their tweets). So many people tweet, just get in the habit of doing it EVERY DAY. That means you get in front of say 25 or 30 people before it gets moved down the page. Choose a line that is quotable & retweetable. A horror buff will retweet a cool, gory quote on his/her page so then it gets in front of their followers.

- Every day, without fail, retweet one or 2 things that successful authors in your genre have tweeted. And add the hashtags as well. So then, you have people who are looking at posts in those hashtags seeing your name in relation to a successful author in your field. Hopefully they wll retweet your retweet 

- Follow successful authors in your field and the followers of successful authors in your field. Many will follow you back. You will be building your twitter follower base with people who are interested in what you do. Seems like a waste of time but it isn't. They'll be seeing your tweets and retweets when they are logged in and may just retweet something. Then you are in front of their followers.

- Facebook is not as easy to get a fast following but having the page helps with your author brand. If you LIKE the pages of other successful authors, publishers, groups etc. when you post on their pages, it gets you out there in front of people who are looking at their pages.

- Also set up a GOODREADS author page and join groups on goodreads that are related to your genre and POST every once in awhile.  People will click on you from your post, go to your page, see your books etc. These are people who like what you write since they are genre related groups. And on Goodreads, add good books you have liked in your genre to your reading list and leave positive reviews on some of them. Ones that have the same target audience. (And I don't mean fake reviews, I mean real ones that are positive on good books that you have loved in your genre). If you do this, readers who are reading the reviews will sometimes click on your link to see what else you are reading, then of course they will see your books. Or they will see that your reading list includes books they like and start following you to get good ideas for books. And never put a negative review up on another book as an author, it can come back to haunt you. Don't put a fake good one, but take the high road and don't burn bridges with other authors. (read this last thing in a book on self-publishing by an author who made some mistakes in this area early on.)

Anyway, some of this stuff I learned with my tennis business, and I see so many not taking advantage of this free method of getting your work in front of people who may not see it otherwise!  There are thousands of blogs on how to put social media to work for you, and it can be daunting, so figured if you at least get started with these simple things (at a minimum tweet a link to your book once a day (doesn't take long), with the right hashtags!! you'll get more eyes on it than were there before).

Hope this helps someone!


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## Fivetide (Sep 9, 2014)

Excellent article TKent, thanks for sharing  

  I had thought of also using a short story review plugin for wordpress, which you can push out as a Tweet. I’ll have to look into it but if everyones blogs shared reviews, then that would build up links and make the site much more interesting to the search engines. Just a thought.


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## TKent (Sep 9, 2014)

I would love to know more about that!  What is the plugin name?


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## garza (Sep 9, 2014)

I do not twitch, neither do I face. It's the publisher's job to get the word out and sell the book. I've just received advances on two short novels. First fiction I've published in over 50 years. Imagine if I call the publisher and say, 'guess what, guv, there's bits and pieces going to show up in strange places. Ain't that wonderful?' 

'Breach of contract' is what he'd say.he'd say.


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## E. Zamora (Sep 9, 2014)

I doubt it. That's not the reality of publishing today. Most publishers want and expect you to participate in marketing your book. They want to sell books and they don't care if you are promoting your book by posting excerpts on twitter and facebook. Look into it.


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## TKent (Sep 9, 2014)

Never had a publishing contract but based on the tweeting done by so many published authors, I'd say it's the exception rather than the rule.

Here is a great article about the master tweeter, Paul Coelho from the WSJ. Real good information on the topic in general.  http://online.wsj.com/articles/paulo-coelho-digital-juggernaut-1408055080



> 'Breach of contract' is what he'd say.he'd say.


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## TKent (Sep 9, 2014)

This is a direct quote from the Wall Street Journal article (doesn't make it true...but good enough for me  

"Social media's influence on book sales has publishers pushing authors to put more of themselves online than ever before."



TKent said:


> Never had a publishing contract but based on the tweeting done by so many published authors, I'd say it's the exception rather than the rule.
> 
> Here is a great article about the master tweeter, Paul Coelho from the WSJ. Real good information on the topic in general.  http://online.wsj.com/articles/paulo-coelho-digital-juggernaut-1408055080


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## garza (Sep 9, 2014)

The traditional way of publishing has been very good to me for 60 years. Of course, it's been non-fiction except for one novel and a handful of short stories published in the sixties. I like the idea that I write it and somebody else peddles it. I'm too lazy to do more than write the words. Imagine if I wrote a story for a magazine and then had to go door to door trying to sell the damned thing, or sold a story to a syndicate and had to jump on a bike and ride around throwing the newspapers that printed it.

If I'd wanted a job I'd've sold shoes at Gryder's like my high school friend Melvin. He did okay, but he had to hustle every day to meet his sales quota. Real work. I didn't want that when I was a kid and I don't want it now. If these two books make any money, great. If not, there's nothing lost and I've had a barrel of fun writing them. 

If twitching (or whatever) becomes a part of writing, I'll hang it up. Meanwhile I've another book that needs writing.


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## Plasticweld (Sep 9, 2014)

I have no trouble with the idea of promoting a book, I have no desire to use either face book or twitter to do so.  Maybe it is an age thing, I have no desire to see what someone is saying in either of those formats so why would I use it?


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## InstituteMan (Sep 9, 2014)

Excellent advice. For me, the twitter is easy enough, or at least not unpleasant, but I am dreading getting on the Facebook. Goodreads seems important, but I have only barely poked around there. Then there are things like Wattpad and Medium and blogging that may or may not work for different people. I think the key is to be a part of a community more than just a self promoter.

Also, as someone who follows T on twitter, she is a good example of how to do it.


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## InstituteMan (Sep 9, 2014)

Plasticweld said:


> I have no trouble with the idea of promoting a book, I have no desire to use either face book or twitter to do so.  Maybe it is an age thing, I have no desire to see what someone is saying in either of those formats so why would I use it?



I thought twitter sounded idiotic until I tried it. There's a lot of shockingly good (albeit brief) content there, and links to longer content.


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## Fivetide (Sep 9, 2014)

TKent said:


> I would love to know more about that!  What is the plugin name?



I'll try and get a working plugin running on one of my sites, and test it out. That way if anyone else wants to do the same I can at least help them install it.


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## Kyle R (Sep 9, 2014)

Great advice, Kent!

I've purchased the work of many authors after discovering them through various forms of social media—authors whose books I would never have known about otherwise. 

The more ways to get in touch with potential readers, the better! :encouragement:


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## bookmasta (Sep 10, 2014)

I've setup relatively large platforms on both Facebook and Twitter. Its just up to preparing the manuscript for publication now.


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## Fivetide (Sep 10, 2014)

Hey TKent took your advice spent a late night finding people to follow and bugger me I get a tweet back from Ken Macleod !!
 *Ken MacLeod*     ‏@*amendlocke*  2h @*zfitprogram* Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.


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## TKent (Sep 10, 2014)

Love it!  Same here   I think by the time I become a decent writer (if ever - only time will tell) I'll have a huge following and it will just be a tweet with a link and the rest is history....LOL 

Just kidding...sort of.



bookmasta said:


> I've setup relatively large platforms on both Facebook and Twitter. Its just up to preparing the manuscript for publication now.


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## TKent (Sep 10, 2014)

I know! Isn't that cool?  I had KM Weiland comment on my blog post that included a recommendation for her book   And I'm in regular tweet conversations with Tara Brown & Jasinder Wilder who are both new adult romance writers I like. That article on Paul Coelho is really good that I linked to, if you haven't read it, you should. He works twitter better than author I know. Just a tweet here and there to a reader makes them fans for life. 



Fivetide said:


> Hey TKent took your advice spent a late night finding people to follow and bugger me I get a tweet back from Ken Macleod !!
> *Ken MacLeod*     ‏@*amendlocke*  2h @*zfitprogram* Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.


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## TKent (Sep 10, 2014)

Wow, just started exploring your links. gotta work today gosh darn it but looking forward to exploring in depth tonight!!  Yes, you are definitely taking advantage of the social media opportunities!  Great job!



bookmasta said:


> I've setup relatively large platforms on both Facebook and Twitter. Its just up to preparing the manuscript for publication now.


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## bookmasta (Sep 10, 2014)

TKent said:


> Wow, just started exploring your links. gotta work today gosh darn it but looking forward to exploring in depth tonight!!  Yes, you are definitely taking advantage of the social media opportunities!  Great job!



Thanks. It took a lot of promotion and work, especially Facebook and Twitter, but its worth it IMO.


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## TKent (Sep 10, 2014)

Any idea when your book will be published?  Sounds very close!  Is it with traditional publisher?  (sorry, this is sort of off topic). I have seen in several places now that agents often look for the number of twitter followers as a factor in taking on a new client. I doubt that would make a difference in whether they represent a good manuscript, but maybe in helping them determine which manuscripts to actually read.  So many factors, it is mind boggling sometimes.



bookmasta said:


> Thanks. It took a lot of promotion and work, especially Facebook and Twitter, but its worth it IMO.


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## Fivetide (Sep 11, 2014)

getting the hang of the hashtags now TKent, did the research came up with 5 good tags first tweet got 3 retweets ... your a star girl.. !


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## bookmasta (Sep 11, 2014)

TKent said:


> Any idea when your book will be published?  Sounds very close!  Is it with traditional publisher?  (sorry, this is sort of off topic). I have seen in several places now that agents often look for the number of twitter followers as a factor in taking on a new client. I doubt that would make a difference in whether they represent a good manuscript, but maybe in helping them determine which manuscripts to actually read.  So many factors, it is mind boggling sometimes.



I could publish it now, but I'm trying to perfect the finer points of the manuscript. It will be a few months. This one is self-published.


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## TKent (Sep 11, 2014)

Cool. I got a little time today and explored your links and figured it out. Be sure to do a virtual book release party at WF when the time comes  Sounds like a very interesting story!  



bookmasta said:


> I could publish it now, but I'm trying to perfect the finer points of the manuscript. It will be a few months. This one is self-published.



- - - Updated - - -

And that is very smart! Take your time and put out a great product!



> I could publish it now, but I'm trying to perfect the finer points of the manuscript. It will be a few months. This one is self-published.


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## TKent (Sep 11, 2014)

Sweet!  And HOOTSUITE.com is amazing!  I signed up for a free account and added a bunch of feeds. A little learning curve but looks like it will definitely get things organized and the scheduling feature is real cool 



Fivetide said:


> getting the hang of the hashtags now TKent, did the research came up with 5 good tags first tweet got 3 retweets ... your a star girl.. !


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## Miles-Kirk (Sep 11, 2014)

I love good reads, if nothing more than to read Patrick Rothfuss' reviews. I once got retweeted by a couple authors from mentioning them in a magazine publication, and since have had random authors following me like I am some expert critic. So I would agree, that these social media platforms are very useful. Cannot wait to utilise them myself once I have a project that is finished and I am ready to seek out publishers.


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## Fivetide (Sep 11, 2014)

My first and only friend on my facebook page is Neal Asher.. !! That must deserve some kudos lol


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## TKent (Sep 11, 2014)

What the... well, me friending you is going to be pretty anti-climactic at this point!!  He stole my thunder 



Fivetide said:


> My first and only friend on my facebook page is Neal Asher.. !! That must deserve some kudos lol
> 
> 
> View attachment 6422


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## T.S.Bowman (Sep 12, 2014)

What really sucks for me is that I am not a salesman. At least, not as far as selling myself. 

I have a Twitter account..but I never use it. I have a Facebook page, but that's mainly for collecting recipes and keeping in touch with my daughter and grandson.


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## Fivetide (Sep 12, 2014)

TKent said:


> What the... well, me friending you is going to be pretty anti-climactic at this point!!  He stole my thunder



One does not know what anti-climactic feels like if one hasn’t had a good climactic for a long time 
This is all your work TKent, without the thread I would never have made the journey down the dark road of social media.. I blame you girl ! lol


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## Fivetide (Sep 12, 2014)

TKent said:


> What the... well, me friending you is going to be  pretty anti-climactic at this point!!  He stole my thunder :smile:



One does not know what anti-climactic feels like if one hasn’t had a good climactic for a long time :smile:
This is all your work TKent, without the thread I would never have made  the journey down the dark road of social media.. I blame you girl ! lol



T.S.Bowman said:


> What really sucks for me is that I am not a salesman. At least, not as far as selling myself.
> 
> I have a Twitter account..but I never use it. I have a Facebook page, but that's mainly for collecting recipes and keeping in touch with my daughter and grandson.



  Consult the oracle .. I have learned more from YouTube tutorials than pretty much anything other source, a small amount of time invested can repay with handsome rewards (oh dear I’m slipping in to Charles Dickens mode again) . Dive in, if you manage your time with say, with something like Hootsuite then it doesn’t become the life sapping drudgery that most people experience.


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## TKent (Sep 12, 2014)

LOL!!



Fivetide said:


> One does not know what anti-climactic feels like if one hasn’t had a good climactic for a long time :smile:
> This is all your work TKent, without the thread I would never have made  the journey down the dark road of social media.. I blame you girl ! lol




See I'm pretty busy on all these channels in my personal life as well. So it isn't drudgery to me, just part of the day-to-day. And the key which InstituteMan spoke of previously, is to become a part of the community for the sake of becoming a part of the community. Granted, there are some ways to become a bigger part of it faster (consult Youtube as FiveTide says), but honest interest is critical as well.  When I quote an author, or follow them, etc., it has its social media benefits, but at heart, I'm a full-blown fangirl, and when Jasinda Wilder became my first follower on Twitter, I almost died. Her book Wounded is one of my all time fave romance novels. God the emotion that book churned up is why I like romance. Was I a huge fan already? Yes! Am I now a super-freak fan for life who feels like she has a personal connection and would get down in the trenches for her because she interacted with me?  You betcha. It's no different than book signings to me. Traditional authors have done book signings for years to get the same effect. 

But T.S. I completely understand that sales for the sake of sales isn't that comfortable. what kinda recipes do you have anyway? 



> Consult the oracle .. I have learned more from YouTube tutorials than pretty much anything other source, a small amount of time invested can repay with handsome rewards (oh dear I’m slipping in to Charles Dickens mode again) . Dive in, if you manage your time with say, with something like Hootsuite then it doesn’t become the life sapping drudgery that most people experience.


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## Fivetide (Sep 12, 2014)

T.S.Bowman said:


> What really sucks for me is that I am not a salesman. At least, not as far as selling myself.
> 
> I have a Twitter account..but I never use it. I have a Facebook page, but that's mainly for collecting recipes and keeping in touch with my daughter and grandson.



My daughter came around last Sunday and baked me a Lemon Meringue pie, which is my favourite. It was also a blatant bribe so I would pay for her car tax. So anyway as you can see it turned out awesome, tasted fantastic to. My friend and I, and daughter had a small slice each. As she left she picked up the pie that she had wrapped in Clingfilm and started to carry it out. I said, were you taking my pie? Home to the boyfriend of course.
So that small slice of pie cost me £170! A lesson learned, eat the pie hide the rest, then go online and pay the tax.


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