4 Ways for New Authors to Promote Their Books on Social Media
By: Anangsha Alammyan
Tags: Ideas, Writing, Creativity, Books, Marketing

1. Have an online presence

Digital marketing expert Matt Ackerson has coined a term called “The Law of Visibility” which states that —

“Offers must be seen for sales and conversions to occur. Conversely, people will convert more often on offers that are highly visible and noticeable.”

As an author, you must build an online presence. Having a personal brand is crucial irrespective of whether or not you plan to release your book soon. One way to do it is to make regular posts and put forward your unique voice so that the audience associates that kind of content with you. Your voice should be so crystal clear that a reader knows what to expect when they come across your words. This way, you can build a community of fans who appreciate your content and will not hesitate to read whatever you publish.

Here is how you can establish your unique voice on the internet.

Pick your platform

No matter how much time you spend online, it is unrealistic to expect that you will achieve equal success on all social media platforms. A more realistic goal is to pick out two platforms that suit your style the best and stick religiously to them. I chose to stick with Quora and Instagram to build my community.

An important point to remember here is to take care of the formatting on both these platforms. Even if you repurpose content, you should format it in a way that works with both your platforms of choice.

Pick your niche

The next step after picking your platform should be to start writing articles relevant to your book’s plot. You need to pick your niche and write about topics that are going to make an appearance in your book.

My book, What did Tashi do?, is a cybercrime thriller depicting the impact of leaked personal images on a woman’s life. During the writing process, I was subconsciously advocating women’s rights online and writing a lot about the need to be careful before posting any personal information online. So, when my book was released, my readers had come to know two things: Anangsha writes about women’s issues, and Anangsha writes about cybersecurity. Because they knew what to expect from my tone of writing, several readers purchased my book on the release day.

Post frequently

I would have suggested you post daily, but if you have other commitments, writing a new article every day is challenging. Instead, you can design a fixed schedule of posting so that the people who follow you know when to expect new content from you. Stick to your routine so religiously that if you miss a single day, you are flooded with messages from readers asking why you didn’t post that day.

Don’t underestimate the power of a community

I understand you want to spend all your time writing your book, getting it published, and making millions of dollars. Compared to that, posting content daily on social media might sound like a chore, especially if you are doing it for free.

But hear me out: when you frequently post on a platform, you aren’t merely churning out content. Instead, you are building a community.

Even if your book is not due for another few years, you are making an impact on the lives of hundreds of users. These are not bots, but real people who will remember you and come to understand what to expect from you. The longer you spend with your community, the more loyal they will feel towards you. Imagine the impact the word-of-mouth recommendation from a long-term fan can have on your book sales.