Kelly Schuknecht – Page 52 – Self Publishing Advisor

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An Indie Author’s Social Media Primer | Summary Edition

Well, it’s been quite a project, this social media primer of ours! I hope it’s proven as useful to you, our readers, as it has been enjoyable for me to write! I thought I’d take a couple of minutes to take a lingering glance in the rear-view mirror, and write a bit of a retrospective on what it means to carry out a social media marketing campaign–and how a primer fits in.

“We’re here,” I wrote in that initial blog post, “first and foremost, to talk about how to market your self-published book.” And therein lies both the value and danger of social media as a marketing tool. If you really are using social media effectively, as a natural and organic extension of your existing work and personality, then you’ll most definitely benefit, and your book sales will most definitely benefit as well. If you approach social media as an all-purpose tool and the only tool you need in your toolbox–or if you present yourself falsely, inauthentically, or otherwise find yourself at odds with your fans–or if you bite off more than you can chew–or if you find yourself slipping into social media as just another time-waster–then you’re missing the point of being an author on social media. These are the pitfalls, or at least a few of them, and they should not be taken lightly or underestimated.

Here’s the trick to being a self-published author on social media: You must always remember that you are, first and foremost, a writer. And as we’ve said before here on Self Publishing Advisor, the absolute best decision you can ever make in marketing your book is to write another book. If social media helps you spread the word, and helps you keep writing, then it has a place in your campaign. If it distracts you, or distresses you, or eats into time you would otherwise spend writing, then you should revisit the expression “effective marketing.” There is, however, a great deal of value to trying something new, especially when you hit a roadblock. It is my hope that, by providing a primer guide to each of the major (and some of the minor) social media platforms, I may take some of the guesswork and fear out of launching yourself into the world of social media. Maybe, just maybe, you’ll be able to bypass some of the misery and second-guessing and mistakes that I myself have made over the years–and find a new home, a new community, and an engaged readership in some unexplored corner of our digital universe.

The List:

Thank you for helping me build this Social Media Primer! If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or contributions, please use the comment field below or drop us a line at selfpublishingadvice@gmail.com. And remember to check back each Wednesday for your weekly dose of marketing musings. ♠

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Executive Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog, kellyschuknecht.com.

Facebook, Kelly Speaks, Social Media Marketing

An Indie Author’s Social Media Primer | Facebook

It should come as no surprise that we’re going to take a quick look at Facebook as we work our way down the list of social media platforms the digitally-savvy indie or self-published author should consider using when launching a comprehensive self-promotion campaign. And it probably is similarly unsurprising that we’ve looked at Facebook before—several times—so many times–and that we’re just one blog among many to have done so.

There are, in fact, so many resources out there about how indie authors can make use of Facebook, that the greater challenge is not in finding information–in contrast to, say, my posts about Etsy and Snapchat and so on–but in discerning which information is actually useful! To that end, I’ve compiled and curated some of the better (and more well-maintained, that is, up-to-date) resources below for your easy review, as opposed to listing our own “best practices.” My hope is that you’ll find all the appropriate details you might need at your disposal in order to navigate the intricacies of the complex proposition that is Facebook.

Debunking the Great Facebook Myth: “It’s just one giant moving target–there’s no point to trying to master anything about Facebook, because it’s just going to change again in a few months!”

While Facebook’s developers are constantly tweaking the algorithms and codes and format of things (it’s true, we must admit), the website itself remains fairly stable in a number of ways. First of all, the fact remains true that Facebook is where the people are–the people, the relationships, the possible connections, and the real market for your books. Consider this infographic, courtesy of Rebekah Radice:

The people are staying put, and sticking by Facebook, despite the not-uncommon doomsday forecasts to the contrary. But that’s not the only aspect of Facebook that is stable: the features may alter a bit in form and function, but the concept of what you’re using those features for remains the same. I’ve written a great deal throughout this series of primers about social media marketing targeting certain specific pillars of the online experience: findability, adaptability, usability, and authenticity. If any of these four aspects is missing from an author’s social media presence, they’re bound to suffer. If, however, you are conscientious in maximizing your Facebook presence, as these resources should help you to do, then you’re practically guaranteed to grow your reading audience.

Top 5 Best Resources:

1. “The Power of Facebook for Authors” by David Henry Sterry over at The Author Online.

2. “30 Ways to Build Your Fanbase with Facebook” by the folks over at Duolit.

3. “My Experiments with Facebook Ads” by Rami Ungar over at Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors.

4. “Facebook Ads: Should Indie Authors Buy Them?” by Joel Friedlander over at The Book Designer.

5. “7 Essential Elements for an Author’s Facebook Page” by Antonella Iannarino over at the David Black Agency’s official blog.

And a bonus additional resource:

The tag archive for “Facebook” over at ALLi‘s “How-to For Authors” blog.

Please keep us posted of your own successes as you experiment with new platforms. You’re our most inspiring innovators, and the internet is your laboratory. We can’t wait to see what you do! And make sure to check back next week, as I wrap up this social media primer with the all-important summary edition!

If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or contributions, please use the comment field below or drop us a line at selfpublishingadvice@gmail.com. And remember to check back each Wednesday for your weekly dose of social media know-how. ♠

Book Marketing, Book Promotion, Book Promotion Strategy, Kelly Speaks, linkedin, Social Media Marketing

An Indie Author’s Social Media Primer |LinkedIn

If you’re not already a member of LinkedIn, perhaps you’re familiar with the following scenario: you wake up on a lovely Monday morning, high-tail it in to work with only minutes to spare before your shift at the factory plant or in the cubicle farm or out at the library begins; you pull up Microsoft Outlook to check your email and set up your day’s schedule, only to find … thirteen emails from friends who want to “add” you to their “professional network on LinkedIn”? What in blazes does that mean? Is it a scam or something?

No, it’s not a scam–I promise! The emails are just an incredibly weird side effect and the only negative feature I know of to setting up a LinkedIn account. (When new LinkedIn users have the chance to add friends to their network, the website mines their email contacts to generate networking possibilities, and doesn’t visually make it clear which of the folks you click on to connect with already have accounts and which ones do not). So while the emails may clutter up your inbox, they’re not meant to be malicious–either on the part of LinkedIn, or the friends who send them.

All this begs the question: What exactly is LinkedIn, and how can a self-published or self-publishing author best make use of the platform? This social networking website touts itself as “The World’s Largest Professional Network,” is run by CEO Jeff Weiner (of Yahoo! fame) and a board chaired by founder Reid Hoffman (of PayPal and SocialNet.com fame) with the purported goal of connecting users interested in more career-driven networking than is made possible by, say, Facebook and Instagram. It seems to be doing a fairly good job of achieving this end, as its approximately 364-million-strong user base can attest. Any self-published author looking for a new weapon in his or her repertoire should definitely keep LinkedIn at the top of the shortlist!

Debunking the Great LinkedIn Myth: “It’s all work, and no play.”

LinkedIn certainly attracts a different user base from, say, Snapchat–but that doesn’t mean its users aren’t making full use of the platform’s more “social” aspects for recreation and enjoyment. And as this article on the Daily Dot points out, industry professionals are being led into blogging and socializing by the platform–book lovers and self-publishing author’s don’t have to fight or struggle to carve out a niche … it already exists. Users log in to LinkedIn, on average, less frequently than the average Facebook user (according to Mashable in 2013, the average Facebooker checked the app 15 times a day). But engagement on LinkedIn is, contrary to some folks expectations, extraordinarily high. This may be because LinkedIn is a destination website, a place to go rather than a place to go through to get somewhere else or to burn some free time. Users see LinkedIn as a tool, and they’re more likely to actually read the blog posts (for example) that they see on there than ones they might stumble across elsewhere.

But what is a self-published author to do? Setting up a LinkedIn profile will benefit anyone, but what are some ways that an author can make special use of the platform?

Top 5 Best Practices:

1. Groups, groups groups. Other social media platforms have group discussion boards–last week, for example, I specifically pointed out Etsy’s group features–but not all groups are created equal. What may seem perfunctory or underdeveloped or a programming afterthought elsewhere has been brought close to perfection on LinkedIn. You can tell that group memberships and discussions were a priority of the website’s developers, as the interface is clean and smooth and easy to interact with. You can find or create groups, manage groups, join groups, and participate in groups you’re interested in without worrying about the content being dumped straight into indexing search engines for everyone running a Google search to see–LinkedIn’s algorithm is much more picky in what it offloads than, say, Goodreads’. You can customize the privacy settings of the groups you manage, rendering some public and free to join, and others private or invitation only. And all that I said above about user engagement being high on LinkedIn? There’s no better place to see this engagement lived out in the round than in LinkedIn’s many active groups. So: join a few! Start a few discussions!

2. Keep tabs on the “Topics” page. A simple search shows a beautifully put-together page in the Topics section of LinkedIn dedicated to none other than the subject of self-publishing. These Topics pages serves as a kind of constantly-updated newsletter of everything posted to the website–articles, blog posts, groups discussions, presentations, companies, and industry trends–that relates. You can find what characteristics or “skills” LinkedIn users engaged in self-publishing share (“Creative Writing” and “Editing” the top two–no surprise there!), or you can access a slideshow on “How to Write a Book in 10 Days” … just to provide two examples among many. Don’t underestimate LinkedIn’s Topics!

3. Make it your first stop on the research train. Are you looking to self-publish and you haven’t decided what company best represents your interests? Many indie, hybrid, and self-publishing companies keep active LinkedIn pages, and you can take full advantage of this by connecting with the company itself or any of its employees who also have LinkedIn profiles. Outskirts Press is a great example of a hybrid publishing company with a rich LinkedIn presence–many of its authors, author representatives, and executives are present there. You can do your due diligence with ease, just by perusing a company’s profile and exploring the information presented there. Want to know if you can trust a company to provide the best quality print on demand books for you? Want to find agents, editors, or other collaborators? Check LinkedIn.

4. Boost your credibility. As I’ve mentioned already, LinkedIn attracts users who are highly engaged but who are also looking specifically to build business-oriented networks. Accounts are reviewed by LinkedIn staff to verify that users are not using fake or ridiculous names, which is just one layer of the self-reinforcing professionalism that makes LinkedIn special. If you want to create a brand around your name as a self-published author, there’s literally no better place to get started. Creating a polished LinkedIn profile that takes full advantage of the metadata and the form available (enter as much information as possible to make yourself as findable as possible!) will allow you to feel confident that a publisher or agent who Googles your name comes up with something that confirms your reliability, credibility, and professionalism. There’s not much more you can do to help yourself stand out from the pack!

5. Use the Pulse. Just over a year ago, LinkedIn opened up its “Pulse” blogging platform to all users–a privilege that had previously been reserved for about 500 key “Influencers.” Perhaps because it began with such constraints, Pulse retains some of its aura as a voice for the truly expert, and it’s a beautiful illustration of how a blog can indeed be seamlessly wound up with a social network. Pulse offers all or most of the features you might find on a blog platform like WordPress, with great customizability and the option to include hyperlinked text. Posts on Pulse automatically display as both a part of your user profile and your connections’ home page feeds. They show up in search engine results, too. The best part about Pulse is that you don’t have to use it as a blog if you don’t want to–you can use it as a secondary publishing platform. Because Pulse allows for beautiful long-form posts, you could feasibly offer whole chapters or even an entire book (in chapters) for your connections to read!

Most Overlooked Feature:

The “Projects” section of your LinkedIn profile is an excellent–and under-utilized!–feature that you should definitely take a second look at. Why? Because it’s not just a spot to list ongoing works in progress … it’s a fully linkable and functional tool. You can connect a project to an Amazon book listing, an author webpage, and to its actual editorial or publishing team! I mean, how neat.

Best of all, the projects section is a dedicated space, which means that the information you input there won’t get shuffled off of your profile page or lost in the aether. Unless you choose to remove it, a book you list as a project becomes a permanent feature of both your page and the page of any other collaborators who confirm their connection to it!

I hope you’ll join me in building this Social Media Primer! If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or contributions, please use the comment field below or drop us a line at selfpublishingadvice@gmail.com. And remember to check back each Wednesday for your weekly dose of social media know-how. ♠

Advocacy in Self-Publishing, amazon reviews, Book Marketing, Book Promotion, Book Promotion Strategy, Book Reviews, Kelly Speaks

From the Archives: “Soliciting Book Reviews for your Self Published Book”

Welcome back to our new Tuesday segment, where we’ll be revisiting some of our most popular posts from the last few years. What’s stayed the same? And what’s changed? We’ll be updating you on the facts, and taking a new (and hopefully refreshing) angle on a few timeless classics of Self Publishing Advisor.

∗∗∗∗∗

[ Originally posted: August 18th, 2008 ]

If your self-published book is available for sale at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble (BN.com), and other sites, you want to be sure your online listings have book reviews. You can always be sure your book has at least 1 review by asking one very close friend or relative to write a review for your book.

Once you have one review, your job is to solicit others. Obviously, if you’ve given some of your books away to friends or families, you should ask them to write a review in exchange for the book. As you continue to give them away, suggest to your customers that it would be helpful to you if they took the time to write an honest online review. People like to help people, but usually only do so if you ask.

BONUS: Once you have reviews, you can use them in quotes for further promotion. For example:

“Best Book Ever!” — Amazon.com review.

Your book detail page on Amazon and Barnes & Noble have links for writing reviews of your book. If you haven’t done that yet, do it right away.

Remember, in order to write a review for a book on Amazon, each reviewer must have an Amazon account with which they have purchased something. This is how Amazon verifies the identity of the reviewer. They don’t need to buy your book, per se, they just need to buy something, anything, from Amazon. But it is nice if they DO buy your book, so suggest that to your friends first.

Seven years on, and we’ve had ample time to expand upon the notion of book reviews and how beneficial they can be for your self-promotion strategy as an indie or self-published author! And when I say ample, I mean that we’ve literally written essays on the subject. For a litany of our best book-review-related material, check out this link, and this one, and this one. Oh, and don’t forget our last in-depth primer post on the matter!

If the intervening years between 2008 and 2015 have taught me anything, it’s the power and influence of positive––and authentic––book reviews. Which is why, when I look at my words from so long ago, the ones I want most to revisit are these: “[Reviewers] don’t need to buy your book, per se, they just need to buy something, anything, from Amazon.” While the fact remains true that an Amazon reviewer isn’t strictlyr required to buy a book or an ebook to review it––and there are certainly many circumstances in which readers may legitimately acquire a book without purchasing it through Amazon or purchasing it at all––I see now that my words, out of context, might encourage authors to strong-arm their friends and loved ones into posting Amazon reviews out of obligation, rather than genuine interest. I cannot stress how wrong I would be to encourage this notion. Reviews should never be given unwillingly.

Let me say that again: Reviews should never be given unwillingly. We should try to avoid creating situations in which false approval is the platform upon which we launch our careers as authors. As indie and self-published authors, we’re striving to shake off the constraints and residues of the so-called “Big Bad Publishing Institution,” a process which puts the torque into the word “spin” and serious money behind works and authors that critics are paid to laud. We can work the system, yes––and self-promotion is in large part knowing how to cultivate a certain degree of cunning––but we should never sacrifice our self-respect.

Which is why we keep revisiting this idea of the book review.

There are so many ways in which we can be both cunning and conscientious, both the serpent and the dove. Our past posts will lead you deeper into the specifics, but suffice it to say: don’t be afraid to go after reviews, and to openly and honestly ask for them, to outright challenge your readers and those who fall within your social sphere to offer them up … and also, don’t forget that the best review is an honest review, and the best way to keep hooking in good and honest press is to write another brilliant book. Even better, if that’s possible, is helping out a fellow indie or self-published author by exchanging books and promises to support each other with favorable––and honest!––reviews. What better way to cut through the bureaucratic red tape of traditional publishing than to participate in the broader exchange of thoughts and ideas with the whole self-publishing community? Up and at ’em! ♠

Kelly Speaks, news from the self publishing world, self publishing news, Self-Publishing, Self-Publishing Week in Review

News From the Self-Publishing World: 8/31/15

This week in the world of self-publishing:

Shakespeare & Co. Unveils New Self-Publishing Machine

We’ve written about Espresso Book Machines before, but now it looks like the prestigious and world-renowned Shakespeare & Co. bookstore in the Upper East Side is set to unveil one of these delightful gadgets for its patrons to use. All that’s necessary for New York’s elite to self-publish a book is, now, to drop on by the store at Lexington and 68th Street with a flash drive in hand. The machine prints around 100 pages a minute, and provides cover design features to make the process as easy as hailing a cab. In addition to the EBM, Shakespeare & Co. has additional good news for self-published authors: as its summer-long renovations wrap up, the store is set to unveil a new section dedicated entirely to self-published authors! For more information, check out Shaye Weaver’s article on DNAinfo.com.

Spooky Tales Inspire Lawyer

Self-published author Zen Cho has locked in a three-book deal with major publishing houses Penguin Random House (in the US) and Pan Macmillian (in the UK). 29-year-old Cho, a London-based writer with Malay roots, has seen previous success through publication in indie online magazines and through the 2012 release of The Perilous Life Of Jade Yeo, a romance which centers on a Malaysian writer in 1920s London. In Annabeth Leow’s article for Asia One, Cho dishes on both her writing method and the backstory to her latest book, Sorcerer to the Crown, an English Regency romance that tackles subjects as ambitious as the “transatlantic slave trade and the conquest of India,” all while adding a fantastical twist to the Alternate History genre. While she joins the ranks of traditionally-published authors with this twist to her own tale, Cho’s story remains one that holds a lot of pith and promise for those of us who steer clear.

The Digital Debate is Done

In this article for The Guardian, Anna Baddeley delves into what’s changed and what’s remained the same in respect to the conversations surrounding ebooks. And the long and the short of it is this: more has changed than has stayed the same, and that’s a very good thing. She comments on the diversification and stabilization of the ebook market and its interconnectedness with self-publishing. To Baddeley, the obsession over whether ebooks are going to destroy the publishing industry is little more than a “distraction,” and as the market matures beyond this distraction, it lays the groundwork for a few clear benefits. Says Baddeley, authors are now more “clued up about how books are made – and more aware of the power they have to influence what and how they read.” For us indie and self-published authors, there’s no better encouragement to keep making the choice to empower ourselves and our readers than the knowledge that we do, indeed, have the collective power to reshape the industry to very, very good ends.

As a self-publishing author, you may find it helpful to stay up-to-date on the trends and news related to the self-publishing industry.This will help you make informed decisions before, during and after the self-publishing process, which will lead to a greater self-publishing experience. To help you stay current on self-publishing topics, simply visit our blog every Monday to find out the hottest news. If you have other big news to share, please comment below.

Kelly ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Executive Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog, kellyschuknecht.com.

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