Tag: social media marketing

Kelly Speaks, Marketing Your Self-Published Book

Using Twitter as a Marketing Tool for Self-Publishing Authors

Have you ever wondered whether Twitter could be an effective book marketing tool?  I often encourage self-publishing authors to use social media to market their books, and recently came across a really great story I wanted to share.

As I was monitoring the views on the Outskirts Press blog a couple of weeks ago, I noticed that in one day the blog’s Twitter referrals (viewers that came to our blog after clicking on a link from Twitter) went up by 40 percent! Yes, 40 percent!

How did this happen? Simple. Glenn Skinner, one of our Best Book of the Year Award Finalists, had tweeted about the contest that day in an effort to get more votes for his book.  Glenn (@KeyaQuests) currently has over 2,800 followers on Twitter, so his one tweet brought in so many more viewers that the referral rate went up by 40%.  Wow!

By building a strong social media platform, you can create similar results. Whether you are promoting your author website, blog, or book, you can drive website traffic and increase book sales by using Twitter. The key is to build a network of followers who are read your posts and visit the links you share. While keywords can get you some traffic through search engines, social media is the key to increasing website traffic.

If you are new to social media, you may want to consider a self-publishing company that offers help with social media marketing. For instance, Outskirts Press offers an Author Platform Set-up Through Social Media Option which helps authors harness the power of social media to market their book.

I’d love to know, how has social media helped you connect with your readers?

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the 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 at http://kellyschuknecht.com.
Social Media Marketing

Bing(go) goes social networking: Self-publishing authors prepare

Whether your a social media wiz or, as many to some extent (including myself), have some level of apprehension with this “change,” there is no question that self-publishing authors who tackle things head on generally experience much greater book sales.

Social Media is here to stay, and regardless of your industry, creates a platform where businesses and consumers can relate on an increasingly flat field in what is becoming known as the “Attention Age.”

News flash: Social Media is here to stay.

More relevant news flash: Kleiner’s Bing Gordon is set to launch a $250 M “social media’ effort. Yep, 250 million, to include Facebook, Zynga, Amazon, Comcast, Liberty Media and Allen & Company. Here are some more details about what each partner company will be doing, from the press release.

  • Amazon Web Services (AWS) will provide AWS Getting-Started Support for one year, priority access to worldwide Startup Events, and dedicated business and technical support.
  • Facebook will contribute access to its platform teams, beta APIs, and new programs, like Facebook Credits.
  • Zynga will host periodic sessions with sFund companies to focus on management and technical development, including open source collaboration.
  • Comcast Interactive Capital, Comcast’s venture fund, will provide access to Comcast’s resources, teams, and relationships.

Here is some social media fun for you as you prepare your book marketing campaign…

@scottymonte, social media strategist @Ford


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