Infographic 5 Social Media Tips for Authors

Infographic 5 Social Media Tips for Authors Infographic: 5 Actionable Social Media Tips for Authors Social media is the key to every self-publisher’s dream when it comes to marketing. Though complex, it’s the foreground to any successful book marketing strategy†¦ and it’s free! Being a self-published author means creating great content, but does it also mean you need to be an expert marketer? Thanks to the social web, no–though it certainly pays to be informed.We know engaging thousands of people on social media can feel like working in a black hole, but we’ve curated a list of actionable social media tips authors can utilize to market their books and themselves on social media without wasting time, breaking the bank, or turning into an angry-aggressive marketer who’s forgotten what their real job and passion is: writing.Tip #4. Stay optimistic or stay quietBeing a self-published author means you’re a professional; even though you may be accustomed to sharing personal opinions and experiences on your social media pages and comme nts, disassemble your internet armour and ignore the anti-fan comments. If you want a good counter-example, you can check this author’s reaction to a (slightly satirical) review of his book.Critique and criticism is inevitable. You will be much more appreciated as an author if you take reader feedback with a grain of salt and move on. Harping on the review will only hinder your credibility in the future and take away from the time you could have spent improving and creating content. If the same person keeps attacking your social media accounts, it’s perfectly acceptable to block them.Tip #5. Hashtags are your #friendsHashtags help categorize the rush of content constantly being posted by working as searchable tags and keywords. They’re a great feature to assist you in developing your online presence and reaching out to your audience. If used correctly, hashtags can connect you with readers all over the internet. If used incorrectly, they just clutter all of your wonderful content.Deciding which hashtags to use is one thing, but use too many, and your posts will look like spam. Search for hashtags like #amwriting, #amediting and #fridayreads to engage in community-wide topical posts, and don’t forget generic hashtags like #author, #pubtip, #writelife, #SFF, #YA, etc.Successful social media marketing really does just take time and patience–along with dedication, consistency, and a commitment to making your interactions personal. There is a very fine line between marketing yourself and harassing your readers, so make sure you fall on the right side of the fence by being transparent, friendly and personable. Who knows? You might just find that making friends online is just as fun as meeting people face-to-face!If you liked the post, do us a favour, and tweet the infographic! Just click here for that.How do you use social media as an author? Do you have any other tips to share with us?