So you've finished writing what in your opinion is a great book, so what next? If you are an indie author you will find that selling your book isn't as easy as just hitting publish and washing your hands of the project. I'm sighing as I write this because I feel that lately I've put more time and energy into promoting my books than I have spent writing them.
Here are some important things you'll need to focus on if you want to build an audience. Because let's be frank, as much as we love our family and friends, having them read your book isn't going to get you very far. Unfortunately more than half of them aren't big readers. The remaining percent that are might not even care for the genre that you write in. On top of it all, if they are kind enough to purchase and review your book a certain BIG site (we'll call them Amzn)is pretty stingy about letting friends and family leave reviews.
This means you're going to have to do some leg work...and not the type that's going to help you build muscle. You're going to have to get out of your introverted box and start talking to people. EEEKKKK!
Social media is your friend:
Facebook: Don't stick to just one site. Use Facebook to your advantage. I would recommend building an author page separate from your daily account. Don't be shy, friend your friends friends. Add everyone you went to high school and or college with and add their friends. The more people on your friends list, the more people that will see updates about you on their news feed. But don't make our page all about your boo, it comes across as needing and spammy. Give people an insight into who you are, but keep it clean and DRAMA free. Make sure you link your author page to any Author Dashboards you might have so people can find you and follow you.
Twitter: Twitter is great for getting a lot of followers that you typically wouldn't meet. Use hashtags to your advantage. Keep the content light and interesting.
Instagram: This is one of my favorite sights for authors, and with the proper use of hashtags you can gain a lot of followers. Don't limit yourself to hashtags about books, writing, and authors. Branch out. Hashtag your state, your dog or cat, activities you like to do. Again, don't only post pictures about your book. No one likes a self promoting newsfeed hog, it gets boring fast. Let people get to know you.
Goodreads: Make sure you have an interesting author dashboard, and keep it up to date. I get more reviews on Goodreads than anything else because most readers have it linked to their Amzon account. It would be nice if as and author we could link those reviews back to our Amzon books, but it is not the way of the web.
Network:
Meet other authors: Start following other authors. Talk to them on Facebook. Participate in their conversations. Like their Instagram post's. Share their books, new releases, cover reveals. Comment on their post's and photo's. If you meet another brand new author offer to help them with things you've learned through your own publishing experiences. Offer to do a book swap and review. Now isn't the time to be shy. You can't worry that someone might not like your book. If you don't put yourself out there no body else is going to do it for you...unless you get a publisher and pay them. If people don't know you exist they won't find you. It doesn't mean you don't matter or are a terrible writer. It means for now, you are a very small fish in a very large Internet.
Join a lot of different author groups: Facebook and Goodreads both have a lot to offer for author groups. For a self-published author you can find a lot of Indie author groups, as well as local state groups. The local state groups will keep you in touch with any local events happening, or writer meet-ups. Try to branch out, as well as find a few groups that focus mainly on your genre. AND WHATEVER YOU DO - DON"T SELF PROMOTE. These author groups are filled with nothing but authors, it's not a readers group. Become part of the conversation, and you will meet great people with great ideas that you can network with long term.
