One Writer's Social Media Campaign: What Worked, What Didn't

Recently, I started promoting my writing with special events -- readings and lectures -- and using social media to publicize those events.  I read at public libraries, youth hostels, adult education centers, and fringe theater festivals. The results: My readings and lectures were mentioned on numerous Web sites and by media outlets that normally wouldn't have given me the time of day. This blog post describes social media tactics I used as well as what worked and what didn't

I assembled my short fiction into a one-man show called "The Chronic Single's Handbook." Recent performances were mentioned in publications such as the Orlando Sentinel.

Readings and Special Events for Writers

To paraphrase Kurt Vonnegut: Writers are in show business. Put on a good show and you'll get noticed. But reading straight from your book is boring. Some better options:

- Rework short scenes from your fiction and creative non-fiction into stand-alone stories, memorize them, and enhance with a little acting. Tips on reading your work in public.

- Non-fiction writers can create entertaining lectures. Contrary to popular belief, Powerpoint presentations can be engaging -- just keep them short and kooky.  Lectures and Powerpoint presentations I've given
- Then find venues and festivals that will let you read/perform/lecture. Look for organizations that have in-house marketing staffs that will promote your event. Recent venues and festivals

After you've read at your local library and hit up your friends, family, and co-workers several times, you'll need to branch out to other cities and other audiences. Drawing an audience in a distant city is tough.

Over the last month, I've performed scenes from my book at fringe theater festivals in Atlanta and Orlando. Here's how I used social media and Web marketing to generate awareness of events held far from my hometown of Boston.

Web and Social Media Marketing for Events

 

1) Help the Venue Promote You

- I provided a short description of my event, plus photos, links to my Web site, links to my youtube channel, a press release -- whatever they want.

- I met all deadlines and size requirements. If they wanted a 60-word description, I didn't send a 70-word description.

My Results: Excellent

- I was listed in printed and online show catalogs produced by the venues.

- I was mentioned on the venues' Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr pages.

- In Orlando, I was listed in a preview in The Orlando Weekly.

- In Orlando, I was reviewed by the Orlando Sentinel and the art publication Watermark. These articles were picked up by blogs and social media.

2) Ask Fans, Followers, and Connections for Help

- I created a Web page describing my event.
- I created a short note linking to the Web page and asking people for help.
- In the short note, I explained -- specifically -- how people could help and made it easy for them to do so. (I asked people to post a link to the Web page and ask their friends to retweet it on Twitter and share it on Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn.)
- I sent the short note to email contacts and posted it to other email lists, such as a college alumni email list, my blog, and as a social media update.
- LinkedIn: This site has a unique feature that lets you sort your contacts by location and send them a note. I created groups of contacts in Orlando (about 10 people) and Atlanta. (about 15 people). I sent them a note through LinkedIn. Several people offered to post my note to their connections. (More on how to do this next week.)

My Results: Mediocre, but worth trying.
- Email: About half of my contacts read the email. Several posted to Twitter, etc as I had asked. The key benefit: I connected with former coworkers, friends, and other contacts who I only email a few times a year.
- Social Media: I got a few retweets and shares.
- Not sure if this brought anyone to my shows.

An email blast to my Mailchimp contacts was opened by about half of them.

Sample of note I sent over LinkedIn

3)  Posted to Related Social Media Groups and Pages

- I searched Facebook and Google+ for groups in my target cities. For both Orlando and Atlanta, I found a bunch. My book is about a chronically single guy who takes a trip around the world looking for the woman of his dreams. So, I looked for groups in my target cites that catered to singles, travelers, or folks interested in the arts.
- I checked the rules of the groups to see if posting links was OK. If so, I joined. If I wasn't sure, I dropped a note to the group owner and asked if I could post my event.

My Results: Negligible. Not Sure if this is worth the time.
- One group owner posted my link on his group and personal Facebook page.
- A few people in a Google+ group liked and commented on my post.
- Not sure this brought anyone to my shows

4) Posted to Meetup Groups

- I joined Meetup.com and searched by city and interests (arts, travel, and singles)
- After joining, I posted my show as a possible event for the group.
- In most cases, the event never got posted to the group.
- In a few it did and I was listed as the host.
(more on this next week)

My Results: Negligible, but worth trying.
- In one Orlando group, seven people signed up to see my show.
- Only one showed up.
- In one Atlanta group, the moderator asked me to pay to $50 post my event. I declined.
- Why it's worth trying: I did an event in November that was picked up by a Meetup in Boston and five people showed up. A friend did an event last year and dozens of Meetup folks showed up.

Meetup.com lets you search for groups of people with common interests in other cities. Then you can post your event. Though my results were mixed, the process doesn't take much time and is probably worth trying.

5) Contact Media in Target cities

- I created a press release with links to a basic online press kit with photos, a resume, and other information the press might want.
- I asked the festival organizers for a list of local media contacts in Atlanta and Orlando.
- I also Googled each city for editors who cover arts and entertainment. I found a few editors with email addresses and emailed my press release. For those who didn't post their email addresses, I located them on Twitter, followed them, and sent them a tweet about my show.
- Many media sites have events calendars: I uploaded my event to the calendars.
(more on press releases next week)

My Results: Good
- My event was listed in dozens of events calendars.
- But I was not interviewed by the local press.

6) During the Shows
- I took selfies and other photos, and posted them to my Facebook and Twitter pages. I always mentioned the venue, so they could see I was working to promote myself and the festival.
- Each morning, I Googled my name and my show for mentions that I might share with Facebook and Twitter followers.
- For Facebook, I posted to my Author Page, then logged out and logged in using my personal account. I went to my Author Page and then liked and shared the link.

My Results: Good
- My posts on my Facebook Page reached ten to twenty times more people than normal.

A post of me with a 6' 7" female impersonator at the Atlanta Fringe festival reached 193 of my Facebook fans. Typically, my posts reach about 20 of my 2,000 fans.

More on Special Events and PR

- One Writer's Platform: Events and PR

- Promote Your Writing: Events, Readings, and Fringe Festivals

- My Note to Blog Subscribers Requesting Help Promoting Recent Events



Photo credit: George Skene, Orlando Sentinel / May 16, 2014

Find this article useful? Send me $2 for a cup of coffee...

   

 

Sign up to have my Marketing for Writers blog delivered to your inbox free each week:

Enter your email address:

One Writer's Platform (Part 2) Events and PR

Blogging and social media are not the only ways to develop a platform or audience for your writing. In 2013, I spent a chunk of my book marketing time promoting myself with special events, such as lectures and public readings. The nice thing about special events is that the venue will promote you to local newspapers and online events listings -- they will do PR for you. Oh, and some venues will pay you.
 
Note: I did all this without having a published or even finished book. I plan to finish my novel and circulate it to agents in the fall. I swear!

See Part 1 of this article, "Building a Writing Platform: One Writer's Results in 2013"

Here's what I did and my results.

Special Events: 16 total in 2013

1) Lectures for Non-Fiction and Fiction

If you're writing non-fiction, lectures are a no-brainer -- you know your material, right?

My example: Since I have a background in online marketing and I publish this blog, I've lectured about social media and blogging for writers at a local adult education center ($50 per class) and appeared on a panel for a low-residency MFA program ($175).

Even if you're writing a novel, you've likely done a lot of research. Your novel probably mentions real people and places. That makes you somewhat of an expert.

My example: I'm writing a novel about a chronically single guy who takes a trip around the world looking to change his luck with love.

The novel involves world travel, something I know about. Prior to this year, I gave travel lectures at a local adult eduction center (I was paid $60 per lecture) as well as a local sporting goods/camping store called Eastern Mountain Sports (unpaid). In 2013, I was paid to read at a local youth hostel.

2) Public Readings

Even if you do not have a published, or even finished book, you can read at public venues -- along side published writers. In case, you missed that -- you can read like the big boys without a published book. And you can get paid for it. As evidence, see my list of public readings and lectures and upcoming events for 2014.

Where can you read?
- Literary events: open mics, salons, reading series, book stores.
- Public libraries: Many will pay you. I read with two friends in 2011 and we each got $100.
- Slams: Poetry slams, story telling slams -- I once read at a smut slam. Note: For slams you will need to memorize your material. Poetry slams generally want less than three minutes of material. Story slams want about five minutes. It takes me two weeks to memorize a five-minute piece -- and I'm old and senile.
- Comedy open mics: I "performed some of my memorized material at a local comedy club. An audience member threw a cup of ice at one of the performers. The other comedians left. I stayed and was declared the winner by default. I earned $50.
- Fringe theater festivals: A novel is 12 hours of material. In 2013, I boiled my unpublished manuscript down to a one-hour, one man show with the help of a drama coach. It took about four months to memorize 45-pages of material and to learn to use  some props and gestures, as well as a few foreign accents to differentiate my characters.

Tips:
- Have a friend video tape your readings, and then upload them to youtube.
- Collect e-mail addresses at your events.
- If you like reading and performing, up your game by taking an acting class or at least getting feedback from someone you trust.

In two years of performing and some classes, I've gone from:

This:



To This:

 

Some Background

- I've been working on a novel for the last five years and plan to circulate it to agents in the fall.

- I self-published excerpts from the novel and have sold about 50 copies for $8 a piece. (My self-publishing endeavor: I had copies made a local copy shop. I also uploaded a PDF version, which I sell for $1 -- I've sold two of these.)

- I spend about one day a week on marketing and promotion. My goal is to develop an audience well before my novel comes out -- be it through traditional or self publishing

More Articles on Book Marketing and Self Promotion for Writers

- More on creating your own special events.

- How to read your work in public.

- My 2013 results using social media and blogging. 

- Free presentations and resources on blogging and social media from my self promotion for writers class.

Art attribution: Image by Nerval on wikimedia. 


If you find my book marketing blog useful, sign up to have it delivered to your inbox each week:

Enter your email address: