Book Marketing: More on Facebook Ads and Promotions

Last week, I paid Facebook $20 for a promotion that turned out to be a waste of money. Many authors who read about my experience concurred that Facebook ads and promotions are useless for selling books or driving traffic to a Web site. Should you bail on Facebook? (Not yet.)

What I Got for $20

In my experiment, I wrote a post on my Fan Page that was designed to drive traffic to this blog. As I was finishing the post, I noticed Facebook's Promote option, which promised to reach 10,000 people. Certainly, reaching 10,000 people would result in more Likes for my Fan Page, as well as traffic and new subscribers to my blog. A link in the Promote dialog box led to a confusing section in the Facebook Help Center. Busy writer that I am, I ignored the Help Center page, and spent the money.

Click the Promote button to increase the reach of one of your posts.

Here's what I got for my $20:

4 comments on my Facebook post

8 new Fans
8 clicks to my blog and no new subscribers.

According to Facebook, the post did reach 10,000 people, but a third of them didn't speak English and lived in India, Turkey, and the Philippines.

In addition, my subsequent posts to my Facebook Fan page, reached 50 percent more people than normal. (I typically reach about 200 people, which increased to about 300 probably because so many people saw the promoted post.)

Worth the money? No.

How to Improve Your Performance, How I Goofed (and My Excuses)

I didn't target my promotion. Period. To target your posts to say, English speakers in the U.S., is a multi-step process that wasn't obvious to me. Here's how to fix the problem, so you (hopefully) don't waste as much of your money as I did.

I still don't understand why my post went to so many non-English speakers -- virtually all of my fans are English speakers, most of whom live in San Francisco, Boston, and New York. Most of the people who saw my post, however, were from Manila, Amman, and Istanbul. Upshot: A third of the people I paid to reach were non-English speakers.

More Confusion: Promoted Post (what I did) vs. Sponsored Story (an ad)

A promoted post lets you pay to have a post reach more of your Fans, and in some cases their friends. Typically, one of my posts only reaches about 10 percent of my Fans. I paid $20 to reach all 2,000 Fans, plus another 8,000 or so of their friends. Note: You have to have at least 400 Fans to promote a post. More on promoted posts.

A Sponsored story is an ad that lets you reach people who are not your Fans. A sponsored story appears in the right hand column of the page, along with all the other ads. This is more expensive than a promoted post. More on ads.

Which is Better: A Promotion or an Ad?

In an informal test by a geeky Web site, the Promoted post was cheaper and generated more clicks. But the ad reached a lot more people. Which will sell more books? At least one of my readers, said that the ads were selling some books. Is your head spinning, yet? No? Then read this for more details:

Why it’s Worth Having a Fan Page (and a Personal Profile Page)

- SEO: You can include links from Facebook back to your blog and Web site, which may make you more visible to people searching for topics related to you in Google. 

- Facebook Groups: A personal page allows you to post links in various Facebook groups, which for me have generated a lot more traffic than a promoted post.

Advice and Comments from Readers of Last Week's Blog

 

- One reader suggested promoting your Facebook page for free on sites other than Facebook. (I include a Facebook Fan Page link on all my Yahoo e-mails and on my blog page. Unclear if I'm adding any Fans this way, but the price is right -- free.)
- One author said that Facebook Ads had been useful for selling books.
- One reader paid for an ad on Goodreads that wasn't successful, but found that a free give-away of five books was worth the effort
- Two readers called me a racist.

More on Facebook Fan and Personal Pages

- You're reaching fewer of your hard-earned Fans and why you shouldn't care.
- Facebook is charging to promote posts on your Personal page.

Had Enough Book Marketing?

-  "The Online Date that Went a Little too Well"
(video of me reading original erotic humor at a local library.)
Content warnings for foul language, vibrating ovals, and cruelty to beagles.

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Special thanks to the following readers:

Jerry:
Marquita:
Kevin:
Joshua:
Sharon:

Attribution for Thumbs Down image: Circle-Thumb.png: user:acadac derived from user:Pratheepps, user:Erin Silversmithderivative work: Provoost (Circle-Thumb.png) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Book Marketing: Is a Facebook Fan Page Useful?

After a year of developing my Facebook Fan Page, I have more than 2,000 fans, a shopping cart for a self-published book (haven't sold one, yet), and dozens of applications. Last week, I spent $20 to promote one of my posts to 10,000 people: Unfortunately, many of them turned out to be from outside the U.S. and many didn't list English as their default language. Has Facebook been worth the time? Probably. Am I reducing the time I spend on Facebook? Definitely. Will I spend another $20 with them? Ha! Will my account be shut down because of this post? Stay tuned.

Facebook Fan Page Basics

 

Overview

A Fan Page is supposed to offer several advantages over the standard personal Profile page, including:
- Size: A Personal Page is limited to 5,000 Friends, while a Fan Page doesn't have this limit. (Are any of us ever going to have more than 5,000 Fans? Doubtful.)
- Analytics: A Fan Page offers basic tools for analyzing your audience. (I know that most of my Fans are between 35 and 54 about evenly split between men and women. If an agent or publisher asks about my audience, I could quote these stats and appear knowledgeable.)
- Applications: I have found at least two that I liked. (see screen shot below.)

Two apps worth considering: TabSite for adding custom Pages and Payvment for adding a shopping cart (Note: I haven't sold a single ebook using this app yet.)

Limitations of Fan Pages

You can't reach all you Fans
Facebook only allows you to reach a small portion of your hard-earned Fans -- unless you pay. (A Facebook Groups page allows you to send messages to members that go to their e-mail inboxes.) Facebook was (or is) also supposed to be charging owners of Profile Pages to reach all their friends.

It is difficult to add Fans
With a Profile page, you can pretty much add Friends willy-nilly, whether you know them or not -- as long as you don't add too many at once. Adding Fans is considerably harder and more time consuming -- you can't simply contact Facebook users and invite them.

How I got more than 2,000 Fans
I started with a Profile Page and over the course of a year added 5 to 10 people a night. (If Facebook warns that you're adding too many people, too quickly -- heed the warning or you may lose your profile!) Once I reached about 1,800 Friends, I converted my Profile page to a Fan page, which converted all my Friends to Fans. It was relatively easy to do: Here's how to convert your Profile Page to a Fan Page

For more than you really want to know about the differences between Fan Pages, Profile Pages, and Groups pages.

Now the Ugly Stuff

 

Though I now have more than 2,000 Fans, Facebook will only allow me to reach about 200 of them with my posts -- unless I pay $20. So, last week I paid up.

1) The process and my experience

 

- When you create a post on your Fan Page, there is an option to promote the post.
For me, Facebook indicated that for $20, I could reach 2,800 to 5,300 people, including my Fans and their Friends.

- You can pay with either a credit card of PayPal.
I tried to pay with my Visa and went through all the steps. After entering my Visa info, Facebook's credit card processing program crashed. Or did it? I couldn't tell. So, I sent a note to Facebook Help. (It's been four days and I've yet to hear back. Naturally, there was no phone number to call.)

So, then I paid with PayPal and the payment appeared to go through. I still never received any confirmation from Facebook, and when I looked at the details of my account on Facebook, it appeared that the credit card charge went through. What about the Paypal charge? Was I double-billed? I haven't had time to check.

2) The Results: Facebook claims I reached more than 10,000 people, such a deal!

But...

- According to Facebook's own statistics, many of those people were from the Philippines and India. Many of them didn't list English as their primary language. At press time, I didn't have statics beyond the first two days of the promotion, which extended for four days. (For information on how to target your promotions, see the follow-up to this article on Facebook promotions.)

At least 4,000 of the 10,000 people reached by my $20 Facebook promotion were from outside the U.S. Many didn't even list English as their primary language.

Another But...

- Very few of those 10,000 clicked the link included in my post. (Maybe 50 clicked. Regardless, there was no spike in my Web traffic)

And Another...

- I got about 10 new Fans, many of whom were from foreign countries, and at least one had a name that was not even in English. (Apologies if I sound like a racist, but non-English speakers will not help my book marketing cause.)

Some of my new Fans: Please welcome

राजे विशाल सातदिवे

- The post received 28 Likes (the most I've ever gotten) and 7 comments. At least one comment was from someone who was furious about receiving my unsolicited post -- he had an American-sounding name. (I guess he won't be buying any books from me.)

Good Uses for Facebook

 

- Posting links to appropriate Groups drives traffic

And it's much easier than posting to Linked In groups -- for Facebook groups, just copy and paste a headline, a deck, and the link. In my experience posting to Facebook Groups for writers, the members click on my links, just not as frequently as Linked In group members click on them.

- Having a Fan page may be good for SEO

It's another searchable page that includes links back to your blog, Web sites, and Youtube videos.

- Fans are Fans

Even though my posts regularly reach only 200 or so of my Fans, those are people who are exposed to my writing regularly and may consider buying a book at some point. (Though, as noted above, I have yet to sell a single ebook on Facebook. To be fair, I haven't done much to promote them to my Fans, but the shopping cart is on the site.)

 *Attribution for thumbs down image;
By Enoc vt (File:Botón Me gusta.svg) [Public domain or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Can't Get Enough Book Marketing?

- Three Ways to Boost Your Blog Traffic

- Eight Month Progress Report: Reality knocks at the door.

Had Enough Book Marketing?

- "Why I'm Over Forty and Still Single,"  includes the fish theory, the valency theory, and other medical excuses.  (A video of me reading a scene from novel-in-progress before a live audience.)

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Facebook for Writers: Part II

This article discusses how to make the most of recent changes to Facebook. The tips include: reaching more friends and fans by creating better posts, using photos properly, and tweaking Facebook to increase your the Web presence (SEO) of your blog or Web site.

(Last week's post reviewed recent updates to Facebook and their impact on writers.)

Most of the tips below I have tried. Some I haven't but make sense. Others will work depending on Facebook's mood that day. Sorry -- there may be some trial and error involved. Fortunately, most of the tips are not that time consuming to implement.

I) Posting Tips

 

Overview

The goal of any Facebook post is to reach more of your potential readers whether through your Profile (personal) page, Author (Fan) page, or in groups to which you post. You also want to entice potential readers to your blog, Web site, or Amazon page.

My goal is to drive readers to recent blog posts, where they will hopefully sign up. That way, I know they're interested in my work and I can contact them directly without going through Facebook. (Facebook holds your friends and fans hostage, and forces you to pay to reach all of them.)

The Tips

1) Creating a Facebook-Friendly Blog or Web Page:

- Use at least one large image in your blog post or Web page you are promoting. Typically, when you post a link in Facebook, the social media site snags the largest image on your page to create a preview.

- Make sure that image in your blog or Web page has a rectangular shape and is about 560 pixels wide. (Facebook prefers images that are 560 wide by 292 high. Cropping and resizing can be time-consuming.)

Why you should care: If Facebook likes your image, it will appear larger on your page, Friends/Fans' newsfeeds, and in posts to groups. (Note: the resizing doesn't always work -- I resized the top image on this blog at 560 by 315 and it isn't displaying large enough in Facebook. Oh, well.)

How a blog with a large rectangular image displays in a Facebook preview.

If Facebook chokes on your image, you'll get a smaller, less attractive square-sized image.

How a blog post with a small, square image appears in a Facebook preview. Which post do you think a friend or fan would be most likely to click if they saw it in their Newfeed?

- A good, free tool for cropping and resizing images: Irfanview

2) Posting to Facebook:

- Whenever possible create Facebook posts that include an image as discussed above. Text-only posts will supposedly be seen by fewer people.

- Use the full url for links to your blog, Website, or Amazon page. Do not use a shortened version created with Bitly.com, Tinyurl.com, or any other url shortener. (I have not tested this, but it makes sense.) More on this from Social Media Examiner.

- Posting strategy 1: The Link Share

Post a link, wait for Facebook to create a preview of the post, erase the link text from your status update, and then write a description of the post. This is supposed to be the most effective way to reach more people. It also takes more time, particularly if you are posting the same link to different places: your Profile page, your Author page, and some Facebook groups.

A nice description of the Link Share technique from Amy Lynn Andrews

- Posting strategy 2: Copy and paste a short description of your post and a link to the blog or Web page you want to promote. This is what I do -- it saves some time. The preview also looks nice -- ie includes a large image -- if you follow a large rectangular image as mention in Tip 1 above.

- Posting strategy 3: If your image still appears small when Facebook creates a preview of your post, try uploading the image as a photo, then add descriptive text and your blog or Web page link. The drawback to this strategy: When friends or fans click on the image it will take them to the image. They will need to click the link to visit your blog or Web page.

Option 3: A more enticing post created by uploading an image from my hard drive to Facebook and then adding the link.

- Measure what works! For Facebook Fan pages, you could check the Reach. For Profile (personal pages), you could check how many Likes and Shares your post received. But the only measure that really matters is clicks to your blog post -- the number of visitors who came from Facebook as indicated by your Web analytics, traffic measuring tool.

II) SEO (Helping More People Find You When They Search the Web)

 

I have serious doubts about whether search engine optimization is still a good use of time for the average writer. (Search engine optimization is a slew of techniques designed to trick search engines, such as Google, into displaying your Web site more prominently when people search on topics related to what you write.) 

Still, here are some quick ways you can use your Facebook Profile or Author pages that may boost your presence on the Web.

- Include links to your blog and Web site in the About sections of your Profile and Author pages.

- Include links to your sites in your photo descriptions in your Author pages.

More SEO tips for Facebook from Social Media Examiner.

 III) Misc Tips to Get More Out of Facebook

- Using your Profile page instead of an Author Page? Divide "friends" into lists, so real friends don't see business stuff and vice versa.

- Let people who are not friends see your business-y posts by enabling the Follow Button on your Profile page. This is another feature that lets a Profile page act like an Author page -- and another reason you may not need an Author page.

- Post to Facebook on Thursdays and Fridays. Some experts claim that toward the end of the week, people spend more time on Facebook. 

- Ask your Friends or Fans for their e-mail addresses. This way you can contact them directly without going through Facebook. Manage their e-mail addresses with a free tool such as Mail Chimp. Then send them a quarterly e-mail with major updates regarding your work. More on collecting and using e-mail addresses from Jon Loomer.

More Articles on Self Promotion for Writers

- Recent changes to Facebook that hurt writers and their marketing. (Last week's post)

- Groups: The one thing that still works on Facebook and doesn't cost money.

- Book Marketing: Getting Started with E-Mail and Newsletters

- Good article from Jane Friedman on Building a Platform and Connecting with Readers.

 

 

Art attribution: Facebook image at top of article by Michibeckmichal (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

 

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Facebook Fan Pages: Does it Matter When You Post?

If you're a writer with a Facebook Fan Page, you're basically running a business and trying to increase your pool of potential customers (Likes) and drive as many as possible to your blog, Web site, or Amazon page. A key to driving them to you sites is "engaging" them -- getting them to read and comment on your posts -- by posting the right content at the right time.  A recent article on Mashable Business discussed Facebook fan pages and offered engagement advice for large businesses. Does this advice work for authors?

Below is a sampling of their recommendations for best times to post followed by what my experience has been.

I) The Experts Findings (again, these are based on large companies)

- Days and times of week: 
Facebook fans typically were most active at three times of day: before work (7 a.m. EST), after work (5 p.m.) and late night (11 p.m.). Weekends were best for large media and entertainment companies. (My assumption: Writers and authors are a small media and entertainment companies.)

- Frequency:
Another article recommended you start out posting once or twice a week and posting more than once a day can be overkill.

 *Good tip from Mashable: When posting a link, use the entire url, instead of a cryptic, shortened url that way people can see that the link is legit and where it's taking them.

II) My Findings

As a writer, I generally post four types of content:

1) Personal progress reports, including:
- publication updates on the fate of my short stories, nonfiction pieces, and interactions with agents.
- public readings and performances.

2) Links to publishing industry news and tips for writers.

3) Original pieces:
- Publishing and book promotion tips, like this piece.
- New original stories and essays on my blog

4) Occasional weird stuff just for fun
- R. Crumb video (did poorly)

- Old person joke (did well)
- Song: "It's Great to Be a Dickhead" (did well)
- Song: "The Motorcyle/Pickle" song from Arlo Gutherie. (did poorly)

I also post at all hours of weekdays and weekends, including 2 a.m. on some Saturday nights.

To analyze which posts and times generated the most engagement, I examined the Reach of various posts listed in the Insight statistics for my page. (click image to enlarge)

My findings:
It didn't seem to matter what time or what day I posted. I posted to Facebook before, during, and after work hours. I posted at 1:00 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday mornings (Yes, I have no life.). I posted stories from the various types of stories listed above: Sometimes they did well, sometimes they tanked. Typically, I only posted once a day, but a couple of days I posted twice -- and both stories did equally well.

My take-away: Regular posting seems to be working because my Likes and Reach keep going increasing. (I now have 2,006 Likes and typically add about 10 a week.)

Notes:

- Explanations: Fans could be checking my posts whenever is convenient for them. I also have a large number of Fans on the West coast.

- My Facebook Author Page is not a huge source of traffic to my Blog and Website. Posting links to Facebook Groups and Linked In Groups drives a lot more traffic.

- I consider my Page to be another channel -- almost like a private radio station/TV channel to reach those people who prefer to spend time on Facebook. Will this lead to more sales? I don't know.

- Regarding Reach: My Reach numbers are always a subset of my Likes. Facebook purposely restricts the number of people you can reach with your posts. (I typically reach 10 to 20 percent of my Likes.) To reach them all, costs money. For more on this, including a possible fix that really isn't a fix, see "FB fans aren’t seeing your posts."

- To determine my best posts/days/and times, I sorted my Reach numbers in Facebook Insights from highest to lowest, exported them to Excel, and then resorted them by date and time posted.(I'm sure there's an easier way, but this worked for me.)

If you found this article useful, please share the link, post on Twitter or Facebook, or subscribe to this blog. Thanks!

For more recent Facebook tips for writers, see:
- Easy, Sleazy Book Marketing Tips 
- My Easy, Sleazy Book Marketing Results 

Time for Old School Book Marketing? My 9-Month Progress Report

I just finished a book called "Social Media is Bullshit," which confirms what a lot of writers have been suspecting: The Web is stacked against little guys like us. So, I'm going to try old school marketing tactics that involve: the telephone, in-person readings, collecting e-mail addresses, and attempting to get coverage in mainstream broadcast and press.

Executive Summary: Nine Months of Book Marketing Hell

My monthly Web traffic remains stable (about 3,000 page views and 2,000 visits) and I'm adding blog subscribers slowly, but steadily (now have 142 subscribers). But I doubt I'll ever hit numbers big enough to impress an agent or publisher. (Interesting article on how big your platform should be to impress an agent.)

My Numbers

1) Web Traffic

- Page views in July: 2,428       (1,779 unique visits)
- Page views August: 2,977      (2,139)
- Page views Sept.: 2,774        (2,017)
- Page views in Oct.: 2,783      (1,996)
- Page Views in Nov.:  2,956    (2,037)


- Blog subscribers at end July: 48
- Blog subscribers at end of August: 71
- Blog subscribers at end of September: 95
- Blog subscribers at end of October: 114
- Blog subscribers at end of November: 142** 

What an agent wants to see: At least 20,000 page views/month. (For that many page views, I'd need about 14,000 visits.)

*includes this blog and about 150 page views for my resume and rarely-updated travel Web sites.
**includes 16 people who did not confirm their subscriptions. After subscribers sign up for my blog, they receive an e-mail asking them to confirm their subscription. For some reason, these folks never confirmed, so I put their e-mails into a Yahoo e-mail list and manually forward each blog post to them.

 2) Social Media and E-Mail Addresses

Twitter: 840, up 35 from 805 last month.

 - Posting links to my blog in Twitter generated 21 blog page views last month, an average month for me.
- What agents want to see: At least 5,000 Twitter followers.
- Note: This is easy to do by signing on to a Twitter follow group, where you agree to follow people who agree to follow you. The net result: you get a lot of people who have no interest in your work and will likely not buy your book.

Facebook: 2,043 Fans/Likes, up 7 from last month.
- I spent $20 to promote one of my Facebook posts to my Fans and 8,000 of their friends -- and added about 10 Likes, three of whom subsequently un-Liked me. My paid Facebook promotion was a waste of money.)

- Posting links on my Fan page generates very few visitors (33 last month). Posting links to appropriate Facebook groups is more productive and produced visitors (125).
- Worth noting: The "what agents want article" offered no stats for numbers of Facebook Fans and Link In connections. Hmmm.

Linked In: 1,167 connections, up 19 from last month

- Posting links to Linked In groups generated 457 visits, more than any other social media source.
- Note: In early fall, after I attempted to connect with a lot of people who declined my heartfelt requests, Linked In stopped allowing me to contact to people for whom I didn't have an e-mail address.
- As of this week, Linked In has restored my ability to contact people without having their e-mail addresses. However, Linked In wrote that it would revoke my account if I started spamming again.

E-mail Addresses: 439*
- Blog subscribers: (as note above) 142
- Newsletter subscribers: 7 (I just started this newsletter for Boston folks I meet at parties or readings. I added two more people last month!)
- Personal/professional e-mail addresses of people who might care about what I'm doing: 290
*What agents want to see: more than 5,000 addresses.

Banging Our Heads Against the Web-Marketing Wall?

For the next month, I'm going to focus my energy on old-school promotion and marketing.

Here's why:

- After reading "Social Media is Bullshit" I'm willing to believe that the days are gone when an average person can launch a blog and generate huge traffic. The book also says that most large blogs and Web sites are owned by large companies with large staffs and deep pockets that I don't have. Also, the odds of me producing a blog or other content that goes viral are non-existent.

- I worked as an SEO consultant for three years. The company I worked for spent $10,000 a month on a platoon of specialists (including me) who worked to drive traffic to the company's site.

- Social media is not designed to help the average small business person. Witness recent changes to Facebook Fan pages. Also, Linked In groups are increasingly filled with useless spam. Either people will stop participating in these groups or Linked In will come down on people like me who post links to multiple groups. Finally, have I mentioned enough times that I think Twitter is a torrent of crap?

- I am again considering some advice I got from a marketing consultant friend: "Find something you like doing and become good at it."

Old School Book Marketing

At it's most basic, marketing has two steps: Define your audience and reach them. Since I don't have a book to sell yet, I want to get people's e-mail addresses for the future. I can also sell them my chapbook of writing samples.


My Thought Process

1) Who is my audience?
Based on my Facebook Fan page stats, anecdotal evidence from folks who attend my readings, and the age and interests of the characters in my novel, my readers are mostly: aged 35 to 55, educated, urban professionals (modern yuppies.) Their interests include: travel, romantic relationships and sex, dining out, edgy humor, art and culture. (pretty broad, but enough to get me started.)

2) How to reach them
My favorite marketing technique is public readings and lectures. If I want to read to modern yuppies, where will I find them? Swank hotels, trendy restaurants, fund-raisers, corporate functions, adult education programs, retail stores that cater to them (furniture stores, erotic toy stores, wine stores, outdoor gear stores, sporting goods stores, and other stores with products related to themes in my novel.)

To reach a lot of potential readers, I need coverage in the mainstream media: radio, TV, and print. In the past my readings -- even at small venues -- have gotten some coverage in local papers. I've also gotten coverage on local cable TV stations.

3) What I plan to do this month:
- Send pitches for classes I could teach to local adult education centers. (I took a trip around the world and have lectured about that in the past. I could also lecture about the basics of book marketing.)
- Send pitches for my readings to colleges catering to older students. (I have organized my readings into what can be loosely describe as a one-man show.)
- Contact some event planners to see if they would consider me as "literary" entertainment at special events. (I would offer an alternative option to comedians, musicians, and Tarot card readers.)
- I posted audios clips of me reading to a site called PRX.com, which sells content to public radio stations. (It costs $50/year. I have gotten a few nibbles but no takers. However, a friend has sold a number of pieces through this service.)
*Note: I am well aware that some of these are real long-shots, but the odds can't be any longer than Web marketing. I am also aware that some of this is a little haphazard. But another piece of business advice that I like: Sometimes it is better to just jump and make your mistakes than to spend all your time researching.

Note: Another book marketing book for old schoolers: "Talk Up Your Book," by Patricia Fry. If you've done some public speaking and readings, skip the first nine chapters -- they're repetitive and rudimentary.

Can't Get Enough Book Marketing? 

 

- Is online book marketing a waste of time? (readers weigh in)


- Do You Rate? Measuring Book Promotion Success

-Tips for Reading Your Writing in Public

Had Enough Book Marketing?

 

 - One Day at Big Sky Ski Area: Encounter with a Snowboarder
"You're a grown man, you should know better than that," said the 20-something snowboarder as I lay face-down in the snow.

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*Attribution for "old school" image at top of page: PbakerODU at en.wikibooks [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons

Marketing for Writers: 3 Tricks for Facebook, Twitter, MeetUp

Not getting much from your social media efforts? Here are some quick and easy tips for Twitter and Facebook, plus tricks for promoting your readings and events with Meetup.com.

Brown-Nosing with Twitter

Gathering thousands of followers on Twitter can take a lot of time. Or you can save time and buy followers. Will this drive traffic to your Web site or sell books? Doubtful. 

There's an option that is cheaper and more efficient: Connect, flatter, and brown-nose people who already have a large number of followers.

Here's How:
- Identify influential writers, journalists, and experts in your industry. For non-fiction writers, this is straightforward -- search Google and Twitter for your topic and see who appears at the top of the list of search results. For fiction, you have to consider themes of your work. I'm writing a novel about a chronically-single guy who takes a trip around the world looking for the woman of his dreams. So, my book covers two topics: life as a single person (dating, loneliness, sex, relationships) and world travel.
- Follow these influential people on Twitter and sign up for their blogs. On Twitter, follow who they follow and who follows them. Make note of hashtags they use in their posts.
- Tweet and retweet their posts. Post images of their books or links to their Web sites. Go to their lectures or readings, take a photo, and post it to Twitter.
- Be sure to include their Twitter handles and favorite hashtags in your posts. By including their Twitter handles, you're telling them that you like their work and are happy to help them get the word out. People may retweet your tweet, which means all their followers will see your name. They influential people and their followers may follow you.

Example involving a play and performer popular with single people:

After attending an event by writer/performer Elaine Liner, I took a photo of her promotional flyer and posted it to Twitter. I included her handle @thesweatercurse and #edfringe, a hashtag she used to promote the event. That hashtag is also followed by the local press and other influential people.

Brown-Nosing on Facebook

On Facebook, you can make posts to groups you follow and mention important people. Most of the same rules for Twitter apply on Facebook:
- Post photos and links.
- Thanks people for help, praise their accomplishments, be a nice person.
- To tag, or include people's names in your posts, start typing their name and it should appear in a pick list. Type capital letters for first letter of their name. You can include their page by typing the @ sign and their page name. More on tagging with Facebook.

An example from a Facebook Group I belong to frequented by writers and performers interested in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. (I just went and performed excerpts from my novel in progress.)

In the post to a Facebook group, I thanked important people who helped me produce and perform at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Tips for Promoting Yourself with MeetUp Groups

I've discussed using MeetUp groups for promotion before. Recently, I tweaked my strategy.

For MeetUp, you want to promote an event geared toward individual groups. Better still, offer them something special for attending: a discount, drinks with the author (you), or something else. Here's what I did for my recent events in Edinburgh, Scotland

1) Searched for groups by location and topic:

Here I'm searching for single's groups within 10 miles of Edinburgh.

2) Completed a profile and joined the group. I was honest and said I'm a writer who will be in town performing my work at the Edinburgh Fringe festival.

3) Contacted the organizer and asked if it was OK to post an event. This is good etiquette. You could just post your event, but you might piss off the group organizer. Either way, be prepared for responses ranging from: "Sure!" to "Only if you pay me" to "Drop dead."

4) At this event in Edinburgh, I offered a discount on tickets and the opportunity to meet with me after the event.

5) Other things to consider:
- Lead time: Do this several weeks to a month before your event.
- Links with more information: Include a link to your Web page or another page describing your event and location.

After striking out with single's groups and groups interested in travel -- two themes of my book -- I contacted a local writers group. First I filled out a profile and then emailed the organizer to ask if I could pitch an event.

Art Attribution:
By Comstratega (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

 

More Marketing for Writers Articles

 

- Twitter for Writers: Strategies for 2014

- Facebook for Writers: Gripes, Tips (Part1)

- Facebook for Writers: Part II

-  How I transformed scenes from a novel in progress into a one-man show called, "The Chronic Single's Handbook."

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18 Months of Social Media: One Writer's Progress Report

For the last year and a half, I've been trying to develop an audience for my writing and a platform for a novel I've yet to finish. I followed the advice of book marketing bloggers and published authors. I drew on my experience with online marketing and Web publishing. I devoted one day a week and a couple of hours most other days to this project. Here's what I have to show for my efforts: It's not impressive.

Exhibit A: The Ugly Truth

My stats:
Monthly Blog traffic: about 3,000 page views
(I blog about 3 times a month)

Social Media connections: 8,400
(Linked In, Facebook Fan and personal page, Google+, Twitter)

E-mail addresses: 700
(includes blog sign ups, addresses I've collected over the years and recently contacted, addresses I've collected at readings and lectures I've given. I use Mailchimp.com to manage much of these names)

*What it would take to wow an agent:
Monthly Blog traffic: 50,000 views
Social media connections: 50,000
Email addresses: 100,000

*Source: a 2012 Writer's Digest article, but I can only imagine expectations getting larger not smaller.
Worth noting:
- One agent in the article said she would be impressed with 10,000 social media connections.
- Another agent blog said that for fiction, having a big platform is less important than it is for writers of non-fiction.



Of course, there  is an easier way to impress an agent with your social media numbers.

No time for social media, but lots of money? Buy followers who will ignore all your posts and never buy your book. But hey, you'll have an impressive platform.

Exhibit B: What Worked

 

1) Blogging regularly
But there also seems to be a point of diminishing return -- and I have other work to do.
- My blogs tend to be long: Better to be long and thorough, than short and useless, particularly if you want people to sign up for your blog.
- I've also noticed that some literary agents who used to blog daily are now blogging less frequently. I blog most Mondays.

2) Inserting a sign-up box at the end of each blog post
- Like many blogs, mine has a sign-up box in the right-hand column. When I started to manually add a sign-up box to the end of each blog, my sign-ups jumped ten-fold. (I used to get maybe one sign-up a month. Now I get 10 to 20 and have a total of 290 subscribers.)
- Getting people to sign up, to give you their e-mail address, means you can communicate directly with them. With social media, the sites own the e-mail addresses and  can hold them hostage from you. (more on this below)

3) Posting links to blogs in social media groups and on Web sites frequented by people interested in my topics.
- This is more effective than having thousands of Twitter followers and Facebook Fans who never look at your stuff.
- A recent blog post with tips on posting to groups

4) Public Readings
- You don't need a published book to read at bookstores, literary events, poetry slams, story slams, public libraries, writing centers, adult education centers, etc. Once an agent approached me after a reading and said she wanted to see my book when it was done. (That was two years ago. Will she remember me?)
- Be sure to ask folks to leave their e-mail addresses if they want to get on your e-mail list.
- Tips on reading your work in public
- My recent experience assembling my work into a one-hour reading and performing it at a fringe theater festival.

5) Lectures
- Again, I don't have a published book, but in writing my novel I've developed some areas of expertise, including world travel and social media.
- I've given travel lectures at local adult education centers and at a local store that sells camping gear. I sent a pitch to a local hostel.
- I've been on panels talking about my experiences using social media.

6) Serendipity
- If you're out there, you'll more likely to bump into people
- On Linked In and Twitter, I've met other writers and influential people in Chicago, Philadelphia, and Florida. (I live in Boston) If I ever did a book tour in those areas, these people might invite friends.

7) Guest blogging
- Some blogs have reposted my blogs, which has driven traffic.
- Those blogs include a Boston writer center and blog carnivals.

8) Monitoring blog traffic
I use a free tool called Statcounter, which is much easier to use than Google Analytics. Also, Statcounter actually has tech support. Google doesn't. I use the traffic monitoring tool to:
- See which blog posts and topics draw the most visitors. (I have a seven year-old post that generates almost 25% of my traffic.)
- See where people are coming from to determine which social media platforms are most worth my time. (Linked In has been best, Twitter has been the worst.)

Exhibit C: What Hasn't Worked

1) Having lots of followers on Facebook, Linked In, and Twitter
- Again, most of my traffic comes from posting links and communicating with people in groups and forums interested in the topics I write about.
- Twitter hashtags have produced little traffic.
- One caveat with Twitter: I have two Twitter pages. One is for book marketing and promotion. The other is for a chonically single people, a theme in my novel. The chonically single page does generate some traffic -- and it has a tenth the followers of my book marketing page. So, your Twitter results may depend on your audience.
- I continue to be active on Twitter because it boosts Klout score, a number is considered important by some agents, publishers, and employers. All about Klout scores in plain English.

2) Facebook Fan page
- Facebook continues to limit the number of friends and fans who see your posts. I have 2,000 fans, most of whom used to see my posts. In April 2012, Facebook began showing my posts to only about 500 of those people. In September 2012, that number was reduced to about 200. Now the number is about 100. To reach all 2,000 of my fans, I have to pay Facebook.
- Facebook experts claim that posts that receive a lot of "Likes" and comments will reach more people. Maybe, but I'm not convince.

3) Paid Facebook Promotions
- I once paid $20 to reach all 2,000 of my fans plus 8,000 of their friends. Most of the people who saw my post were non-native English speakers living in developing countries. More on my experience.

Other Things I'm Going to Try

1) Pinterest

2) Blog carnivals

I found a Web site that allows you submit blog posts for posting on other people's blogs. For book marketing, I've used The Book Designer's Carnival of the Indies. But there are other blog carnivals for other topics.

3) Finding more Web sites -- non-social media sites -- where I can post blog links and communicate with potential readers. This is time-consuming and involves Google searches on topics related to my novel (travel, single people, relationships) and this blog (self promotion for writers.)

Attribution for top image: By Employeeperformance (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

  

Had Enough Book Marketing for One Day?

- Top Secret Work Habits of the Successful Novelist (humor)

- Why I Hate Twitter 

- Vicodin, Klonopin, or Heineken: What Do Unemployed Writers Have for Breakfast?

 

 

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Self-Promotion for Writers: Dump Social Media, Embrace E-mail

 

Writers and Web marketers have become disillusioned with social media because it can be a huge waste of time and you're at the mercy of media companies scrambling to turn a profit. In many cases, simple e-mail marketing techniques can be a better use of your time. This article also includes instructions on how to send an e-mail request for help promoting your writing, book, or literary event.

Social Media Doesn't Work

A recent article by Anne R. Allen, "7 Ways Authors Waste Time 'Building Platform' on Social Media," spells out the problems with social media. Another article by Erik Deckers, "Social Media Stars Killed Social Media," discusses how social media is nearing the end of it's useful life. And of course there's always my favorite book on the subject, "Social Media is Bullshit" by B.J. Mendelsohn.

My personal gripes with social media:

- Twitter is a torrent of crap: authors pitching their books to other authors, people inflating their numbers of followers using follow-back schemes. Crap, crap, crap. Am I going to stop using it? No, because agents and publishers may still want to see big numbers. I'm just reducing my time on it.

- Facebook now charges to reach your fans. I have 2,000 fans. When I post, I only reach 100 to 200 of them. To reach them all will cost me $10 -- per post. 

- Linked In keeps changing its rules. I used to post links to various groups to drive traffic. Now, I've been labeled a spammer and my posts go into the group moderator's "Pending Submissions" folder. I also now receive e-mails from spammers requesting that I connect with them. When I do, I receive business solicitations. I'm guessing these are people who have paid for a premium account and are free to spam away.

 

 E-Mail Marketing Made Somewhat Easy

 The key advantage of e-mail over social media: with the former, you own the e-mail addresses and can contact people directly. With social media, you work hard to add followers -- but you don't have their addresses, the social media site owns them and can control your access to them.

Uses for e-mail:

- You know all those e-mail addresses of friends and co-workers you've been collecting for years? How about sending them all an update on your progress and ask for their help?

- Newsletters: I created signup windows for different topics related to my novel. When I write a blog on a topic of interest to them, I send send it as a newsletter.

- You know all those people who signed up for your blog, but for some reason didn't confirm or verify their subscriptions? Add them to a list in Mailchimp, copy and paste your latest blog post into a blank newsletter and send it to them. I have a group of 30 people to whom I send each blog post. They all signed up, but for some reason never verified. (some are close friends.)

 

Tips and a Sample E-mail

Here are tips for expanding your platform using e-mail marketing. I use Yahoo mail, so we'll use that for the examples. These tips should work with other free Web-based e-mail programs.

In this example, I explain how to send an e-mail to friends and co-workers to request help promoting an upcoming writing event of mine.

1) Sign-up for free program like Mailchimp to manage your e-mail contacts and mailings

- Most Web-based e-mail programs, like Yahoo mail, etc., limit the number of people you can reach with a single e-mail. On Yahoo, it used to be 50. Recently, I tried to send a note to 30 people and it wouldn't go through.

- Then upload your contacts from your e-mail to Mailchimp.

Most e-mail programs include a feature for exporting your contacts. To export to Mailchimp, first save your  contacts as a Yahoo CSV file. This produces an Excel spreadsheet that you can use to cull your addresses.

2) Cull Your E-mail Contacts

- Divide your contacts into two groups: People who will help you promote your writing and people who won't help, but who are interested in your work. 

- The people who will help you, should be contacted directly with a personal note. (this will likely be a very short list.)

- The people who are simply interested -- likely a much larger number -- will be uploaded to Mailchimp for a mass mailing. For this list, I included friends and former co-workers.

*Tip: post a note to Facebook, Twitter, and your other social media sites and ask folks if they want to get on your e-mail list. Allow them to e-mail you directly, or include a link to an e-mail sign up box. Mailchimp allows you to create an e-mail sign up box that you can post on your blog or Web site.

3) How to Ask for Help

- Ask directly for what you need. Don't write a long-winded, puffy note with your request tacked on to the end of the e-mail like an afterthought.

- If you want contacts to e-mail their friends or post to their Twitter followers or share with their Facebook friends, make it easy for them: include sample text, so all they have to do to help is copy, paste, and post.

4) Frequency of E-mailings

- Remember you are NOT creating a weekly or even monthly newsletter. You are sending a semi-personal e-mail. You are asking for a favor or announcing some big news. Don't pester peole with Facebook-like updates.

- I plan on sending a blast to these people a few times a year.

- However, you might want to include a link to your blog, so people can sign up -- if they're interested.

5) Anatomy of an E-mail: One I just sent with comments in [red and brackets]

- Basics: I included a quick summary so people know what e-mail is about without having to do a lot of reading.

- Direct request for help.

- My results: about half the people opened the e-mail. A few clicked on my links. A few sent me a direct e-mail offering to help. (Mailchimp has a tool that lets you see who opened it and what links they clicked on.

- I was surprised by which people offered to help and who couldn't have cared less. Such is life!

The e-mail:

______________________________________________________

[Subject line] Professional update -- plea for help!

 Hi All,

Apologies in advance to anyone who has already seen this on Facebook or elsewhere. But d-day is approaching and I'm getting nervous!

I) Executive summary

 

[Quick summary, so folks can decide whether to read on or delete]

- I've been working on a novel for the last five years and will be circulating to agents in early 2014. The working title for the novel: "The Loneliest Planet."

- I reworked excerpts from the novel into a one-man show called "The Chronic Single's Handbook." I'll be performing the show at two fringe theater festivals next week (two shows in  Portland, ME.) and in late July (five shows in D.C.)

[Direct request for help]

- Can you help me get the word out about the show?

*Mention to people you know who might go, post on Twitter, Facebook, etc. (Sample Tweets and links below.)

*Any help appreciated! My big fear: I've spent four months rehearsing and $1,200 on acting lessons to prepare for these festivals -- and no one shows up to the shows.

[Making it easy for people to help: they just copy and paste]

Sample Tweet:

A friend will perform his show, The Chronic Single's Handbook, in Maine (6/29-30) & D.C. (7/19-28) Please go or RT http://ow.ly/meo8v

Sample Facebook Post:

A friend will perform his one-man comedy play, The Chronic Single's Handbook, in Maine (6/29-30) & D.C. (7/19-28). The play is about a never-married guy who takes a trip around the world looking for the woman of his dreams. Please go or share. http://ow.ly/meo8v

II) More Detail than you want

 

[More info, if they're interested]

1) Here are some links to youtubes of me performing two scenes from the show around Boston. For the theater festivals, I'll have props and no mic, which means I'll be able to move around the stage.

- Opening scene:

"Chronically single? You've got lots of company"

Content warning for adults situations, black tongues, sadistic medical professionals.

http://www.chronicsingle.com/2013/04/chronically-single-youve-got-plenty-of.html

- "The Day I Was Almost Gay"

Content warning for prescription drug abuse, gooey sunburns, and men kissing on the lips.

http://www.theloneliestplanet.com/2012/05/new-video-of-day-i-almost-became-gay.html

[These links are to my blog, which includes a sign-up box, if they're interested.]

2) Here's an online flyer for the show (Twitter and Facebook links go to this page: http://www.chronicsingle.com/2013/05/the-chronic-singles-handbook-shows-for.html

[I copy and pasted a recent, relevant blog post into the e-mail]

The Chronic Single's Handbook

One man's global search for love

A solo performance inspired by actual events featuring Randy Ross

 Exotic Locales

 Pepto-Bismol

A body-spa named The Curious Finger.

Early praise for The Chronic Single's Handbook:

"Hysterical, side-splitting, profound, a tour-de-force of droll insight. One of the year's best."

-- Randy Ross, writer/performer, The Chronic Single's Handbook

"The balance on your credit card is overdue. Please remit immediately."

-- Bank of West Boston

Upcoming Shows

6/29, 6/30: Portland, ME, PortFringe, fringe theater festival
- Location: Portland Stage Company (PSC) Storefront theater space. Directions
- Times: Saturday 6/29 at 6:00PM, Sunday 6/30 matinee at 1:00PM
- Tickets, more information. 
(tickets cost $10)
*Note: "The Chronic Single's Handbook" may also be listed at "The Handbook for the Chronically Single."
- Show program


7/19 - 7/27: Washington, D.C., Capital Fringe, fringe theater festival
- Location: Gearbox, 1021 7th St NW, 3rd floor, D.C. 20001
- Times (five shows) FR 7/19 6:45PM | SU 7/21 9:30PM | TU 7/23 9:30PM | TH 7/25 10:00PM
SA 7/27 2:PM
- Tickets, more information 
(ticket available in early June. Cost $17, plus $5 or so for festival pass)



[quick sign off]


Thanks again!

--rr

  [end of e-mail]

_____________________________________________

 

For more articles on why Social Media Sucks and Tips on E-mail Marketing for Writers

- Book Marketing: E-mail Lists and Newsletters

- Old School Promotion for Writers

- My Bad Experience Paying Facebook to Reach All My Fans

 

Art attribution for thumbs-down image: By Kvarki1 (File:Facebook like thumb.png) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

 

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