I intentionally didn't go down the social media rabbit hole. I have a blog site and 150 followers and I post once or twice a month. Then i have time to live and to write and to be. Fortunately writing is my Act 2 in life and I will continue to eat whether my books sell or not. I publish through a small indie press and fellow authors frequently complain they do all the work for social media and then FB or Instagram or Twitter use algorithms to limit who sees their work. So...I don't go there. I read other people's blogs. I share their information. I buy their books.
Sounds like the blog is the way to go. How did you build your mailing list? Any ideas on that, or would you like to write an article for WDRWTA on starting a blog to build a mailing list as a guest author? : )
I'm not sure what I did works for everyone. I basically started it to have a social media presence I could tolerate. I have lived in multiple states and have contacts from over a forty year career. Iam One of those people who stays in touch with people. I sent a copy of my first post to everyone I had an email for with a personal invitation to sign up to follow me. Then I sent a snail mail copy of the post with a handwritten note to the people I didn't have emails for. When my debut novel came out in August I did a birth announcement post. I snail mailed it to people who hadn't signed up yet. I've gotten at least 25 followers from my original contacts telling people to sign up who I don't know. I just went over 10,000 hits and the site will be four years old in Feb 2023. I had 115 books, nooks and kindle sold in the first 4 weeks of my debut. Over a third were preorders. I have no idea if those metrics s are good or mediocre or bad but they're the ones for my site. Do you really think that's article worthy?
Yes, because I don't think people always stay in touch with people and beyond being a good friend you also have a built in fan base. You could discuss some of the things you put in your blog. I think it is a very interesting topic.
The word count is up to you, sometimes I write longer and other times shorter and the time frame is up to you, whenever you think you would like to do it, I can plug you in. I like to talk about the author and the topic to build up some interest the week prior, so having a short bio would be great. I like to have the article by Monday and then I publish late Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. You can submit a picture with the article or I can find one to tie in. We can also link to your website, as well.
I agree. Social media marketing is a time and energy suck. I’ll probably cut back on posting. Facebook is the only place I’m sure I’ve gotten preorders for my book. And it was only because the people have known me personally for years.
I agree and I'm thinking about leaving TikTok for that reason. I get way more views on IG Reels and it takes time to crosspost on both. I'm sure there are other authors who might feel differently, but we have to be selective.
I intentionally didn't go down the social media rabbit hole. I have a blog site and 150 followers and I post once or twice a month. Then i have time to live and to write and to be. Fortunately writing is my Act 2 in life and I will continue to eat whether my books sell or not. I publish through a small indie press and fellow authors frequently complain they do all the work for social media and then FB or Instagram or Twitter use algorithms to limit who sees their work. So...I don't go there. I read other people's blogs. I share their information. I buy their books.
Sounds like the blog is the way to go. How did you build your mailing list? Any ideas on that, or would you like to write an article for WDRWTA on starting a blog to build a mailing list as a guest author? : )
I'm not sure what I did works for everyone. I basically started it to have a social media presence I could tolerate. I have lived in multiple states and have contacts from over a forty year career. Iam One of those people who stays in touch with people. I sent a copy of my first post to everyone I had an email for with a personal invitation to sign up to follow me. Then I sent a snail mail copy of the post with a handwritten note to the people I didn't have emails for. When my debut novel came out in August I did a birth announcement post. I snail mailed it to people who hadn't signed up yet. I've gotten at least 25 followers from my original contacts telling people to sign up who I don't know. I just went over 10,000 hits and the site will be four years old in Feb 2023. I had 115 books, nooks and kindle sold in the first 4 weeks of my debut. Over a third were preorders. I have no idea if those metrics s are good or mediocre or bad but they're the ones for my site. Do you really think that's article worthy?
Yes, because I don't think people always stay in touch with people and beyond being a good friend you also have a built in fan base. You could discuss some of the things you put in your blog. I think it is a very interesting topic.
What would be involved? Word count? Time frame?
The word count is up to you, sometimes I write longer and other times shorter and the time frame is up to you, whenever you think you would like to do it, I can plug you in. I like to talk about the author and the topic to build up some interest the week prior, so having a short bio would be great. I like to have the article by Monday and then I publish late Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. You can submit a picture with the article or I can find one to tie in. We can also link to your website, as well.
OK let me muddle on it and get an idea to you. Thanks for asking. I'm honored
I agree. Social media marketing is a time and energy suck. I’ll probably cut back on posting. Facebook is the only place I’m sure I’ve gotten preorders for my book. And it was only because the people have known me personally for years.
Interesting! Putting more emphasis on one or two seems the way to go.
I agree and I'm thinking about leaving TikTok for that reason. I get way more views on IG Reels and it takes time to crosspost on both. I'm sure there are other authors who might feel differently, but we have to be selective.