Writers Who Kill

Are You Using Your Author Tools to Their Full Potential?

By Heather Weidner

Are you using your author tools to their fullest potential? Do you have a website, blog, social sites, and newsletter? Here are some ideas to enhance or spruce up your platform and book marketing.

Website:

• Create a home base. Your website should be the hub or the center for all of your promotional activities.
• Make sure the information is current and fresh.
• Look at your site on a tablet or phone. Is it easy to navigate? Are the colors and photos appealing? Is your information current?
• Check out your photos. Is your information dated? It may be time for a refresh.
• Use a blog to keep readers interested in your site and encourage them to visit regularly. Chances are you don’t have new book content regularly.

 

Social Media Sites:

• Make sure readers know it’s you. Your sites should look similar (your branding: colors, images, photos, etc.).
• Use them to advertise events, new books, your blog, and newsletter.
• Link to posts and pages to drive traffic to your website.
• Make sure you spend some time each week following new accounts and commenting on others’ posts. The social part is key.
• Start your social media platforms before your book is published. It takes a while to build a following. I focus on one site a week to build an audience.
• Post regularly. Readers want to be informed and entertained. Graphics, videos, and posts that spawn discussions attract more attention. 

Newsletter:

• Use this tool to connect with your loyal readers and build relationships. You own and control your email list. If your social media sites shut down or they ban you, you have no way of contacting your readers.
• Start building your email list before your book is published. Collect names and email addresses.
• Use this to advertise events, books, and blog posts. Recycle content from your blog.
• Make sure the branding matches your website and social media sites. You want a unified look.
• Try to be consistent when sending out your newsletter. Decide the cadence that works for you. Weekly may be too much and annually is not enough. Publicists will often say that you should not just send newsletters when you have new books.
• Have a sign-up feature on your website. Remind your folks on social media to register for your newsletter. Just don’t have the pop-up appear when someone visits your site. Put a delay on it, so you’re not doing a hard sell before they have even viewed your content.
• Make sure you have a good, strong subject line that draws people into your newsletter. People have hundreds of emails in their inboxes, and you only have a couple of seconds to attract attention.
• Look for ways to include interesting content that appeals to readers of your genre. Readers want to be entertained and informed.

 

What has worked best for you for book promotions? Is there anything that hasn’t really worked for you?

Through the years, Heather Weidner has been a cop’s kid, technical writer, editor, college professor, software tester, and IT manager. She writes the Pearly Girls Mysteries, the Delanie Fitzgerald Mysteries, The Jules Keene Glamping Mysteries, and The Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe Mysteries. She blogs regularly with the Writers Who Kill.

Originally from Virginia Beach, Heather has been a mystery fan since Scooby-Doo and Nancy Drew. She lives in Central Virginia with her husband and a crazy Mini Aussie Shepherd.