For book/ebook authors, publishers, & self-publishers

How Do You Harness Social Media to Create a Buzz?

I am a "babe-in-the-woods" when it comes to Social Media...and I have a specific event that I need to promote. Can you help me? Here are the details:

I was fortunate enough to make it to Round 2 of the Next Top Spiritual Author Contest (out of 2,800 people who entered, only 271 made it to Round 2!) Voting for this round remains open until June 28 at midnight -- and my score is partially based on how many votes I receive.

Here is the problem - I do not have a "following," or a "group," or a "fan club." Only 25 authors will advance to Round 3, so you can see my dilemma.

I have been twittering, tweeting, networking, putting requests on FaceBook, even bought a Facebook ad. I have bugged my friends, contacts and colleagues to death. I even placed an ad in spiritual magazines like this one for Vision Magazine (http://www.visionmagazine.com).

The sad part is -- I AM OUT OF IDEAS! I feel like I should use every spare moment to reach people, but I don't know what else to do...self promotion is a learned art, and I am still a novice.

Can someone in the group help me spread the word about my book and the contest???

Thank you and many blessings!

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Kathryn E. Eriksen on June 17, 2010 at 9:29am

Lisa -

That is the exact reason why I joined this group - to network and learn from others. I am more than happy to promote you, but understand I do not have a big platform right now. (friends and family are not included - besides, they are tired of hearing from me!)

So let's help each other - what can I do for you today? You already know what you can do for me - tell people about the Next Top Spiritual Author Contest, send them to www.VisionMagazine.com and have them click on my ad, where they will read my material and hopefully vote.

Thanks for the response -

Kathy

Permalink Reply by Barbara Scott on June 17, 2010 at 9:39am

Kathryn, here's a great site for you to check out. I've been listening to CDs of Laura Christianson's major morning workshop on social media. She's a whiz at this. Check her out at www.bloggingbistro.com. Hope you win!!

Barbara

Permalink Reply by Kathryn E. Eriksen on June 18, 2010 at 3:48pm

Barbara -

Thanks for the tip. I will definitely check out Laura's site!

Kathryn

Permalink Reply by Tracy Krauss on July 4, 2010 at 6:13pm

May I suggest "Premium Promotional Tips" by author Jo-Anne Vandermeulen. I bought her book and found it to be a fountain of great tips! She is also part of this network.

www.tracykraussexpressionexpress.blogspot.com

Permalink Reply by Chris Hughes on July 22, 2010 at 4:12pm

I suggest AuthorMob's contest to win a free iPad and iPhone app .. it lets you cross promote, grow your fan base on social media platforms and puts your ebooks for sale in Apple's App Store.

For more details, go to their Web site's blog: http://authormob.com/blog/?p=88

Permalink Reply by Stacy-Deanne on July 25, 2010 at 10:45pm

The key to effective promotion when it comes to social networking is DETERMINATION AND TIME. You have to become a valid part of the community on the regular. This means becoming an avid and dedicated participant. You have to "join" the community to the fullest and once people get to know you and become more interested in you, they'll become attracted to your books and possibly buy them.

Social networking works great for me. I gain more book reviews and interviews from contacts I've meet through social networking than I have any other way. I like participating in these sites and I enjoy the interaction. I give advice on discussion boards, I join groups, etc. I am a member of MANY social networks and I try to give each of them my time.

You won't find quick results. You have to work at it and be patient. You have to do it for the long term. A lot of authors breeze into networks, plug their work then disappear. This won't cut it. A lot of authors do this and don't realize that promoting should be taken seriously where social networking is concerned.

The results will take time, but you'll gain contacts, get your name out there and hopefully sell books when it's all over with.

Best Wishes!

http://www.stacy-deanne.net

Permalink Reply by Tracy Krauss on July 27, 2010 at 9:02pm

Excellent advice

Permalink Reply by Kim Mitchell on September 1, 2010 at 10:16pm

Kathryn - Enjoyed reading your post and know that I am in the exact same spot as you are. I have been Facebooking, Tweeting, Blogging, Linking to Book Marketing, bugging family and friends, etc. and I'm just not sure of the next move. So I printed out the discussion and will take a good hard look at all the advice given to you.

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