This Memorial Day, join me in thanking and honoring
those who sacrificed to make our freedom in America possible.
This week’s focus:
Social media was meant to be social, not commercial. That’s why readers don’t appreciate publishers attempting to infiltrate their social networks. Trying to advertise books to a social network group is like interrupting a meaningful church service with advertisements to sell Bibles. The pitch is in bad taste and out of context, which only makes the congregation mad and distrustful.
Likewise, I find it hard to believe that the average reader wants to spend much time on a publisher’s FaceBook page or Twitter feed. That doesn’t line up with the definition of social interaction. This truth is backed up by a survey of 21,000 book shoppers where the majority said they ignore big publisher websites in favor of visiting author websites. This preference is due to the desire that readers want to build relationships with their favorite authors, rather than a large impersonal company. Thus, publishers would get better return on investment by empowering their authors to maximize social networks, rather than wasting money and manpower building a corporate social media presence.
How can publishers assist their authors to maximize social networks? Help authors create value-laden, word-of-mouth tools that can quickly spread through the social networks, such as free resources, viral videos, contests, coupons, sample chapters, etc. Give authors the tools to be the life of the online party in their own social networks. Happy author, happy readers…happy publisher.
Reminders:
Rob’s New Book Releases June 7th:
Sell Your Book Like Wildfire is the definitive guide for authors on book marketing and publicity. The official release date is June 7th. Pre-order today and getFREE shipping for only $16.99 at:
www.startawildfire.com/books/overview
