Dipping Your Little Toe In

By Reyna Marder Gentin

Part of the How They Do It Series

JH: It’s been a while since we’ve had a guest author, so I’m delighted to welcome Reyna Marder Gentin to the lecture hall today. Social media is a thorn in the sides of so many authors, but it’s a useful marketing tool that we really ought to at least try. Reyna shares her story and offers tips and insights into venturing into the online world of Instagram.

Take it away Reyna…

In 2008, when I was still practicing law, I jumped into Facebook with both feet.

I did it for all the right reasons: to find old friends from my hometown, reconnect with law school classmates, deepen relationships with relatives. I posted photographs of my children, of weddings, of reunions. It felt very innocent, like I’d been invited to a party with everyone I’d ever known, but I didn’t have to get dressed or leave my house. Social media was welcoming; there were few boundaries and no obligations.

Building a Social Media Plan

By Rochelle Melander, @WriteNowCoach

Part of The Writer's Life Series

JH: Most authors would rather write than market, but social media is a useful way to connect with readers. Rochelle Melander shares tips on creating a social media plan you can live with--and maybe even enjoy.

Write Now! Coach Rochelle Melander is an author, certified professional coach, and teaching artist. She is the author of twelve books, including Level Up: Quests to Master Mindset, Overcome Procrastination and Increase Productivity; A Guide for Writers, Entrepreneurs, and Creatives. Through her writing and coaching, Rochelle Melander has helped thousands of people overcome writer’s block, design a writing life, turn their ideas into books, navigate the publishing world, and connect with readers through social media. Her debut book for children Mightier Than the Sword: Rebels, Reformers, and Revolutionaries Who Changed the World through Writing will be released in July. She interviews authors and publishing professionals on her Write Now! Coach blog.

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Take it away Rochelle…

Getting the Word Out About Your Book Release

By Sherry Howard, @SherLHoward

Part of The Writer's Life Series

JH: Book releases have gone online for 2020, and getting the word out about your new book requires a slightly different strategy. Sherry Howard shares an overview (and a few tips) on where you can share your good news.

Sherry Howard lives with her children and silly dogs in Middletown, Kentucky. Sherry is the author of the picture book ROCK AND ROLL WOODS, with a starred Kirkus review. Her poems and stories have appeared in multiple journals and anthologies. She also writes for the educational market, with about a dozen books. Her middle grade book, SPIRITS AMONG US, releases in October.

Sherry Howard | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Take it away Sherry...

Kick the Social Media Addiction

By Bonnie Randall

Part of The Writer's Life Series 

JH: Social media has its uses, but when it sucks away our lives, joy, and creative energy, it doesn't do any writer any good. Bonnie Randall shares some scary numbers on what social media can do to your writing and your life.

Even as I write this, the ensuing hypocrisy is not lost on me: most of you will all be reading it off a screen, and will have likely arrived her via some social media platform; Facebook, Twitter, or the like.

Nonetheless:

I have arrived at a writing resolution for 2020 that’s been a long time coming, and a longer time needed. My own addiction to social media is a problem, and I’ve known it for a while—but it is not until now, with a few lofty fiction goals[1] in my near future, that I have actually wanted to make a change.

Things That Happen When You Stop Chasing Social Media

By Aly Brown, @AlyConnerBrown

Part of The Writer’s Life Series 

JH: Social media is both a blessing and a curse, and no writer should feel pressured to engage if they don't want to. Aly Brown kicks off the New Year with thoughts and tips on what happens when you don't let social media rule your life. 

Aly Brown is a newspaper editor and author represented by BookEnds LLC. She recently inked a deal with Feiwel & Friends / Macmillan for a nonfiction middle grade book on Alvin Submersible called The Last Unexplored Place on Earth. Release date 2023.

Website | Twitter | Grammar Chicken

Take it away Aly...

6 Ways to Build Traffic to Your Website

By Chrys Fey, @ChrysFey

Part of The Writer’s Life Series

JH: Being an author these days also means being a promotor, marketer, and even social media guru—at least to some degree. Today, Chrys Fey takes the podium to share tips on building traffic to our website.

Chrys Fey is the author of the award-winning book Write with Fey: 10 Sparks to Guide You from Idea to Publication. Catch the sparks you need to write, edit, publish, and market your book! From writing your novel to prepping for publication and beyond, you’ll find sparks on every page, including 100 bonus marketing tips. Fey is an editor for Dancing Lemur Press and runs the Insecure Writer’s Support Group’s Goodreads book club. She is also the author of the Disaster Crimes series. Visit her blog, Write with Fey, for more tips.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Blog | Newsletter

Take it away Chrys…

The Indie Publisher’s Toolbox – Part 3: Social Media

By Ray Flynt

Part of the Indie Author Series

Thus far we’ve examined an author’s website, blogs, and an author’s newsletter.

The toolbox analogy is apt because, although you may think of yourself as a writer, you still need to build your audience. To be cliché, “Rome wasn’t built in a day” and neither will you reach your full sales potential overnight. It’s a process. At times, it may seem like two steps forward and one backward.

My first published book (before becoming an indie author) was a hardcover priced at $25.95. I joked that you couldn’t get relatives to pay that much for a book. Readers who willingly shell out nearly $30 for the latest Danielle Steele or James Patterson, might be less likely to take a chance on an unknown author.

5 Tips for Increasing Sales Through Social Media (NSFW)

By John G. Hartness, @johnhartness

Part of the Indie Author Series

I put NSFW in the title, so I can swear all I want, right? Yeah, that’s what we’re going to refer to as “click-bait,” or “lying.” Don’t get me wrong, I swear plenty. You can read my Facebook feed or most of my books and find that out for yourself.

But that’s not really what I’m about here. Fiction University isn’t a place for me to be all purple-headed, pro-wrestling loving, life of the party Hartness. It’s a place for me to be…well, still purple-headed, because that stuff doesn’t just wash out in one shot, but I do try to be a little less bombastic and reserved here. 

Because this is a different audience than for my rough-and-tumble dark urban fantasy, or for the Authors & Dragons podcast, where I play an idiotic bard in a game of D&D with five other writers. Some of you might not want to hear a bunch of fart jokes (or you won’t admit that you want to hear them), so we’ll stick to the stated purpose of the article – making your social media activity work for you more effectively, in a few easy steps.

Social Media Content: Feeding the Beast

By Jana Oliver, @crazyauthorgirl

Part of the Indie Authors Series

One of the more challenging aspects of an indie author’s career—besides writing the books—is generating “content” for your various social media platforms. A few years back all you needed was to blog regularly, which was challenging enough. Nowadays you need endless items for your social media platforms, and coming up with all that, without resorting to the constant “buy my book” pleas, can be daunting.

Fiction University Has its Own Facebook Page!

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

It's long overdue, but you can now follow Fiction University on Facebook. You'll find all the daily articles, plus great posts and news from the Faculty, as well as interesting writing and publishing information and articles from around the web.

Come on over and say hello!

3 Elements of Every Successful Social Media Post

By Michael Rogan, @selfpubnation

Part of the How They Do It Series

JH: Social media is an important part of today's world, and love it or hate it, it's up to each writer to figure out how we want to use it. Michael Rogan stops by the lecture hall today to share some tips on navigating our social media a little easier.

Michael is a former cubicle monkey turned self-published author, and the author of more than 35 books, including How to Write a Book That Doesn't Suck (and Will Actually Sell) and the Lazy Writer's Guide to Pinterest. He's also the creator of the seminar "5 Secrets to Making a Damn Good Living as a Writer" - which is totally free, and worth the price of admission. He is also the author of three horrible unfinished novels involving zombies and alien doctors. One of which he started working on as a 16-year-old in the back of a school bus in Encinitas, California.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Goodreads | Amazon | iTunes

Take it away Michael...

10 Ideas for Social Media Posts

By Sarah Nicolas, @Sarah_Nicolas

Part of the How They Do It Series

JH: Any day I get to help a friend launch their debut novel is a good day. Today is a good day. Sarah Nicholas and I first crossed paths online, and later in person at an RWA conference over some really amazing food. It's fitting that she's here today to share some tips on social media, since that's where we originally met. Her YA novel, Dragons Are People, Too just released, so check it out if you like shape shifting dragons (and seriously, who doesn't?).

Sarah is a 30-something YA author who currently lives in Orlando, FL with a 60-lb mutt who thinks he's a chihuahua. She believes that some boys are worth trusting, all girls have power, and dragons are people too.

She's a proud member of the Gator Nation and has a BS in Mechanical Engineering, but has switched careers entirely. She now works as an Event Coordinator for a County Library and as a freelance book publicist and author's assistant. She also blogs at YAtopia and video blogs at the YA Rebels.
Sarah provides freelance book publicity and author assistant services.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes

Take it away Sarah...

Choosing the Right Social Media Site for You and Your Readers

By Marcy Kennedy, @MarcyKennedy

Part of the Indie Author Series

When it comes to how to spread the word about your book, you’ll hear widely divergent opinions. Don’t bother with promotion. Promote in every possible way. Do real life events—forget about social media. Don’t bother with real life events—stick to blogging and social media. Buy ads. Don’t buy ads.

The one thing everyone can agree on is that indie writers need a way to let potential readers know their books exist. We don’t have access to a publisher’s ready-made audience. My experience (backed up by discussions I’ve had with other authors who’ve used the same methods) is that social media does help build your audience.

Social Media: Blessing Or Curse? The Modern Writer’s Dilemma

By Dario Ciriello

Part of the Indie Author Series

The conventional wisdom today is that every author—and especially the self-published author— needs a strong social media presence.

This core assumption is reinforced by agents, publishers, publicists, and other authors. Some agents won’t even take on a new client unless that writer has a Facebook following of at least 500 and a Twitter following in excess of 5,000. At minimum, you also need a website; but you should also blog, guest blog, and have a Pinterest page for your each of your books, right?

And of course you need to interact with your readers, even if they’re only potential readers, and respond to them on each of the platforms you’re active on. Even if it takes time—hours every day—away from your writing, maintaining a strong online presence is something no writer can ignore. Because it’s all about community, right?

Social Media for Authors 101

By Gary Parkes, @gmparkes

Part of the How They Do It Series 

JH: Please welcome Gary Parkes to the lecture hall today, to share some tips on starting out--and setting up--your basic social media plan.

Gary is the founder of Media Seahorse and has been successfully marketing for twenty years in various roles and in multiple fields--from working with social media to writing radio commercials to planning entire marketing campaigns. He has a creative yet common sense approach to achieve the desired results, and has worked with international bestselling author Jennifer Skiff (Simon & Schuster/Atria), Jeff High (Penguin), Cynthia Lott (Piscataqua), FoxTale Book Shoppe and many others both in and out of the publishing industry. He has helped with media placement for Brad Meltzer, John Lescroart, Adriana Trigiani, Iris Johansen among others. Gary and his wife Stacie have lived in the metro-Atlanta area since 1997 and are originally from New York. They have two daughters, Abbie, age 15 and Delilah, age 11. Gary earned his Bachelor’s Degree from the State University of New York at Albany.

Website | Facebook | Twitter 

Take it away Gary...

The Basics of a Social Media Launch Party

By Jordan McCollum, @JordanMcCollum

Part of the Indie Authors Series

For independent authors, launch parties are fun, but online and social media launch parties can be much more effective at getting the word out—especially when you team up with other authors.

To throw a social media launch party, you need a social media presence: a Facebook page, a Twitter account, etc. Much like a real-world party, you need to pick a date and time and advertise it, spreading the word as widely as possible, preferably at least a week in advance. I put a note about the party in my blog tour for the book the week before the party.

Let Me Check the Numbers: Is it Possible to Have Too Many Twitter Followers?

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Social media is a numbers game. How many followers or friends you have, how often you tweet, who listens and re-tweets. It's maddening. It's also been proven that things that get measured are the things people will focus on. So the focus is on how many, not how valuable.

There's no way to quantify whether or not you have "good" followers or just a number. An author with 678 followers where every single one goes out of their way to help promote that author has a far more valuable social network than an author with 12,325 followers who never do anything to help promote their work.

Yet we view the 12K author as more successful.

Guest Author Dr John Yeoman: A 3-Step Way to Become a Celebrity Author

By Dr. John Yeoman, @Yeomanis

I'd like to welcome Dr. John Yeoman to the blog today to share with us some tips on achieving what we all want--to be the next JK Rowling/James Paterson/Stephen King/Insert Huge Named Author of Your Choice.

Dr. John Yeoman, PhD Creative Writing, judges the Writers’ Village story competition and is a tutor in creative writing at a UK university. He has been a successful commercial author for 42 years. His free 14-part course in writing fiction for profit can be found online.

Take it away John...

The Great Twitter Experiment: What Does "More Tweets" Really Get You?

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Back in mid-March I decided to do an experiment. I wanted to utilize Twitter better, and since I'm known online as a writing tips blogger, I decided to follow in the footsteps of the savvy Elizabeth Craig and tweet the great writing posts and articles I see every day. (And if you're not following Elizabeth yet, go do so. She also does a roundup of her links and tweets on Sundays on her blog if you're not on Twitter but still want to see the posts)

My goals were to do more of what I'm known for (improving your writing), give back to the bloggers who have been supportive of me, and explore the benefits of frequent tweets. It was a networking opportunity, and a way to meet some new folks.

A Twitter-Sweet Love Story

By Tiffany Reisz

JH: It's always a treat to have the wild and crazy Tiffany Reisz on the blog, and today she's sharing her Twitter plan. Rarely a week (or even a day) goes by when she doesn't tweet something that just cracks me up, I tell ya, this girl's a natural on Twitter. Even though we've met in person, it wasn't until we started tweeting that we became friends. She has some great advice for using Twitter to your advantage.

Tiffany is the author of THE ORIGINAL SINNERS series (THE SIREN, eBook May 1st, in stores July 28th). She lives in Lexington, Kentucky with her gorgeous boyfriend and two kittehs (one good, one evil). Follow her on Twitter @tiffanyreisz if you dare…

Take it away Tiffany...