Here is Part 3 of the series I started some time ago.

Like it or not, Social Media increases in importance with every passing day, for all authors, both conventionally and independently published.

Social Media 103 – Life On Line

A quick note. Do remember, if you are published with an established conventional publisher, you will have (usually) some support from them.

However, if you are an Indie, or with one of the smaller publishers where you have to do all the work yourselves, then this is aimed towards you.

Good Manners!

I hardly have to teach you good manners – but there are times when people do forget their manners when on-line.

Facebook Friend Requests. Set your Settings to Accept Friends. This is your Author Personal Page we are talking about. Accept their requests and expand your Friends network. This is not just good manners, this is BUSINESS!

To borrow a quote, SELLING IS TELLING!!!!

If you go to a Group page, and click on Members, you can see who else is in the group. You can also see if they are open to Friend Requests. If they are NOT open to Friend Requests, this looks at best, unsure of how Social Media works, and at worst, downright unfriendly.

The above is a screenshot of the Friends List of a Promo group I belong to. It’s an open group, so you don’t have to be members of its parent organisation to post here, or to share.

Looking at these members.  I’m already Friends with Sue, Robin and Jeanette, and several others are Accepting friend Requests.

But some are not! If I click on their Profile, I get their Authors Page, which I can then Like, but I can’t see if we have any Friends-in-Common. This is a VERY good way of deciding whether to “Friend” someone, or how to respond to a Friend request.

How many friends in common do you have? If its at least 60, then there is a very good chance you will at least have something to chat about.

Are they writers? Bloggers? Agents?

One gives a little more info. She has Author in her Page Title. Some others? Not even that. What are they hoping to get out of the group? What might they contribute?

With Kenneth and Jane, I can see a bit more about them, so can click on Add Friend.

Anyone who describes themselves as an “Entrepreneur” or “Content creator” will not be Friended or Followed. Anyone who trades in Bitcoins or other dodgy Investors, ditto.

So YOU have control of your Friends. You can always “Unfriend” someone or Unfollow them on Twitter.

If in doubt as to someone, check out their Timeline. However, if its just a page, all you can see are their own posts. Do they post any original content, or do they just repost pictures of cats? You do want SOME original content. I find our hedgehogs helpful in this regard.

Looking at Twitter:

Do NOT Lock your account! Imagine what your readers think when they click on your Twitter page and see “This account’s Tweets are protected. “ Again, remember, this is BUSINESS

And Now on to something else Important! #Hashtags.

Hashtags are everywhere. Particularly in the vernacular of the young. The do have a use apart from making people sound either cool or pretentious. Sooner or later, they won’t be cool and trendy, but they WILL still be important.

So What Are Hashtags?

Let’s start with the simple definition:

hash·tag: A word or phrase preceded by a hash mark (#), used to identify a keyword or topic of interest and facilitate a search for it.

Whenever you add a hashtag, it can be indexed by the social network and is then searchable by other users. When you click on a hashtag, you’ll go to a page that shows all of the posts with the same hashtags.

Use them but use them well. The easiest #hashtag is #thetitleofyourbook. i.e. #heartofstone in my case.

On Twitter or Facebook, do NOT use too many (3 tops)!

On Instagram, you can use as many as you like, up to about 10.

Normally, only run 2 words together. (Your book title is an exception).

There are lots of pages suggesting good hashtags for writers. Here are some good ones, though.

By Genre

#Romance #Erotica #Paranormal #RomanticSuspense #UrbanFantasy #WomensFiction
#YA

Books and Reading

#Books #BookWorm #GreatReads #IndieThursday #MustRead #WhatToRead

Self-Publishing

#Amazon #eBook
#BookBuzz #eReaders
#ePubChat  #Kindle #KindleBargain
#Kobo #KDP (Kindle Publishing Direct) #Nook
#SmashWords

Promotion

#Giveaway #BookMarketing #FollowFriday #FreeReads
#Novelines (to quote your own work) #FreeBook
#FridayReads #TeaserTues

Publishing

#AskAgent #AskAuthor #AskEditor #Publishing #SelfPub
#MSWL – manuscript wish list. (This is where agents post what they are looking for)

Writing Process

#AmWriting #AmEditing #CopyWriting #Creativity #Editing #IndieAuthor #RomanceWriter
#WIP #WordCount #WriteMotivation #WritersLife

How do you use them? Just add them onto the end of all your messages or posts.

Finally, do remember, this is not about “Making Friends”, although that can happen in real life, it’s about SELLING BOOKS!

Goodreads, once you have your Book and Author pages set up, only requires an occasional visit.

Do encourage your readers / followers / friends to LEAVE A REVIEW when they have read your book, and to leave it on Amazon AND on Goodreads. They can “cut and paste” between the sites.

Goodreads reviews have the advantage that – to date – your review won’t disappear because you are a “Friend” of the Author / Reader. 

To find your LATEST Review,

Go to your Book page, then Scroll Down till you see COMMUNITY REVIEWS, then Click on SORT ORDER, and then on “Newest”

Click on See Review and you’ll see your chosen review on its own, and also a button on the right-hand side for Share on Facebook. Click this to share your review to your own Facebook page, and then again to your Author page, or to any Group you want to past it to.

You can “copy and paste” the link for the review from the Address Bar at the top of the page, and then post this into a Tweet, or into a Blog or any other post.

You do want to have a “Brand” and part of your Brand is making sure your Info is up to date on all your platforms. So your own website, your Facebook page, your Amazon and Goodreads page, and your own page on Promoting Yorkshire Authors or any other group page is giving the same message.

Goodreads is actually owned by Amazon, but there doesn’t seem to be any connection between the two.

Pinterest is very low maintenance. Just post or save pics you like or want to save. Check out boards that interest you. I do find it useful, but not “demanding”

Instagram.

You will build up a group of followers, and people you follow, as time goes by on Instagram.

Go to your Instagram page and click on Followers. Hou can see who wants to follow you. This was a recent one of mine. I didn’t follow her back! Use common sense when following back.

I couldn’t help feeling her interests didn’t obviously lie in Romantic Fiction.

So I Blocked her! Click on the 3 little dots to the right of her name.

You will see something like this.

So you’ve Blocked them, and click on Dismiss. Note that this person has NEVER posted!!

Finally, do remember, again, this is not about “Making Friends”, although that can happen in real life, it’s about SELLING BOOKS!