Building a fanbase for your book(s) on social media

In the digital age, you no longer have to call all your friends one by one to announce your new book (of course you still can), because that is a lot more efficient with social media. By creating a fanbase, you can keep your readers, friends, family, acquaintances, colleagues and neighbours informed of the writing process and actively involve them in the process of writing your book. And you can reach new readers!

Below you will find the basics of setting up a social media strategy, start with it before your book is published!

• Are you going to post updates often or once in a while? If you post less often, you can safely do that from your own Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn channel. Do you want to post updates several times a week? Then create a separate author page and make extra updates for this (in addition to those for your personal channels).
• So which social media do you go for? Consider where your target group is active. Both Facebook and Instagram are widely used social media worldwide for a broad target group. Do you publish a management book or other type of non-fiction book? Make sure you are active on LinkedIn and/or Twitter. Are you good with videos or do you have a young target group? Go for YouTube and/or Snapchat. We don’t have to say it anymore: just provide a good photo and catchy description.
• Most importantly, the content! Of course, you don’t just want to say “Buy my book!”  because that can also have the opposite effect. Build a bond with your followers, help others and show multiple sides of being a writer and your book. 

Before publishing your book, you can bond with your readers on social media using some of the following tips:

• Disclose the title of the book to your followers so that they are the first to know!
• Unveil the cover design. If you have multiple designs and you are not sure which one to use, let your followers vote for their favourite. This way, they feel more involved and motivated to read the book
• Give them updates on the writing process.
• Share a photo of your favourite writing spot.
• Tell them where you get writing inspiration from.
• Introduce an interesting character from your book.
• Share quotes and excerpts from the book.

To build/strengthen the bond with your readers after publishing your book, here are some tips:

• Once your book has been published, we’ll provide you with the link to a Sweek Publishing widget which you can use on your own site.
• Ask your readers if they can share a photo of/with the book on social media and tag your author page. You can also re-post their pictures, thereby motivating more people to share their pictures.
• Share reviews and social media posts about your book by book bloggers.
• Share your link to your book on Goodreads and other reading communities.
• Is your book in the bookstore or library? Take a (proud) photo of it!
• Share your milestones. For example, if you’ve sold your 100th book, talk about it!
• Share links to events that you will attend.
• Use popular hashtags with your posts, especially on Twitter and Instagram. Think about which hashtags your target audience would follow. You can use #sweekpublishing so we can share your book!
• Provide some interactive questions to increase your reach.

For example:

Who is your favourite character in my book?

Tag someone who looks/behaves like a certain character from my book!

Which writer (alive or dead) would you like to meet? Which book would you absolutely recommend to me?

What should my next book be about?

Building a community through Facebook Groups

Many avid writers and readers are active in Facebook groups, for example, to discuss books they are already reading or to discover new books. Make sure you don’t spam and always read the rules before you post so you can adjust your message to the theme/purpose of the group. How can you introduce your book?

• Let the members know that you are looking for proofreaders or book bloggers for reviews
• Tell them about a giveaway that you are organising
• Post a relevant question or discussion point. The more interaction on your message, the greater the reach in the group.
• Or simply share the link to your book with a touching message  + short summary and link to the book. Here’s an example of a message:

“After years of writing, deleting and rewriting, the time has finally come: my novel has been published! A real dream come true because I’ve always wanted to tell this story. As an indie author, I am happy to use this group to introduce my book to you. According to many readers a must-read for anyone who likes a solid thriller!”

If you have stumbled upon this page but do not know how to self-publish a book with Sweek Publishing, check out this blog post.