The Independent Author and Social Media: A Marriage of Necessity

By February 17, 2011Social Media
Editor’s note: I’m out gallivanting (actually, several speaking gigs and new clients to serve this week), so my friend and social media-savvy author, William Esmont has provided us with a guest post. Enjoy!

With the introduction of the Kindle platform, Amazon made it possible for independent authors and publishers to make their work available to the world with a click of the mouse.

Independent authors rejoiced. Then they set about the business of learning how to sell on the web, and in the process, discovered it’s a lot harder than it looks.

Following are some strategies I learned during my first year as an independent author. In isolation, they are interesting diversions. When combined however, they become a powerful machine capable of drawing global attention to your work and building a loyal fan base of repeat customers.

1. Independent author message boards

Web sites like kindleboards, nookboards, and mobileread are excellent places to meet other authors and hone your craft.

2. Twitter

Create an account dedicated to your writing identity and tweet about your experiences. All of them. Learn hash tags and use them to your advantage.

3. Goodreads

Goodreads is like Facebook for book aficionados. This is where hardcore readers congregate.

4. Book Bloggers

A good review from the right blogger can send your sales into the stratosphere. All they ask in return is a review copy.

5. Facebook

Create a Facebook page for your author activities and post in writing-related groups using the new ‘post as page’ functionality.

6. Personal Blog

This is your public face. Link it with Twitter and your blog posts are distributed to the world automatically.

And last, but not least, buy business cards. You never know when the person sitting next to you in Starbucks is a potential customer.

William Esmont lives and writes in Tucson, Arizona. You can learn more about him and his books at www.williamesmont.com.