Social media for authors: interview with expert Anita Chapman
Hi Anita! Thanks so much for agreeing to be featured on my blog. So, first of all, can you tell me a little bit about you and what you do?
Hi Charlotte! Thank you very much for inviting me to be a guest on your blog. I’m a freelance social media manager with clients in the world of books, and I’ve been running social media courses for writers and working one-to-one with author clients for five years. My clients have included authors published with the Big Five and smaller publishers, and I’ve worked with indie authors as well.
So, let’s start with the big question: do authors HAVE to use social media?!
Well…publishers, big and small expect their authors to use social media and indie authors need to use social media to get attention for their books, so the answer is yes! (a few famous authors get away with not using it or by not being on Twitter, but this is rare).
It’s beneficial for authors to use social media for many reasons, mainly:
So readers can contact them directly (readers love being able to do this!).
To build relationships with book bloggers, booksellers, libraries, other authors etc.
So they can promote positive reviews and guest posts during a blog tour (more on blog tours in a bit).
When promoting events for organisations, I’ve seen that when an author isn’t active on social media, it’s more difficult to get a buzz going because there’s no one there to share tweets and posts with their fans.
And people are less likely to tweet about how much they love your book, if you’re not there to reply to them and retweet their tweet.
Can you give us a brief overview of which platforms you think are most useful for writers?
It’s a good idea to be active on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, if possible.
Twitter: for building relationships mainly with book bloggers, booksellers, libraries, other authors, and some readers (less likely to find as many readers here). Being on Twitter is a great way to stay up-to-date with the book world, and if you’re unpublished you get to know very quickly who the editors and agents are, and who the successful authors are as well. Networking on Twitter can bring opportunities too (see question below).
Facebook: for connecting with readers on an author page (and for running ads), and perhaps in own group for readers. Also great for networking with other authors and book bloggers using a personal profile and in groups (such as Book Connectors). Facebook Live is a good way to get attention, if you’re brave enough. Facebook stories are growing, but more slowly than Instagram stories (mentioned below).
Instagram: for connecting with readers (especially of younger generation), book bloggers and bookstagrammers (who review books directly on Instagram). Instagram stories are growing in popularity and are fun to create too. Videos can be posted there or on IGTV, and again, if you’re brave enough you can use Instagram Live via stories.
Social media gets a lot of bad press. Can you share some of its main positives?
The book community is generally friendly and supportive and it is possible to mostly stay in the lovely bookish world on Twitter if you follow and interact with the right people. The same goes for Facebook (be careful when accepting friend requests though), and Instagram.
Writers often spend a lot of time alone and it’s nice to be able to communicate with other writers during breaks and to support each other online too.
Most authors have a blog tour for their books during launch week where book bloggers post reviews on their blogs (and usually Amazon and Goodreads) or host guest posts and tweet the links as well as sharing them on Facebook and sometimes Instagram. Book bloggers are hugely important to authors and they really help to create a buzz for books. (It’s important to thank book bloggers whenever they do anything for you and to show lots of appreciation).
Opportunities can arise, especially on Twitter, including talks, guest blog posts, interviews, articles, radio and podcast interviews.
And, you never need to go to an author-related event without knowing anyone in advance. Arriving on your own is less of a worry when you’ve met attendees on social media beforehand. If you have an up-to-date photo on your profiles they’ll often approach you too to say hello.
What are the biggest issues authors face when it comes to social media?
Often authors starting out on social media worry about doing the wrong thing. Twitter can be a struggle for many as it isn’t obvious what to do at first. Facebook and Instagram are more intuitive. Learn by treading carefully and by looking at what other authors are doing. A lot can be learnt by observing your peers and idols.
Authors can find using social media affects their writing time and ability to focus. Scheduling tweets and Facebook author page posts can help with this and using a timer when writing and during time spent on social media.
When it becomes a chore, step back and think about how you can be more efficient time-wise and find a way to enjoy it if you can!
Mental health is mentioned in a question below, so I will talk about that and the negative side of social media there.
What are the most common mistakes you see authors making when it comes to their social media?
Not checking notifications and reacting to them is a big one. You never know what you might be missing and sometimes you can offend someone by not acknowledging/replying to their comment or tweet, especially if they’ve gone to the trouble of raving about your book or congratulating you on a recent success.
And sometimes liking a reply to your tweet or Facebook/Instagram comment is not enough - a reply is better and means that person is more likely to do the same again. Saying thank you on social media is time well spent.
Twitter:
It’s easy to reply to a tweet where several people are mentioned, copying them all in (a bit like ‘reply to all’ emails in the old days before it became the done thing to use bcc). This can be annoying for those copied in if a conversation goes back and forth for ages, and can get you muted or blocked.
Including the wrong username in a tweet. Happens a lot and I see big companies do it all of the time. It’s easy to do, and worth checking carefully that you are mentioning the right person!
Using the wrong hashtag for an event: I see this often and sometimes two or more hashtags are used for the same event (often there’s one ending in 20 and another ending in 2020 - depending on the year). This is not great for the organisation running the event as the hashtag is less likely to trend, and if you’re not using the official/most popular hashtag, your tweet will not get as much attention. Usually an event organiser will make it clear what the hashtag is in advance and it’s worth checking this.
Facebook:
Not checking Timeline and tagging settings. I’ve seen a few situations where authors have had x-rated stuff posted on their timeline and they haven’t noticed initially.
Inviting someone to like your author page as soon as they accept your friend request is bad etiquette, and if you do invite someone to like your page, like theirs in return.
Not reading the pinned post in groups which usually tells you the rules of what you can and cannot post.
Dropping links in groups without interacting there the rest of the time.
Mentioning someone in an update or when replying to a comment without tagging them - in this case they may not receive a notification.
Instagram:
Not editing photos. A bit of cropping and brightening can make a difference.
When sharing from Instagram to Twitter (which doesn’t get as much engagement as posting directly on Twitter generally unless you’re a celeb), usernames are often different so if you mention @someone on Instagram and their username on Twitter is @someone1, it doesn’t work.
How useful is social media really from a book-sales perspective?
Apparently, Twitter does sell books, although not always directly so it’s difficult to measure.
When a book is released or at a temporary reduced price, it’s worth tweeting buy links as long as it isn’t all an author does (and there aren’t too many). You can make these tweets more interesting with quotes from book bloggers/authors in the same genre, and use graphics too.
The main aim of Twitter is to build relationships with others in the book community and to raise your profile. When an author doesn’t know what to tweet, it’s a good idea to think about your brand (a bit about your books and a bit about you). For example, an historical fiction author with a book set during the eighteenth century could share photos from trips to country houses with history of that era, including objects and paintings. If an author is interested in baking, tweets with photos of cakes are a great way to connect with readers.
Get involved with the hashtags for TV and radio programmes relating to subjects and themes from your books. Trending hashtags can be helpful for anniversaries/special days relating to your book e.g., Valentine’s Day is a good one for authors of romantic fiction.
There’s a lot more info about Twitter for writers in my beginner’s guide here.
What would you say to authors who find social media negatively affects their mental health?
It’s easy to get into arguments on social media when talking about certain subjects (or to attract aggressive/negative replies) and if this is something you find upsetting, think carefully before tweeting or posting updates.
If it’s only one platform that’s having an effect on your mental health (often Twitter), focus on the others for a while. Muting (words as well as users) and blocking on Twitter can be helpful, and if Twitter is too much during times of unpleasant news, you can schedule tweets and drop in every now and again, or take a complete break, which leads me onto the next question.
How do you feel about social media breaks?
I think social media breaks are a great idea, and it’s important to take them (I’ve blogged about it here). I often take time off during school holidays to be with family and return feeling refreshed. Also, sometimes it’s worth stepping back and reviewing your approach, and asking yourself if it’s working. Diarised breaks during quieter periods and time off means you can see social media differently on return and come up with new ways of doing things.
Look at stats such as Twitter analytics (not for hours, just to get a general idea) and if your tweets have been getting little engagement, work out why that is. When you return, it can take a few days to get as much attention as you’re used to, but with a bit of effort it doesn’t take long to get back in the swing of things. If leaving social media completely for a week or two is a worry, you can schedule tweets and Facebook author page updates during a break.
Oh, and one lovely thing to do, often on a Sunday is to switch your phone off for a few hours! It’s bliss. And advice I often hear is to keep phones out of the bedroom at night which means using an alarm clock, but also that you’re not on your phone as soon as you wake up in the morning or before going to sleep at night.
Can you tell us a little bit more about your social media courses?
On my courses, attendees bring laptops and learn how to raise their profiles on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram; how to manage time spent on social media efficiently and about engaging a blog audience. Former attendees have described my courses as informative, easy to understand, confidence-building, inspiring, and enjoyable. The day is relaxed and friendly with a sit-down lunch in the venue’s restaurant and plenty of refreshment breaks-dietary requirements are catered for and there is always cake!
Upcoming courses are on:
25 April 2020 at DoubleTree Hilton Tower of London
16 May 2020 Holiday Inn, Ipswich Road, Norwich
A course is planned for November 2020 in London. Details to follow on my website soon.
Find out more with client endorsements and quotes from former attendees, and book via my website.
And a little bit more about your other services?
My most popular service is the New Client Package which includes a call or meeting in London/Surrey and the drafting of a social media plan, usually in the run up to a book launch (but it can be anytime).
I also offer short-term assistance during launch week by taking over an author’s social media accounts and can provide social media promo during a physical book launch. There’s more info with client endorsements on my website, and you can contact me there for a quote.
Anything else you’d like to share?
My blog on social media for writers has ‘how-to’ posts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram as well as guest posts from authors on social media and book marketing; you can find it here. I’m also on social media here: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and my website is here: https://neetsmarketing.com.
You can listen to me talking about social media for writers on Brooklands Radio here.
Thank you for such interesting questions, Charlotte! I really enjoyed answering them.