Social networking can be a time sink, but it doesn't have to be. More importantly, social networking is a publicity must for any author. There are platforms to be built on social networks. You can build one there.If you want to build your author platform, start here:
Create a Fan Base on Major Social Networks.
Set up profiles on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google+. Your fans on these networks might later purchase your book. They also may circulate the information you post—the links to your blog posts, the date of your book release, the times and places where you are speaking or teaching. This allows their followers to read your status updates and click on your links, which, in turn, increases the chance that new people might check you out, read your blog, subscribe to your newsletter, follow you, purchase your book, etc.
Develop Expert Status.
Every time you participate in forums and groups, such as those on Facebook and LinkedIn, or in any way post information about your topic, you demonstrate your expertise and give other people in those groups, forums, and social networks a chance to notice this. They will look at your profile. They will click on the links you have provided and then possibly choose to subscribe to your blog, follow, or connect with you on a social network, or in some way become fans.
Increase Your Searchability.
Work to increase the searchability of your name, your book title, and your website or blog. Each time you join a network, you create a profile that includes a link that can be found in search engines. This profile also may have a place to link back to your website or blog, which can increase traffic to your blogged book. Most profiles also can include your name, your book title, and your website.Because social networks already rank highly in search engines, your profiles make all of your information more findable via searches.
All three of the above features of social networks are key reasons why you need to get involved in social networking.
About the Author
The author of ten books, including How to Blog a Book, Nina Amir is an editor, consultant, and coach. Her clients’ books have sold 230,000+ copies and landed deals with top publishers. The founder of Write Nonfiction in November, she writes four blogs and two Examiner.com columns.
For information on her services, visit CopyWright Communications. To find all her blogs, go to http://www.ninaamir.com.
