social network marketing

A Fiction Writer’s Social Media Plan

Posted on November 21, 2015 by Cynthia KraackNovember 21, 2015

An author with five published novels and three book awards sounds like a safe choice when looking for something to read now that winter is at hand. How can an author supplement a publisher’s efforts to get that message to readers?

The pros say discoverability is key to an author’s success and active social media is a must. I’d like to believe that social media can also open two-way communications. Late this summer I wrote two blogs about pushing social media beyond Twitter and Facebook. A skeletal marketing/communication plan is the final entry in that series:

Since my publisher manages @c_kraack, I have opened a new Twitter account for personal use. Follow me @cmkraack and I’ll return the favor. @cmkraack is the Twitter handle to share observations about the world, vacation stories, friends’ achievements, and, because I am a writer, a few tweets about writing. I’ll continue originating more general daily personal tweets related to writing on @c_kraack.

There are many sites where authors can interact with readers. I hope to offer readers reason to visit more frequently by developing unique content weekly for my Facebook author page (Cynthia Kraack, Writer) and monthly for my Amazon author and Goodreads pages. I’m also exploring other book websites are more intimate and might offer more opportunity to connect with readers while doing my own search for new books and authors.

My blog began as a place to share my views on the writer’s life versus concentrating on the writing industry. I’d like to return to that strategy with new blogs every other week. If I have the time, I’d like to develop a new blog introducing people from the broader art world.

With video and visual content drawing high social media user attention, I have begun development of a small number of projects to enrich my website early in 2016 including one or two that will be posted on YouTube in late 2016. The Pinterest Book Community looks like a different way to participate in a more visual community. The High Cost of Flowers already has a presence on Pinterest thanks to a wonderful reader.

How to do all this is tricky. My most immediate project is developing an editorial calendar. Twitter is a daily activity. Setting aside one day a week for blog writing and refreshing other media is a heavy investment as well as an interesting journey.

These are the bare bones of a social media plan. Readings, speeches, guest blogs, blog tours, teaching and traditional marketing haven’t been addressed. Any advice?

Mix and Match Social Media

Posted on August 26, 2015 by Cynthia KraackAugust 26, 2015

Some writers spend half the year driving to bookstores, church fairs, and events to sell very few books at each. They don’t cover expenses; much less earn enough to give up their day jobs. Some are aggressive with their social media management. They’ve been told they need to be on all social media sites, that the more titles they publish the more people will recognize their brands, and the closer they will be to the tipping point of success. Published by small publishers, they have almost no marketing support and run on dreams and trust.

This is a turbulent time for creators of artistic content. Writers once made a living selling short stories to magazines. Now many markets charge submission fees. The number of self-published book titles in 2013 increased 17 percent over 2012 and 437 percent over 2008. Like the music industry, the large publishing houses assume less risk by signing fewer unknown authors. Those published have weeks for their books to meet ambitious sales targets or lose support.

Calumet Editions, my publisher, has built an e-world marketing strategy that includes a website and an aggressive Twitter presence. Through a traditional distributor, it uses a print on demand approach with minimal inventory. It is a new marketing model that has empty spaces that are different than those of the very traditional small press that published my first four books without social media or ebook strategies. Indie bookstores would like to have The High Cost of Flowers, a Midwest Book Awards winner, on their shelves, but don’t always have the hours needed to add another distributor to their business.

What makes sense for my work to be discovered by readers? Here’s what I discovered:

Women over 45 account for 58% of all books purchased. They rely on personal recommendations and like to visit bookstores. More Americans own tablets, but still almost 70 percent read traditional books. That distinction doesn’t vary much by demographic group. Young people are more likely to read ebooks than older people, but they’re also likely to read paperbacks.

As of 2014, 74% of online adults use social networking sites. Highest networking use is in the 18 and 49 age categories where over 82% use networking sites. At age 50 networking sites use drops to 65%. About 71% of online adults use Facebook. Only 28% use Twitter.

Doing fancy calculations that means about 15 out of every 100 online adults over 49, and 19 out of those between 19 and 49, might see a tweet. BI Intelligence found Twitter use leans toward males with 22% of online men tweeting and 15% of online women.

Where are the women I hope to reach? Some are not online. Those who are find their way to Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest. Pinterest is leader in online shopping because of food sites. Facebook still claims top of the heap for other sales. The challenge for me is to pinpoint a social networking strategy to connect me with a primary demographic of women in their 30s through 60s.

I’ll share how I intend to augment my publisher’s strategy to connect with that group in my next blog.