31 Day Author Platform Challenge Day 23: Offer Thanks

Posted in 31 day author platform challenge, Writer's Platform, Writing Children's Books by bitsykemper

****Don’t make a jpg like this**! Use real, clickable hashtags**

Let’s take advantage of the national day of thanks-giving. Our task today is about uplifting others in a Thank You post. It will feel so good! And will take mere minutes.

If you haven’t been a part of the #writerslift movement on Twitter/#, now is your time to join the party.

Think about critique partners, for example. Find the right ones and they are worth their weight in gold, amiright? These gems of fellow writers, whom you trust to read your work-in-progress, provide constructive feedback and help you improve your craft. They can act as a sounding board for ideas, catch typos and plot holes, and offer fresh perspectives on your writing. They are not only helpful, but supportive and committed. Aren’t they worthy of celebrating? Let’s give them a shout out of gratitude today.

If you don’t have CPs at the moment, think about people who have helped you in any way this week or month or year. There are plenty of people that are helpful! You don’t have to know them personally. Maybe their mentor texts or inspiring feeds got you through a rough patch. These fellow creatives you’ve never met would love to know you appreciate them. Why not reach out and and connect by tagging them with a short flattering post?

Today, Day 23, we are showing fellow authors some (virtual) love.

We’ll do that by giving them a shout-out across all your social media outlets using the hashtag #writerslift. This task is another example of how an automation tool is handy. You only have to post once if you use a scheduler, and it’ll go out to all your outlets at once.

Publicly acknowledging people not only shows gratitude, but boosts their profiles and helps to establish them as respected members of the writing community. You know they’d do it for you! In fact, they probably already have. It’s a part of supporting each other. Rising tides lift all boats, right?

Make it pretty with a Canva-type app, or make it a simple text post. Your call. While of course it’s honestly the thought that counts, this is one rare time I suggest a regular post vs creating a graphic. Why? As you can see in the .png I created above, there is no way to tag my CPs in the image, so I have to tag them each all over again in the post–and I have to add the #writerslift tag to the post anyway. WHY DO I MAKE THINGS SO HARD FOR MYSELF lol. Just make a simple post for this.

Some tips for creating feel-good #writerslift shout-outs:

Be specific: Details, baby! Use full names and highlight what they’ve done to help you. Did they catch a major plot hole? Publish a PB that inspires you to be a better writer? Support you when no one else thought you could do it? Give credit where credit is due.
Be generous: Don’t be shy. Offering praise to someone who has helped you means A LOT to them, esp if you’re not the touchy-feely type. It can help strengthen the CP bond. Knowing it had an impact on you can help encourage them to be helpful to others again in the future. And it will warm your own heart at the same time!
Be authentic: Don’t write a generic post just for the sake of giving a shout-out. A list of names is great, but it’s virtual lip service. Write with sincerity and share genuine appreciation. If you can’t be specific to any one piece of feedback for whatever reason, it’s okay to thank them for their support over the years or months. The important thing is you are sharing gratitude.

You DON’T have to go big or go home

The kidlit industry is FULL of kind-hearted, helpful people like you. Shout-outs like this keeps that supportive feeling alive. Simply saying thanks to one person can make you both feel good! (No need to gift them, a simple THANKS is all that’s needed.)

One great example of an AMAZING week-long show of author love in May, created and run by fellow PB author @SylviaiChen. It’s a (free) weeklong co-celebratory event with prizes that is everything our Day 23 is about: uplifting and recognizing our fellow writers and illustrators! What an effective and thoughtful way to give mass shout-outs! This goes above and beyond any shout-out Tweet I would have thought up. Don’t worry, I don’t expect level that from you! She probably worked on that for months. You can take 11 mins 🙂

Recap: Send (several) posts thanking your crit partners and anyone who has helped make you a better writer, and use the #writerslift hashtag. Be specific with the appreciation if you can, and don’t tag too many people in one post.

Share the love!

PS I am thankful for you, cheering me on and helping keep me accountable this month!

21Nov2023

31-Day Author Platform Challenge Day 21: Mutual Support

Posted in 31 day author platform challenge, Writer's Platform by bitsykemper

[Before we start patting each other’s back, have you followed 10 new people yet?]

Today’s author platform task is multi-tiered. First, you need to post the results of your poll. It can probably be automated with Buffer or whatever tool you use, but consider going back one by one to personalize each post. This engagement is the interactive part I tend to forget or gloss over. It’s an ideal time to start or continue a conversation! Take advantage of it. Ask people what they think of results, if they are surprised, if there was an option you should have included but didn’t, etc. Keep this engagement ball a-rolling.

I realize this will take some time, so when you’re done, today’s official task will be an easy one.

Day 21 is celebrating or sharing a friend’s success WHILE being a resource for your followers. Double duty!

Let’s get friendly. Time to celebrate others while also helping others. You can:

Share a friend’s website or book launch information with details on why your readers need to know about it
Recommend a fave website or resource you use regularly with why it’s great/useful
Offer a link with details explaining why something is helpful to you as a writer/parent/whatever fits in your brand
Offer detail on a helpful site or resource they might not have heard of yet, or a part of a familiar site they might not know exists

This is different than the #writerslift we did last week; although it might lift up a fellow author, it’s more a sharing of information vs a shout-out. It’s timely (compared to saying “thanks” which can happen any time), and newsworthy (it’s something you are reporting about).

Feel free to send several tweets that celebrate a bunch of people’s work – but keep it to one person per tweet unless it’s something they did together. No sense clogging up feeds with group tags.

For example: recently I found a free template for a book proposal, created and offered by a lit agency. Sure, it was a template for them so their submissions were less sucky, but hey, free resource. I made a post and included the link along with a shout-out of appreciation to the agent and the house (tagging them both), and that tweet got a pretty high number of likes and RTs—including the agent herself as well as the agency.

Will that agent want to take me on? No, she doesn’t even rep kidlit, it’s not why I did it. The point was to help others. It’s good karma to boot. I got a bunch of honest interactions and appreciations from it. Goodness comes from well-intended posts.

What I didn’t do at the time was share the post across all my social media. Lesson learned (and one reason I created this challenge!). I hope to cross-promote every tweet, or most, from now on. That’s another plug for automation service!

Anyway, I love seeing posts from authors supporting authors, don’t you? Some authors are really good at this! It projects such a positive image.

Recap: Today, uplift someone by sharing a resource and thanking the person that offers it. Or highlight a friend’s small business, service, etc. Consider creating the post on a Canva-like site to make it pretty. Post it on all your media.

Ensure the timing is good. Don’t post it right after or right before another big post like I did at the time, or it’ll get lost. Had I waited on that book proposal post, until after the dust settled on the other popular tweet, it probably would have doubled the amount of likes.

20Nov2023

31 Day Author Platform Challenge Day 20: What Do YOU Think?

Posted in 31 day author platform challenge, Writer's Platform by bitsykemper

[Ahem. Don’t forget to follow 10 new people. Do it quick.]

Let’s take a poll!

For Day 20, we’re taking a brainstorm and creation break while keeping our engagement going.

We’re taking an online poll.

^{Photo by Jopwell on Pexels.com}

It can be on anything you want (as long as it’s not offensive or controversial to the point it will cause you to lose followers).

The online poll doesn’t have to connect directly to your work but pick a question that is in character with your personality and brand. If you want to use the poll results for your own data, make sure you ask the right questions the right way. Give a deadline for when votes need to be in. I gave mine two days to allow for lag time in RTs.

Actually, what better source can I find to guide you on “how to poll” you than this post from Survey Monkey? Pls give it a quick scan.

Polls aren’t the kind of a post you can automate across platforms. That might work out for the best, as you probably would speak to each audience a little differently anyway. Buffer won’t even let me create a poll, at least not that I can figure out. So let’s assume we have to go to each platform separately.

Different outlets:

Twitter makes polls easy. They let you offer a max of four answers and you decide how long the poll is up/live.

For Facebook, the only place you can create a poll is in a GROUP page. You can’t use the poll format in a profile or a fan page. In this case, you still want an excuse to reach out there so there’s a work around! Share the results of your poll. Talk about what you think it means, ask followers what their opinions are, etc.

LinkedIn offers a how-to on doing a poll there; it’s put in the same place as your regular posts in your account/profile.

Instagram lets you create a poll in your STORIES but not feed. Here’s a how-to guide. There are a TON of free templates you can use in addition to the one Insta provides.

If you have a YouTube channel, obv this wouldn’t work. How might you engage in a poll there? Figure out how to turn your poll idea into a short video, asking people on the street, maybe make a quick vid talking about your expectations or sharing the results of your poll?

Remember when I followed up on asking how your RT&Win went? This follow-up is gonna be public. The day following the close of the poll you have to commit to showing final results and/or offering an assessment or insight into them. (And no, that won’t be your task for tomorrow or the day after its finished, it will be in addition to it!)

Get polling!

17Nov2023

31 Day Author Platform Challenge Day 17: Why Not Ask?

Posted in 31 day author platform challenge, Writer's Platform by bitsykemper

Go ahead, ask already!

On Day 17, let’s ask your followers an open-answered question (as in, not one that can be answered with a Yes or No). No graphics, just the Q.

Why not ask a question? What an opportunity to authentically engage with your audience! The question can be anything as long as it’s genuine. The point is to start a conversation that will involve as many followers, and ideally RTs, as possible.

The truth is, we talk a lot.

man in red polo shirt sitting near chalkboard

We don’t LISTEN a lot.

Wouldn’t it be great if more people asked questions not to give themselves a chance to talk, but so that they gave themselves a chance to listen?

To connect instead of monologue?

Don’t listen to respond. Listen to hear.”
(to paraphrase Steve Covey)

Pick a question you are interested in talking about, and ask away.

Rework the question to best suit each of your social media outlets. I’d word a question on my FB profile page differently than I’d word it on my FB author page, even if I was asking the same thing, because my profile is mostly family and closer friends, while my page is newer and feels more formal. For Twitter, I don’t know most of them personally so it’s going to be worded even more different than those two. On Insta I’d probably be a little sillier, given my audience. LinkedIn will have a professional feel. YouTube would be a video. (You see what I mean, right?)

Conversations are the best for creating engagement! Since the topic is of your choice, you direct where it goes, and you end it when it’s over. (If only all public conversations could be so easy, lol.)

This is an easy one because there is no prettying up (like Day 14). It’s a simple text post. Yes, you’ll need to go to each outlet one at a time, but no graphics are necessary. You are always welcome to add some, though.

Author Lisa Yee is really good with this on FB. Here are some other random examples from Twitter.

Follow just about anyone that replies and RTs for bonus potential new followers!

Recap: Pick an open-ended Q to ask, and cross-post variations of it.

15Nov2023

31 Day Platform Challenge Day 15: Good News

Posted in 31 day author platform challenge, Writer's Platform by bitsykemper

[Hey there fellow author–have you followed 10 new people yet?]

Share the love

woman working on laptop on window sill and talking on phone — _{^{Photo by RODNAE
Productions on Pexels.com}}

Today’s author platform task has two parts–but should be quick or at least easy. First, let’s take the pulse on that promo of yours from yesterday. How’s it looking so far? Let us know in comments.

OK, now to Day 15.

Today you are simply going to share some (of your own) good news.

Ideally, it should be something positive of your own doing. Maybe you met a deadline or recently hit a certain word count. It can honestly be as simple as “I haven’t spilled my coffee yet today!” Make it reflect your personality and have as much fun as you want. The news can be from last month, as long as it’s something you haven’t talked about yet. Find a way to make it interactive to avoid looking like an arrogant poo-poo head and it doesn’t come across as a humblebrag.

It can also be:

industry news that affects you in a good way (remember to quote the source as in “PW announced an uptick in YA, which is great news for my WIP. What are you seeing?”)
personal update (anything from “I finally figured out the ending to my PB, and both my main character and I are on cloud nine! Who else has good news to share?” to “The two-year-old is officially potty trained! Who else can feel my joy?”)
noticeable impact the 31 Day Author Platform has made to your perspective, or increase in followers (“one thing this 31 Day Author Platform has taught me is the importance of engagement. I have been having a ball interacting so much with you all! Has anyone else seen a change?”)
anything happy you hear about on the news (“I read on Good News Today there was a library that was able to …”)

Try prettying it up on one of those meme-making sites. (You know I dig tidy jpgs.)

We all love good news. I bet it puts a smile on your face just creating it!

14Nov2023

31 Day Author Platform Challenge Day 14: How to Boost Sign-ups

Posted in 31 day author platform challenge, Writer's Platform, Writing Children's Books by bitsykemper

[Oh, wait, before we start, have you followed 10 new people yet?]

cheerful young woman screaming into megaphone — _{Photo by Andrea
Piacquadio on Pexels.com}

On Day 14 of our platform challenge we are going to go back to getting people to sign up for our email list by dangling our freebie; we’ll create and kick off a giveaway campaign. Yes, today. No sense wasting time.

As we talked about in Day 11, the most effective way to entice people into giving up their email address is to offer them something exclusive (and free) such as a downloadable set of coloring pages/activity guide/curriculum tie-ins, discount code, or exclusive content. Those freebies are called a “lead magnet” (as you know from earlier posts on Day 10 & 11) and we have already worked on them (Day 12) so yours should be shiny and ready to roll.

Online promos are another option, are easy, and can work magic. “RT and win” is a social media example that we’ll create today. You can pick a milestone (“to celebrate 3K followers, I’m giving away…”). Or a seasonal/holiday theme (“you’ll Fall for this freebie…” and “here’s a boo-tiful giveaway….”). Or personal reason (“it may be my birthday but I’m the one giving gifts…”). You’re creative! Find a fun reason!

This post is kinda long but the campaign task is in the second half, and honestly isn’t too much work. But before we get there…

Ways to get email sign ups–with or without the pop-up

Here are some ideas besides giveaways on ways to get people to sign up for your newsletter (or, quite frankly, to follow you on social media). I wasn’t sure where to put this info, and it’s not an exact fit here, but here ya go…

Social media ads: I have never tried them TBH but at some point I will. It’s always an option and I like it because you can start at like $1/day and see where gets you before deciding to go further. You can do ads for your newsletter with or without offering a freebie (but I bet if you try both, the freebie will have higher return). There’s a great breakdown on true cost of social media ads; bear in mind that article is for small businesses that are looking for much larger output than we are as authors. But it’s a great frame of reference. If you’ve used social media ads before, please share your experience! I’d love to hear your feedback and experience. I do know one couple that have earned over $900K on their self-pubbed fantasy series almost completely off targeted FB ads. But they work very hard at it.

Be prepared: When you attend industry events or signings, either have your laptop open to the SUBSCRIBE (or Follow/Like) page so all they have to do is enter their name, or have an old-school clipboard handy for them to write their email. Incentive optional (but more effective).

If in person such as at a conference or signing where you have a table, offering a “onetime day-of-the-event giveaway raffle” for those that sign up is a huge incentive! Giveaway could be as little as a $15 card to a local bookstore or credit to your personal bookstore, one of your signed books, a small trinket, or a free ZOOM author visit which costs you nothing but time. Have a professional-looking posterboard with the specifics announcing your giveaway and how/what they’ll win. The more generic the poster, the more often you can use it–no need to personalize it and create a new one for every event.

Post on social media: Share your newsletter signup (or social media handles) link across all social media channels and encourage your followers to sign up. Facebook author pages allow direct link; Shopify says you’ll need something like LinkTree for Instagram and others. You can also try social media ads to target people you think you might not otherwise reach. Again, the freebie is optional but bound to help.

Given all that info, today we are still going to focus on freebies and create a promo around it–one that you’ll post across social media.

What freebie did you decide on a few days ago, and is it ready like it’s supposed to be? Get on it because the promo plan should go live TODAY. It’s going to be a “RT& Win” campaign.

Let’s test out that freebie!

RT & Win Campaign

Going back to Day 10–is your pop-up installed and active yet? I hope yes. It needs to be, as we have a game to play! As soon as you are done creating your free lead magnet, hold a “RT, Follow & Win” contest across your social media platforms. The rules are that if people sign up for your newsletter (give them the direct link) and also RT the post, and they’ll be sent the FREE [insert freebie here]. Give a deadline so people have to “act now.” A few days or a week is probably good, as you never know when the RT will be seen by the people who RT the RT.

It will take some work for you to verify each new newsletter subscriber has RTed (they only get freebie if they do!), so FOR NOW un-check the pop-up option that has new subscribers automatically getting the welcome email and download.

But how exciting. You are building your list!

Isn’t this fun?

You should get a sense of whether or not your freebie has legs based on the excitement it generates. If people aren’t RTing it, that means not only do they not see value, but they don’t think their peers will either. This is good information to have! Now you know and you haven’t wasted your pop-up offer on something lame. Move on to the next item on your list and try that on for size.

A lack of RTs could also simply mean you haven’t promoted it well enough. Ask your critique partners and a few close friends to help you promote it. I don’t think it’s worth a $5 social media ad yet but you might, your call.

Recap: Time to start collecting emails from that pop-up you created! Create a quick “RT & Win” promo and set it live TODAY! [Your freebie has to be complete, and your email list collection has to be set up first.]

You can change it up and redo this “RT & Win” several times a year, basically any time you have new content or news to share, or need a boost. You can have them RT your book cover and win swag, for example; it doesn’t have to always be signing up for your newsletter. People LOVE free stuff!

Come back here in a few days and tell me how this promo shakes out for you! I’m excited to try it myself.