Tag Archives: writer’s platform

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

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

[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.

person holding a contract
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!

Author Platform: Maximizing Social Media

Posted in Writer's Platform, Writing Children's Books by

Social Media

slick image from jsums.edu

Last post we defined Author Platforms. So tell me, what is an Author Platform, do you remember? It’s how you show your unique qualities that “brand” you as a writer or artist…with the ultimate goal of leading to book sales. It’s a long term goal, not a RIGHT NOW CLICK HERE goal. No one likes the CLICK HERE RIGHT NOW guy, amiright?

Social media is one of the main ways you create your brand. Since most of your readers will never meet you in person, it’s how most of your readers get to know you. This post is gonna look at ways to maximize social media so you can give yourself the best platform. We’ll talk through some real examples, screenshotted below.

If you need to take a step back and get a basic primer on Twitter, check out https://bitsykemper.com/2014/07/15/twitter-101-the-basics-for-writers/

General social media tips to support your Author Platform:

  1. Be you, all the time.
  2. Have fun! Every tweet/post doesn’t have to have something to do with writing or illustrating, but each one should still reflect who you are and what you stand for. Remember the part about the real you needing to shine through?
  3. Sorry to say this, but people are people. And by that, I mean selfish. I’m not judging. It’s fact. We are always asking ourselves WIIFM? As in, What’s In It For Me? No one has time, and we make decisions in a snap. You need to do whatever you can to convince me, quickly, that what you have to say will benefit me. And then come through. So don’t just tell me your book trailer is finished and give me a link. Tell me what the trailer is about, what I’ll see, why it’s worth watching. I need to know WIIFM or I’m not going to click. Even if I like you. I just don’t have time.
  4. Other people are selfish–but you need to be giving. Stop talking about how great your product is. Let us figure that out on our own. Your book really should be able to speak for itself…or at least let others do the talking. A tweet like”Another great review, my work is profiled yet again! Click to see the latest url.2937y5/iji…” gives me no incentive to click. It’s blatant bragging. But what about “What an honor to be included in this roundup, check out the other Best 2016 Reads by Buzzfeed at url.8724r34r/…” or “Thanks for the kind review, Donna, it was nice being your guest blogger this month. I bet no one can guess how many puppies were harmed in the making of that video! [link to Donna’s website].” Do you see the difference? One is “Look at me!!” Another–the preferred method–is “There’s something in this for you, have a look.” You want to be of service. Your book or link or review just happens to be one way to help. [See #6, below.] Continue reading →

Twitter 101: The Basics, For Writers

Posted in Uncategorized, Writing Children's Books by

Twitter 101 for Writers Part One

The past few writers’ conference presentations I’ve given about Author Platforms have prompted many of the same questions. Most surround social media. I’m gonna tackle one biggie here: Twitter. Let’s look at the very basic concept of Twitter in this post, for the true beginner. How to use it effectively will be a different post, so be sure to keep looking around on my site if you need more help or detail.

“I know what Twitter is, but I don’t know how to use it like I should. Is there a specific process?” “Why do I want to use Twitter in the first place?” “What is Twitter anyway?” Let’s start with the very basics. Here are some definitions of Twitter:

  • Twitter is the best way to connect with people, express yourself and discover what’s happening. – Twitter

That’s kinda broad. Let’s look at a different definition:

  • Twitter is a free social networking microblogging service that allows registered members to broadcast short update posts called tweets. –WhatIs.com

Okay, that’s not really helpful at all. Let’s give it one more try:

  • A stupid site for stupid people with no friends, who think everyone else gives a sh*t what they’re doing at any given time. –UrbanDictionary.com

Haha well that sure is one way to look at it! I view Twitter as a huge cocktail party. You interact as much as you want, you come in and out of conversations as you see fit, you listen to other people rant or rave, you observe trends and popular topics, you initiate some conversations and contribute to others, you walk around to see what’s happening over in that side of the room, and yes maybe you enjoy a few people so much that you follow them around a little bit.

Looking at some statistics, it’s clear that social media is here to stay.

  • Facebook: 1.23 Billion users as of Dec 2013, 81% outside of U.S. (Facebook.com), 57% American adults, 73% 12-17 year olds (Pew Research)
  • LinkedIn: 277 million users as of Feb 2014 (Digital Marketing Ramblings)
  • Instagram (where you share photos and up to 15-second videos, image filters are offered): 150 million active users, 1.2 Billion likes/day (DMR, Feb 2014)
  • Vine (users share 6-second videos) : 40 million users (Vine)
  • Twitter: As of Aug 2013, Twitter reports

    280 Million users

    500 Million tweets/day

    Average 5,700 tweets PER SECOND

    135,000 new users/day

A tweet, or Twitter post, gives you 140 spaces, called characters, to say whatever you want. “Happy birthday” is 14 characters (without the quote marks), and “Happy birthday!” (without quotes) is 15. With quotes, they’d 16 and 17 characters. Anything that takes up a space, even a blank space, counts as one. The good news is you are forced to be brief. The bad news is it takes practice to get your point across succinctly.

Once you’ve got the hang of 140 characters, why keep going? What’s in it for you? Plenty. When used effectively, Twitter can:

My second marketing-for-writers post at The Picture Book Academy

My second marketing-for-writers post at The Picture Book Academy

This was my second blog post at The Picture Book Academy. It talks about what every writer needs to include in their website, and what stuff needs to just stop already (I’m looking at you, splash pages). Lemme know whatcha think!

My first marketing-for-writers blog post at Picture Book Academy

My first marketing-for-writers blog post at Picture Book Academy

I am on staff at The Picture Book Academy and write a quasi-monthly marketing blog for writers and illustrators (let’s not get too caught up in timelines, shall we? show some flexibility, it’s bound to get posted eventually). This was my first post, about creating a writer’s (or illustrator’s) platform. It defines what one is. Each following post will take apart an aspect of a platform and explain why it’s necessary. While there are lots of blogs with great writing/marketing advice out there, I’d like to think mine is just as good. Read and see for yourself. If you agree, pls say so. If you disagree, feel free to rant as well. Just don’t take away my chocolate. Well, the milk and white crap you can have, but keep yer mitts off the dark stuff.