Category: Blogging

Read, Eat, Drink–Link Roundup, a Mint Julep Video, and Not Derby Pie Bars

by Maria

Read:

How to find a literary agent

Guys, there are so many good things to read this week. I feel like I’m drowning in content, in a good way. As Jarrett would say “MOAR CONTENT!!” (And now he’s the happiest person in the world because an MGOblog joke finally made it on to here. Sigh.)

Here’s a roundup of everything worth reading on the interwebs this week:

  • How To Find a Literary Agent for Your Book (Jane Friedman): One of the most accurate and comprehensive guides to finding a Literary Agent that I’ve seen.
  • 6 Actionable Social Media Strategies from Successful Brands (Liz Dennison at Buffer): “Being great on social media isn’t always intuitive. Sometimes the best way to learn is to get inspired by what others are doing.”
  • What To Do When You Absolutely, Positively Must Know If Your Content Will Rock (Brian Clark at Copyblogger): “The audience decides what’s worthy across the board — in film, music, books, and any other form of content that’s produced by the imagination of a determined individual or group. It’s always been this way, but now the relationship is direct thanks to the Internet.”
  • How I Used Twitter to Find a Literary Agent, Grow My Business, and Fall in Love (Alexis Grant on The Book Designer): It’s true–Twitter is awesome, especially for fiction writers. But here’s why Twitter might not be right for all authors.
  • Build a Killer Conversation Strategy With Nothing But Time and Empathy (Brad Tiller at Unbounce): A good reminder that at the end of the day, building your platform is really about helping others.
  • The Story Grid Book is Here. (Shawn Coyne): I started reading this book last night and am deep obsessed already. An essential read for the writer who wants to figure out why their story isn’t working and how to fix it.
  • Sweet House Alabama premiering on HGTV on Sunday at 2 EST! (Shaunna West of Perfectly Imperfect): I was Shaunna’s editor for her book, The $50 Home Makeover, and so I’m thrilled to see that she now has her own show on HGTV! Watch the ridiculously adorable trailer here.

Drink & Eat:

Garden and Gun Mint Julep

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Twitter vs. Facebook vs. Pinterest vs. Instagram: What’s Right for Authors?

by Maria

best social media for authors

There is a grand battle royale going down between social media networks, and writers and bloggers are caught in the middle of it. The boundaries are constantly shifting, the pros and cons of each platform are always changing, and no one ever seems to be able to decide where in the heck they should be.

So, which social media networks should you be on? Where can you get the best bang for your social media buck?  I get this question all the time, and like the Twitter-specific question from last week, the answer is complicated. Because really, choosing a network depends on what kind of writer or blogger you are and what areas of your author platform you need to bolster.

The one thing that applies to everyone? You can’t (and shouldn’t) build your numbers on all of them. You will drive yourself straight loony-tunes if you try to keep up with all of them, and your social media campaign will be less effective if it’s not focused. It’s worth it to find your social media soulmate–that one platform that will not only grow your platform but also be actually enjoyable!

Ready to choose? Here are the candidates:

  • Facebook: The big kahuna. I’m still of the belief that every single writer should have a professional Facebook page, and this is for one simple reason: sheer numbers. Facebook has 1.35 billion monthly active users. The other networks lag far behind—Instagram has an estimated 300 million users, Twitter has an estimated 288 million users, and Pinterest has about 70 million users. Facebook is still where everyone and their grandma is, and even though it’s been changing its algorithm to limit the reach of posts (more on the changes to Facebook’s algorithm and what it means for authors here), it’s still the best place to reach the most people. Facebook also allows you to integrate all mediums–text with no character limits, images, videos, GIFS, etc–so it can work for you no matter what your strengths are. I consider a professional Facebook page to be one of the foundational elements of building a platform.

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Why Twitter Might Not Be Right For You as an Author

by Maria

Twitter for authors

In the past few weeks, I’ve been getting a lot of questions from aspiring authors about Twitter. Everyone seems to want to know if they should be on it, why I like it so much, and whether they should focus more of their own book marketing efforts on it.

Well, like everything else in this age of digital marketing, the answers to those questions are a bit complex. So I’ll just go ahead and tell you why I love Twitter, and why I think it’s not right for all authors.

Many of my readers are nonfiction writers/bloggers rather than fiction writers. And there’s an important distinction there: practical nonfiction is often highly illustrated (with four-color photos), while fiction is almost always straight narrative (with black-and-white text). Why does this matter when it comes to social media? Am I just being picky for fun? Are all literary agents out to befuddle writers and make social media even more confusing?

I hope you’re thinking no to those questions. Right? Right?

Right! So the format of your future book really does matter when it comes to social media. For practical nonfiction writers/bloggers, your aesthetic is your brand. The design of your online properties, the images you include in your posts, and the images you curate and share on social media are all part of your brand. Practical nonfiction is inherently image-driven, and therefore, it’s best suited for image-driven platforms like Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook. (I’ll write more about the distinctions between these platforms next week.)

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2 Steps to Convert Blog Readers Into Book Buyers and Grow an Engaged Audience

by Maria

how writers can get more blog engagement and traffic

It’s a gorgeous, sunny, birds-chirping kind of day here, I’ve got a big mug of Swing’s coffee next to me, and I can finally work without needing three layers of clothes to stay warm.

Sounds like the perfect kind of day to talk about engagement, right? (Humor me.)

As I was talking about last week, audience engagement is one of the most important (and sometimes overlooked!) aspects of successfully building a platform and launching a book. Your site traffic matters; your social media numbers matter; your publicity hits matter; but at the end of the day, what matters most is how many of your fans will actually spend their hard-earned money on your book.

So, as promised, I created a handy one-page printable that breaks down the two things you should be doing in order to increase engagement and convert more of your readers into book buyers. It’s fairly common sense–how close are you to your readers, and how consistently are you in contact with them? Yet I routinely see fabulous, smart, talented bloggers, brands, and experts not focusing on these two things. And it’s a shame, because you can touch so many more lives and spread your message more impactfully (I’m told this isn’t a word but let’s all ignore that) if you can connect more authentically and more effectively. Which is really what the two steps are all about.

Download the 2 Steps to Convert Blog Readers Into Book Buyers printable for free here. And let me know what you think–do you already focus on these things, or has your attention been focused on other things, like creating more content or boosting social media numbers?