For me, one of the most horrifying aspects of publishing was without a doubt the task of creating a social media presence with which to “brand” myself.
I’m of an age where the mere mention of the word brand fills my mind with images of cattle ranchers sticking hot irons on their herd’s hind quarters. Social media branding is not, or was not, within my stratosphere. And I was okay with that.
Like it or not, the world as we currently know it revolves not around the sun, but around social media. Imagine trying to convince anyone twenty years ago that posting photos and mini videos would ever be considered a career!
I had personal FB and IG accounts and had dipped my toe (just the one) into the toxic pool of X on occasion, but that was about it. Never one to bow out of a challenge I got to work as instructed, creating FB and IG Author pages along with a Bluesky account. I had put off TikTok for as long as possible, but it’s reach, and influence is undeniable and as such I reluctantly signed up.
Initially I had asked the most active TikTok member of the family for assistance. Knowing her penchant for procrastination, case and point being that I am still awaiting the imparting of her wisdom, I set about figuring out the world of the Tok alone.
And it’s not as formidable as I first thought.
The thing I like most about it is the ability to access immediate data regarding popularity of posts, that is, what garners the most response from viewers. I learned quickly that being as late to the game as I was, posting a few book-related memes, pictures, and recommendations, was simply not going to cut it.
I found that faceless posts received the fewest views. Non-speaking mini videos (clips with a text overlay) came in second, but the irrefutable winner was the bare all direct conversation with the camera style posts.
Great. But what the hell did I have to talk about?
Staying within an author vertical was simply not feasible. I mean, my experience within the industry has been minimal. But at 48 the one thing I do have is a degree of life experience. More specifically, horrifying firsthand experiences of fucking up and doing things the wrong way around multiple times over.
Luckily, I’m a person who can laugh at myself and so sharing embarrassing mishaps and Gen-X relatable incidents are actually quite fun.
As faceless and impersonal as the social media world seems, the majority of users are seeking meaningful human interactions. The number of followers correlates with how much you are willing to lay bare, within reason of course.
Book followers are ultimately my aim, but in order to break into any specific community you really need to have an established presence of your own, ideally with followers. Once a base is in place the opportunity for growth is endless.
There are a number of really helpful Book Tokers who share ideas for author content, taking current trends and making them “bookish” for example.
@saleemmaishq is my number one go to, she offers advice for faceless content for those newer, more camera-shy writers, along with multiple suggestions for how to leverage popular trends and create content quickly.
There are also accounts dedicated to posting suggestions for the latest trends which authors can utilize and put their own book related twists on.
Like every platform, you do have to be aware of scammers. Most like to disguise themselves as fellow authors and once a conversation is initiated will offer to share their agents details or their marketing company contacts…all of which expect compensation for their services.
Instagram is a little less labor intensive. The majority of posts consist of pictures, and followers appear to be a little less fickle. I reached out to a number of suggested Book gram influencers to request reviews and was extremely disappointed with the number of responses I received. A few wanted payment, which immediately renders any reviews unauthentic in my opinion, and of the five or six who did respond only three did actually follow through.
Facebook is great if you have a lot of followers but the rationale behind developing a social media presence is to build a reader audience, and as such Facebook is somewhat limited. Unless you’re willing to pay for advertising your only reach is restricted to current friends and associates.
Of everything I have learned so far, the biggest surprise has been the sheer volume of work it takes to maintain active social media accounts, it is bloody well exhausting! Creating the suggested number of posts, along with commenting and engaging with at least five other users on a daily basis across five platforms is not easy (I also have a Goodreads author page) and I am far from done.
There is still the world of Pinterest and X to explore. Maybe when I figure out how to squeeze an eighth day into my working week I’ll add those to my repertoire but for now, I’m good sticking to what I’ve got.