This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Welcome to our writing advice column, where you’ll find bestselling author Julie Cohen answering reader questions! Hit a roadblock or have a writing-related query? Drop them in the comments and keep your eyes peeled for Julie’s response in later columns. This week, Julie has advice for a writer who is struggling with social media.
Dear Julie,
You are a great author to follow on social media. I’ve been trying to use Twitter and Facebook more as an author, but I’m always doubting myself and never know what to post, so my feed comes across as dull and impersonal. How can I make my posts more interesting and personal to help readers get to know me?
Judith
Dear Judith,
Thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoy following me on social media.
A lot of authors are told that social media is absolutely essential for reaching readers, but you know, I am not sure this is true. I think that the only essential thing is writing a great book that people will enjoy. h
Social media can be really useful, though, if you use it well. It’s been useful for me, personally. I’ve spoken with many readers, and I’ve found many dear writing friends; I’ve been commissioned for writing jobs and found teaching positions; I’ve reached writers who would like to use my consultancy services or go on my courses. I think I got this ace Novelicious gig from blogging. Also SID FROM CEEBEEBIES TWEETED ME ONCE. I almost died.
What I don’t know is whether my social media presence has actually sold any books. I sort of think not many, to be honest. I love being recommended books on Twitter, and have really enjoyed those I’ve found there, but if you follow publishing people, you end up seeing a LOT of book recommendations, and there are only so many you can buy.
So I think that if you’re going to invest time and effort into using social media, you should use it because you enjoy it. Not because you’ve been told to by your publisher or by some expert.
Personally, I love Twitter and Facebook. Oh my God I love them SO MUCH. And this is probably why you enjoy following me (and thank you so much for following me!) – I am having a good time, and it is nice to see someone having a good time. All of my favourite social media personalities are people who I’d like to hang out with at a party.
Choose something you like to talk about, or that you are passionate about, and post about those things. I’m a writer, but most of my social media feed isn’t about my books: it’s about knitting owls, or this cat that I don’t own (Not Even Our Cat), or about my little homicidal friend Lego Hannibal Lecter, or about funny things that my kid (alias Fecklet) says. These are the things that I enjoy, so that’s what I write about, because it makes me happy to share them.
(ALSO you know, people have given me lots of knitted owls after seeing my posts about them, so it is totally ALL WIN.)
There is a lot going on in my life that I don’t write about. I filter out the sad and annoying and worrying stuff – I save that to share with my friends and my family, and not in public. My social media personality is a curated personality. It’s part of me, but only the part of me that I want to share with thousands of people. I assume that’s true of all the people I like to follow, too.
You have to do a little bit of promotion, of course, but I’d say that the ratio should be very weighted in favour of being social. Like at least 85% social, if not more. And at least part of the time, those promotional tweets and posts should be promoting someone or something other than yourself. Be generous, and don’t be always saying BUY MY BOOK.
Mostly, Judith: allow yourself to have fun. Start conversations with people – that’s what social media is for. Carry on the conversation in your own feed. Invite people to engage with you, and engage back. It takes time to build up a following, and you do that by interacting with other people, by being generous and kind, and possibly a little bit obsessive.
Good luck with it, and enjoy it. And let me know where you are on Twitter and Facebook, so I can chat with you?
Julie x
Do you have any tips for using social media? Drop us a line in the comments!
Julie Cohen has had 20 books published under her own name and pseudonyms, selling nearly a million copies and being translated into 15 languages. Several have won or been shortlisted for awards, including the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Award and the National Readers’ Choice Award. Her novel Dear Thing was a summer 2014 Richard and Judy Book Club pick.
Julie is also a popular speaker and teacher of creative writing, tutoring courses for Penguin Random House Academy, The Guardian, Literature Wales, The Victoria and Albert Museum, and Writers’ Workshop. She runs a fiction consultancy business, with several of her clients having gone on to publication. Her latest book is Where Love Lies.