Tumblr might not be high on a writer’s list of social networks to join, as it was originally focused on images. However, many improvements have since happened and Tumblr is now home to text, animated gifs, audio files, videos, and other multimedia content. Coupled with its healthy user base, makes it an essential promotional and engagement tool for net-savvy authors. If you’re not familiar with how Tumblr’s community works, here are a few things writers can do to make better use of Tumblr:
Use an easy to remember name and spell words in your URL
Remember that you want your Tumblr to be a means of getting your name out there. You won’t be able to achieve that if your URL is hard to remember and easy to misspell. Don’t use L33T speak. Ever.
The safest route is to use your first name and last name (or the pen name you are using, if you are writing under one). This not only makes your URL unique, it will also be easy to remember and will work as a means of building your author name as your online brand.
Participate: like and reblog
Tumblr, like any social network, functions well only if the community participates by liking and reblogging content among themselves. It’s quid pro quo. You have to pull your own weight. If you want to enjoy the benefits of the Tumblr community, you have to be an active part of the community. Don’t just post content and lurk; post content, promote it, then check out other people’s content as well.
Tag your posts properly
Post tags these days are sometimes cleverly used as in-jokes and punchlines, but don’t forget that their true purpose is to categorize your posts, making it easy to find posts based on specific categories, and making it easier for users to search for posts related to topics they are interested in. So, always use relevant post tags. Think of the keywords that you want your content to show up on, and then use those as tags.
Produce content that is exclusive to your Tumblr
You want to establish your Tumblr page as a destination in and of itself, as opposed to a mere online promotional tool for your books. So, while posting excerpts and previews of your commercial works are fine, you need to pepper it with content that readers won’t find anywhere else. People have to be able to enjoy your Tumblr page as it is, and any advertisement or promotional content will only be a side-effect. Basically, think of the most successful advertisements you’ve come across on the Internet, TV or radio. What’s one thing they have in common? They’re all enjoyable first and foremost. The fact that they’re advertising a product or service is not what appeals to people.
Final thing is to just enjoy posting on your Tumblr page. If you’re not having fun on the social network, you may end up boring yourself out of posting way before you start to reap the benefits of a successful Tumblr page.
Image credit: josh james on flickr and reproduced under Creative Commons 2.0[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://writingtipsoasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/hv1.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Hiten Vyas is the Founder and Managing Editor of eBooks India. He is also a prolific eBook writer with over 25 titles to his name.[/author_info] [/author]