I belong to (have been added to, I should say), a number of facebook groups. (I have since quit 2, because it was more than I could handle.) I like finding out about other writers, their books and so forth, but really, I don't buy anything on-line, and if I buy a book it's going to be something with actual pages and so on.
Yes, I've tried to read books on my computer. I hate it. When I read I want to sit in a comfortable chair with an open book in my lap. If I'm at work, or somewhere I need to have distraction like at the dentist office, I can easily put a paperback book into my purse.
But the one thing I've noticed about these writer's groups on f.b. is you get a lot of people posting about their books, and the deals (some of them are just giving away copies)--which is fine, because it is their group, after all. If you post anything at all, it gets washed down the page by several other people putting up news about some of their stuff. I don't post that much in them. Once in a while I grab someones attention about a blog post. Unless I have some sort of news about my book (a sale, for instance), I've quit posting about my books in these facebook groups. It's useless.
Why? Because if I get any attention right now, it might be from another author, and I do enjoy finding new people to interact with on here, but realistically, I might have one sale per month from doing this. It peeters out after a while and everyone has checked into your book and have bought it, and if they did--that's the end of the run.
I think what I'm saying is this--if you join several of these facebook sites and think you'll grab a lot of readers, maybe you'll gain a few, but that's about it. If you are lucky to get someone who wants you to be a guest at their blog, that's great. I've gotten a number of people out there who have offered me a spot on their blogs (I didn't even have to ask). This is much more worth the bother of getting on these places than trying to "sell" anyone your book. You can make friends there, and some will help you promote your book, but if you think that this is the way to sell lots of books, think again. It isn't really going to help you sell many.
Also, the time in which it takes (for me at least), to "share" something on one or several of these places, it comes out to me having spent maybe 15-30 min. wasting my time. Some people who have created these facebook groups and have invited me (you) to them post hourly. And it becomes somewhat of a competition between your stuff and their stuff. I find it worthless for me to even bother some days and ignore the posts. Usually it is only about a sale on their books. Rarely is it something that is interesting to me, as a writer.
I've created my own groups, but other than my own fan page, I'm not trying to hard-sell you anything. And my fan page is stuff about my blog, or my books. I'm not going to hard-sell it to you. I think someone continuously doing this is like holding a megaphone to your ear. "Alright already! Yes, yes, your book is award-winning. I get it already!" *crossing eyes*
I'm going to investigate getting some real ads out in real newspapers (yes, there are still some out there in a localized area), and reach some REAL readers--not writers. If you want to have sales, you need to reach people who read books as their passion, and in your genre. If you continuously post in groups or even on your own blog, eventually you run out of people who have yet to read your books.
Don't get me wrong. The social media is good for what it does for us, but what I've found is that people who don't blog don't know about you/your books. They might go on-line to Amazon, but they may never know about your books unless you do it the old-fashioned way and advertise.
I've quit two groups, and am thinking of quitting one more, because the competition is really against me getting noticed. So... I think I'll go and do that now.
Have a good Sunday, everyone!
Yes, I've tried to read books on my computer. I hate it. When I read I want to sit in a comfortable chair with an open book in my lap. If I'm at work, or somewhere I need to have distraction like at the dentist office, I can easily put a paperback book into my purse.
But the one thing I've noticed about these writer's groups on f.b. is you get a lot of people posting about their books, and the deals (some of them are just giving away copies)--which is fine, because it is their group, after all. If you post anything at all, it gets washed down the page by several other people putting up news about some of their stuff. I don't post that much in them. Once in a while I grab someones attention about a blog post. Unless I have some sort of news about my book (a sale, for instance), I've quit posting about my books in these facebook groups. It's useless.
Why? Because if I get any attention right now, it might be from another author, and I do enjoy finding new people to interact with on here, but realistically, I might have one sale per month from doing this. It peeters out after a while and everyone has checked into your book and have bought it, and if they did--that's the end of the run.
I think what I'm saying is this--if you join several of these facebook sites and think you'll grab a lot of readers, maybe you'll gain a few, but that's about it. If you are lucky to get someone who wants you to be a guest at their blog, that's great. I've gotten a number of people out there who have offered me a spot on their blogs (I didn't even have to ask). This is much more worth the bother of getting on these places than trying to "sell" anyone your book. You can make friends there, and some will help you promote your book, but if you think that this is the way to sell lots of books, think again. It isn't really going to help you sell many.
Also, the time in which it takes (for me at least), to "share" something on one or several of these places, it comes out to me having spent maybe 15-30 min. wasting my time. Some people who have created these facebook groups and have invited me (you) to them post hourly. And it becomes somewhat of a competition between your stuff and their stuff. I find it worthless for me to even bother some days and ignore the posts. Usually it is only about a sale on their books. Rarely is it something that is interesting to me, as a writer.
I've created my own groups, but other than my own fan page, I'm not trying to hard-sell you anything. And my fan page is stuff about my blog, or my books. I'm not going to hard-sell it to you. I think someone continuously doing this is like holding a megaphone to your ear. "Alright already! Yes, yes, your book is award-winning. I get it already!" *crossing eyes*
I'm going to investigate getting some real ads out in real newspapers (yes, there are still some out there in a localized area), and reach some REAL readers--not writers. If you want to have sales, you need to reach people who read books as their passion, and in your genre. If you continuously post in groups or even on your own blog, eventually you run out of people who have yet to read your books.
Don't get me wrong. The social media is good for what it does for us, but what I've found is that people who don't blog don't know about you/your books. They might go on-line to Amazon, but they may never know about your books unless you do it the old-fashioned way and advertise.
I've quit two groups, and am thinking of quitting one more, because the competition is really against me getting noticed. So... I think I'll go and do that now.
Have a good Sunday, everyone!
It's tricky to find the right balance when it comes to promotion and social media. I think you have to pick a couple things you love and do those well. Finding that right audience as you mentioned is really important too.
ReplyDeleteMy dear Lorelei, for the first time in our friendship, I am about to disagree with you.
ReplyDeleteBefore I get to that, however, I will agree with you about the FB groups getting way out of hand and reaching out only to writers. I'm thinking about getting out of those as well.
Now, the disagree part: No, E-reader? It is so convenient that I am now reading so many more books than I ever have before. I know it's not the same, but you'll get used to it. Trust me.
Had you worried with that disagree stuff, huh? I'm such a tease, I know.
Have a great week, dear friend.
-Jimmy
LIsa, yes. Only a few places I'm staying at because of the fact that I'm in contact with publishers, as well as some authors who I am friends with. It gets annoying when I have 8 or so notifications in facebook and none are really "for" me.
ReplyDeleteJimmy, you had me sweating there, buddy. E-reader? Oh, my Goodness! I can' hardly afford a good book once in a while! I understand why people like them. I'm happy that they do, because my books will always be available to them. But really, I'm just too worried for one thing that someone could steal it. Who will steal a book? No one.