Please welcome back guests Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke who have been best friends for over twenty-five years and survived high school and college together. Together they have written The Year We Turned Forty, The Status of All Things, and Your Perfect Life. Liz lives in San Diego with her husband and two children. Lisa, a former talk show producer, lives in Chicago with her husband, daughter, and two bonus children.
We are passionate about marketing our books because it’s a huge part of our jobs as writers. (We want people to read them!) And instagram is our favorite way to share information about ourselves and our novels because it’s laid back, fun and relatable. The way we hope our readers see us!
Connect with Liz and Lisa on their blog, on Facebook, on Twitter…and of course on Instagram.
The Business of Being Authors
If you had asked us in high school what we thought being a published author would be like, we would have talked to you about the way a hardcover book feels in our hands, and how satisfying it would be to finally get all the stories dancing around in our heads out into the world.
Not once would we have mentioned marketing, publicity or social media.
Definitely not social media. Because, ahem, Facebook hadn’t even been invented yet. Or the internet. Or email.
So now that we’ve established that we’re old, let’s get to the heart of what this post is about. Being an author is hard work. And you must run things like you’re a kick-ass entrepreneur. Whether you like it or not. You may have wanted it to be just about writing (wouldn’t that be fabulous?), but the reality is that there is so much more to being a successful author than putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard.
If you want to sell books, that is. If you don’t care about selling books, read no further! And congrats on writing and getting a book published!
Getting your beautiful novel into people’s hands isn’t easy. With amazing books hitting the shelves each week, it’s getting harder than ever to stand out. And these days, you aren’t just promoting your writing. You are promoting you. But not in an obvious, scream it from the rooftops kind of way. You have to make yourself accessible. Human. Just like your readers.
We’ll try any social media app once to connect with people—Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, even Google Plus! And they all have pros and cons. But if we had to pick the best one for authors, our money would be on Instagram.
There are so many things to love about Instagram.
It’s easy
We’re not that technologically savvy. So Instagram was like a social media gift sent from Heaven! We’re still trying to figure out what Snapchat is. (Can someone please tell us?) And have zero clue how to use Tumblr (although we did figure out how to create a profile!) But Instagram takes a minute to set up an account and all you have to figure out is how to upload a picture. Then you are off!
A picture really can say a thousand words
We love the way you can tell a story through pictures—that you can actually show your followers what you are experiencing on book tour. Whether it’s the first time you’ve seen your book in a bookstore or a selfie with the audience at your signing, it’s a simple way to give an intimate glance into your author life and even your personal life, too. We’ve taken photos of food we’ve prepared (don’t worry—only once in a while—we swear!) or our rescue dogs (once you see how cute they are, you’ll understand why!) and even nights out with our hubbies. Because readers want to know about what makes their favorite authors tick and Instagram is an easy way to show them.
It’s ok to post—a lot
Something about Facebook makes us feel guilty if we post too many pictures. But not on Instagram—that’s what it’s for! Or at least we think so. We consider it like an ongoing album that chronicles our lives. So on some days we’ll post a ton, other days not at all.
It’s a great way to connect
Book lovers LOVE Instagram. They use hashtags like #instabooks and #bookstagram and aren’t shy about quoting novels and tagging the author. And they take these amazing artistic photos with your books! So cool, right? Recently, The Status of All Things came out in France and voila! We were interacting right away with our French readers. We have no idea what they were saying, but we think they liked it!
We know. Social media can be overwhelming. Sometimes, it can even seem fruitless. So be sure to concentrate your efforts where you can get the biggest bang for your buck. In our opinion, that’s Instagram. Come find us there! We’re @lisaandliz.
Please share your secrets to getting your novel into readers’ hands. What’s your favorite social media platform?
Great post! Instagram is hands down my favorite way to connect with people online — what a wonderful community of photographers I’ve found. In addition to connecting with authors and other writers (#writersofinstagram and #amwriting), it’s an amazing way to see what people around the globe see as important in their world through what they choose to photograph.
Thanks, Julia! xo
I’m starting up a blog and plan to use other social media to promote myself and my soon-to-be self published books. But, the amount of social media tools are overwhelming. Since you suggested Instagram, I’ll try that out. Thanks.
Good luck!
Spending more time on Instagram is definitely on my list. I’ve posted a little on the platform, but I’m not one of those people to whom whipping out my phone camera is a natural response to an interesting sight. I’ve seen its potential as a great place to build my own personal image-driven chronicle of my life, though.
As a writer of historical fiction, I also love Pinterest, and seem to get more likes on that than the time I spend warrants. But both platforms take time to understand, and like many writers I have limited time. Most of my online interaction is done early in the day when I’m NOT out and about or in any way ready to take a selfie.
Nice meeting Lisa in the Chicago burbs, by the way! I followed you guys on Instagram to see what you’re doing, and since I’m moving to a very photogenic area you might see me on there more often.
It was great to meet you as well Jane. You should definitely post pics after you move! Can’t wait to see them–hopefully on Instagram. ;)
I have not tried Instagram, but am tempted to after this post. Right now I use Facebook and Twitter primarily and try to post there at least once a day. I also share my blog on all the social media sites, including LinkedIn and Tumblar. If I don’t share the blog link on those sites, I notice that I don’t get as many visitors. On my blog, I host other authors, do book reviews, and have guest posts from Slim Randles, who writes humor.
Great! Instagram is a different flavor since it’s picture and not linked-based. It’s a way to get more intimate with your readers without asking them to read/like/do something.
#Hi Liz & Lisa! Thanks for showing us the way in social media–you have such a great presence online and make it seem fun! Thanks for the advice #BackToTheDrawingBoard!
Hi Dee!!!! xoxoxoxoxoxo
I will look for you!
Instagram makes it easy to connect with like-minded people through all kinds of hashtags. It’s also a great way to glimpse what’s going on in an area. I use it to see the weather in other parts of the country and snow conditions for skiing. Like Twitter, the world has become a lot smaller by connecting with others around the world.
I hadn’t thought about how it could be used effectively for selling books, so thanks for sharing! I hope to have marketing on my list of things-to-do some day.
Yes! We will look for you there! xo
Eek, I always forget about Instagram. Until I go there and think, OMG, I ALWAYS FORGET ABOUT INSTAGRAM. xoxo
GIRL! Come over and play with us on Instagram! xoxoox
My first book will be published within a year and I knew I’d have to reach out past my comfort zone of Facebook and twitter. You’ve just sold me on Instagram! I guess the next step is to have one of my savvy grandkids show me how to set up and use it.
I’ve associated Instagram with teenagers (not the age who will be reading my books) but I see I am wrong. Again.
Congrats to both of you, and thanks for sharing your author knowledge. :)
Thanks! And it’s really, really easy! You will love! Congrats on your book! xo
Snapchat is an instant messaging service that offers impermanent media sharing. If you post something on Instagram or Twitter or Tumblr, it stays up forever. With Snapchat, you can share media and after people look at it for 10 seconds, it disappears.
The idea is that you can share pictures and videos of fun experiences without worrying about quality, so you don’t waste all day taking a hundred selfies at slightly different angles and tinkering with filters to make one of them Instagram-worthy.
(I don’t use the service myself; I’ve just read about it.)
We recently caved and are now on Snapchat too! It’s fun, but we feel about a thousand years old there. Username: lizfenton11
I love Insta. Great way for me to share my view of the world – and I believe if people like my images they’ll probably also love the pics I create with my words :) following you as @laxmiwrites on Insta
I’ve been using Instagram steadily for about a year now. It’s a must for YA and middle grade writers. Teens and tweens hate Facebook because that’s where their parents hang out (we haven’t told them yet that Instragram is owned by Facebook). And these kids love love love their books. They take photos of their bookshelves, have daily photo challenges that involve books, and tell the world when they love a new book. It’s better than an Amazon review.
You have to be careful not to oversell, though. The younger generation has grown up with internet scams and lose trust quickly if you constantly post your own books. They love insulting the paid ads (though I’m not sure if they expect the people who run Instagram to work for free or what…welcome to the new generation).
And yes, it is fun. No pressure to say anything funny. Very little politics, unlike Facebook. So go have fun! And follow me…@ronestrada.
Yes, we agree–we post about other authors and just our daily lives more than we do about our own books–readers seem to just want to connect with who their favorite authors are as people.
I’m a devoted blogger.
There is so much out here on the Internet I feel pretty technologically savvy and Im only at about 25%. Social media is truly a full time job for someone who wishes to reap the great benefits it entails.
I have not used instam yet but I do use facebook and a little twitter. I dont feel I have fully learned to use the ones I almost know then I need to learn something else. Maybe a disadvantage however fortunately for me I have kids 11, 14 and 17 and they tell me and set up everything new I will have it set up in no time.
Instagram is so easy! You will love!!!
Thanks for this post. Not on Instagram yet, but LOVE sharing pix on FB, so I guess I need to make this my next social media place!
Yes to Instagram. I love Snapchat but have yet to find a writer using it properly so not sure how that would work. And Tumblr is also a great way to connect with readers, especially if you’re writing YA–I love it more than Instagram, actually. It’s filled with teenagers and books and quotes and is quite easy to use. Let me know if you’d ever like a tutorial!