16 | The Writer • March 2020
needs to have a contemporary feel – no one gets
excited browsing a website that looks like it was
designed in the MySpace era.
5
Get your social media set up.
It’s never too early to set up your social media
platforms because social media is a game of fol-
lower acquisition, and that process takes time. Out
of the main contenders (Instagram, Facebook,
Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest), decide on two main
platforms on which to focus. Create a modern,
consistent look for your platforms and start engag-
ing with others’ content in addition to posting your
own. Focus on having a following in place for when
you have something important to say, i.e., “I wrote
this amazing book and now it’s time to buy it!”
6
Start creating social media content.
Once your platforms are set up and look pro-
fessional, now you must start the content creation
machine. It can be overwhelming at first, so get
organized. Google examples of a social media
content calendar and start drafting posts, tweets,
or messages. Writing this content for just one to
two hours at a time is all it takes to fill a robust
social calendar. Capitalize on topics that are
timely, such as awareness months/weeks/days or
national holidays, news stories that relate to your
book, and so on. Just always remember the 80/
rule (only talk about your “stuff ” – products, con-
tent, etc. – 20% of the time).
7
Find a scheduling tool that works for you.
Now that you’ve got content written, look into
the social media scheduling tool you’ll use to keep
you ahead of the game. Hootsuite is a popular one
to start with. Get comfortable with it, and it will
be your best friend. You’ll want to locate compel-
ling images for each post (statistically, social
engagement goes up when you include an image).
Just make sure you’re accessing copyright-free
images for your post, such as stock art or Creative
Commons images. Many a person has gotten into
trouble using an image on their blog/social chan-
nels without proper permission, so learn from
their mistakes!
8
Plan your book launch.
Get a game plan together regarding events
you want to schedule, a potential book tour route,
awards to apply for, plus other outreach plans
(such as messaging/calling book clubs or relevant
professional organizations). Not only does having
a clear strategy keep you organized, but it also
allows you to bite off small planning pieces at a
time so you don’t get overwhelmed as your book
release approaches. Simply assign yourself a few
tasks for each week leading up to the launch.9
Create a local launch event.
Plan on hosting at least one event for your
book launch party. It doesn’t always have to be at
a bookstore: Are there other locations that make
sense for your topic (i.e., hosting a launch at a
children’s museum for a picture book)? View
this launch as a celebration for your local com-
munity; as a bonus, hosting one close to home
means you can invite friends and family as well.
Create an event on Facebook and invite your
friends. After it’s scheduled (roughly two to
three months out), work on getting relevant cal-
endar listings to promote it. Look for sites that
cater to your community, such as a local paper,
community site, or blog.10
Galvanize your following.
It’s important to try and maintain a group
of friends and influencers online you can count
on to help you spread the word via social media,It’s never
too early
to set up
your social
media
platforms.