Tag Archives: social media

Poll Results: What Editors and Agents Look For In Social Media

In prep for my Social Media Masterclass for Authors and Illustrators at SCBWI-Midwest, I posted a survey for editors, agents and art directors and 25 responded. Only one freelance art director responded (feel free browse art directors’ responses in the similar poll in 2014, which also includes responses from editors and agents), but there were 11 responses from PAL editors, 10 responses from agents, and 3 responses from “Other”. For those that don’t know, PAL stands for “Published and Listed” and PAL Publishers are traditional publishing houses that do not charge money to authors or illustrators. You can find a list of PAL Publishers on the SCBWI website. Be aware that these industry surveys are informal, and are answered mainly by those who follow me on Twitter – I posted the link to my survey on Twitter, FB and Instagram. Most respondents chose to remain anonymous or asked me not to identify them publicly; I included attribution for those who gave me permission. Thanks to all who participated!

Summary and Takeaways:

Overall, the results were very similar to my poll from 2014. In general: when editors, agents and art directors look you up online, the main turn-offs include unprofessional behaviour and overall negativity. Before they commit to working with you longterm, they want to find out more about you. Make it easy for them to find out more information about you: keep your website updated and easy to navigate, make your portfolio (for illustrators) easy to find, make it easy for them to contact you.

If you read the comments, you will notice that different people are looking for different things. Don’t feel overwhelmed! In the end, you need to figure out how YOU want to use social media. What are your specific goals? What type of connections do you want to make? You will save yourself a great deal of time and frustration if you are working toward a particular goal (rather than “my publisher wants me to be on social media so here I am”). Jane Kelly recently interviewed me about social media on the SCBWI Wisconsin blog; feel free to browse for tips. And if you’re an up-and-coming illustrator attending SCBWI-LA this year, I encourage you to apply for the Social Media Mentorship For Illustrators Award.

MORE DETAILS AND COMMENTS FROM THOSE WHO ANSWERED MY SURVEY:

**** Also see comments from my 2014 survey.

In answer to the question “How important has social media been in your discovery of new clients / book creators?“, 40% said it was somewhat important, 36% said very important and 24% said not very important.

In answer to the question “When you are considering taking on a new client / author / illustrator, do you ever research them online?“, 84% said that yes, they always research them online. The remaining 16% said that yes, they sometimes research them online.

In answer to the question “If you do online research before signing on a client / author / illustrator, has your research ever made you decide NOT to sign them on?“, 52% said that yes, they have (at least once) decided to NOT sign someone on after online research.

In answer to the question “Which social media do you tend to use most often?” (check all that apply), Twitter came out on top with 96% (not surprising, since most of the respondents follow me on Twitter) followed closely by Instagram (80%), then Facebook (56%) and YouTube (32%). Also mentioned by a few: Pinterest, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Reddit. My advice: find 1-2 social media platforms that you enjoy – don’t try to be everywhere!

In answer to the question “When browsing social media, do you ever browse Stories?“, 28% said never, 24% said rarely, 20% chose “I have no idea what you’re talking about”, 16% said yes, all the time, and 12% said yes, sometimes.

COMMENTS (about turn-ons/turn-offs, what they look for, social media advice):

“I shy away from accounts that post mostly negative opinions, and anyone conservative-leaning. Other than that, humor and irony are appreciated, anything celebratory, positive or progressive, and cute animal pics. :)” – Agent

“I do like to see new work and process work as well as book promo. It’s tricky to balance but the best accounts also show personality and an awareness of other work being done in the field.”

“I primarily research new illustrators and like to see a illustration portfolio within a few clicks of finding someone on social media.” – Freelance art director

“Being inappropriate; someone who complains publicly about agents; someone who often leaps into heated arguments online; someone who is clearly jealous of successful people in the business.” – Editor

“I appreciate genuine engaged social media interactions and value authors that can do this with ease as it is incredibly beneficial for both buzz and sales.” – Jennifer Weltz, President of JVNLA, Inc.

“I look for professionalism.” – Emma Dryden, Children’s Editorial & Publishing Consultant, Drydenbooks

“I look for authors and illustrators who share their enthusiasm for what brings them joy, whether it’s a bird sighting or stumbling across an old comic book or sharing an esoteric fact in their research. I try to avoid authors and illustrators who are quick to “pile on” and express their outrage about the latest industry pariah (whether Junot Diaz, Kosoko Jackson, etc.)” – Agent

“Love when authors and illustrators interact with readers.” – Editor

“If people have a website or blog, it should be up to date. If it can’t be up to date, take it down.” – Erin Murphy, President of Erin Murphy Literary Agency

“We have to work together for a lengthy period. If you come across as difficult, rude, negative, or politically extreme it makes me think twice about working with you. There’s a lot of talent out there. Why would I put myself in that position?” – Editor

“For illustrators, extra work to see is good! For everyone, some evidence that you’re not awful and don’t just talk about writing is good, too. I just mostly want to know you are who you say you are.” – Editor

“I look for professionalism above all. I look for authors who are effectively engaging to promote their books without stalking editors by filling up their social media feeds. That’s a red flag for me. I also look always for evidence that creators are primarily focussed on developing their work and craft.” – Agent

“Writers get more of a pass on social media, but for illustrators I definitely want to see them experimenting with different styles. If the rest of their work is too hard to find, or there’s no link to a portfolio, that makes it harder to get interested.” – Agent

Source: inkygirl.com

Visit us at First Edition Design Publishing

WITS Throwdown: Putting the “Social” in Social Media

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The real title of this post is How To Put the Social in Social Media Without Losing Your Mind or All Your Free Time.

That’s a heavy promise, right? Social media does like to suck up valuable family time, writing time, down time. If you think about it as a big vaccuum that gives nothing back, you WILL be resistant to this whole “online social thing.”

This post is about how pick your online locations carefully and develop habits that help fit social media into the life you actually have. It’s about how to make connections during the time you choose to spend online. And of course, I share what I do to keep my love alive.

We’ve had two posts in this throwdown already. One from Fae, who pretty much detests it. One from Julie, who has found the one place in social media that ~~doesn’t give her hives~~ makes her happy.

Those two are introverts, whereas Laura and I are extroverts. All four of us have different stances on this topic. Even on the extrovert side, Laura is retired and I work more than full time.

Translation: I have two part-time day jobs that sometimes expand to three, plus writing, plus volunteering, plus an eight year-old. (Plus a very understanding husband.) Many things in life are more important than my writing and I’ve had to learn to be okay with that.

It was hard to let go of perfection and my yen to Fast Draft, but there are rewards from my overburdened schedule. A big one is my time-saving social media habits, which I will detail at the bottom of this post.

Important Note (like super-duper important): Taking the “social” out of social media defeats the entire purpose. You will resent all that wasted time. (At least I would.)

If you’ve hung out at WITS for a while, you’ve heard me wax rhapsodic about social media before. Below are several of my posts that will give you all the how-to and “what the heck is it” info you might want.

Social Media Habits that Support Your Brand AND Your Life – if you only click one of these links, make it this one. This post gives the nitty gritty on using easy tools to save time.
The Personalities of Social Media (and which one fits YOU)
What Kinds of Social Media Go Viral
Social Media: Make the Most of Your Six Seconds
5 Easy SEO Techniques that Rock Your Search Rankings

The above links are pretty big picture but there are also specifics to be had:

5 Reasons Google+ Can Rock Your Search Rankings
Do you Clean Up Your Twitter Account? (3 Easy Tips)
Lisa Hall-Wilson knows how to rock Facebook.
Marcy Kennedy posted on Twitter’s 12 Best Hashtags for Writers.

We’ve also had stellar tips for not getting overwhelmed on social media from veterans like Roni Loren who gave this sage advice: Only focus on the things that sizzle your bacon. Also, Colleen Story shared 7 Ways to Keep Social Media from Ruining your Mood.

And then there is little ol’ former technology-trainer me. I have a confession that won’t surprise you… I freaking love software and apps.

Love. Them.

I love the time-saving tools (although it’s super hard to beat my own kitchen timer for time management). I love the way technology connects people. I love the way Excel’s pivot tables summarize thousands of records into a table the size of your hand.

Technology is just cool.

However, time is in short supply and I’ve had to shoehorn social media into the schedule. Remember that promise from up top: How To Put the Social in Social Media Without Losing Your Mind or All Your Free Time ?

Here are my Top 5 “fit it in no matter what” social media tips:

1. The biggest trick I have is using the “in-between” time. In the long check-out line, or waiting in the doctor’s office. Waiting in the car line to pick up my kid. While I eat lunch. Just before I go to bed. While my kid reads to me (with my phone hidden from her view so she isn’t aware she only has half of my attention).

All those in-between moments add up. You’ll at least get 30 minutes a day. You can do a lot with 30 minutes! Plus, you’ve turned those boring “waiting” moments into something that is a reward (at least for me). Boorah.

2. Planning is everything. Some of your time will just be spent scrolling, liking, commenting. But a smart author plans out the week or the month, so the important updates get out now mantter how busy you are.

You can do a ton of graphics in less than an hour each week if you use Canva. Laura Drake explains how to own Canva.

3. Decide who your audience is and focus your time in their neck of the online world.

I love what this article at Contently has to say – it’s a few years old but it’s still pretty accurate.

Let’s talk strategy. You have limited time, maybe limited content, and there is a very specific audience you want to reach. Here’s a quick, non-scientific breakdown of who uses which network:

Teenagers gravitate towards Snapchat, YouTube, Tumblr, and Instagram.
Soon-to-be-wives and soon-to-be-moms are all about Pinterest.
Young parents and grandparents alike can be found on Facebook.
Business types and leaders rule LinkedIn.
Influencers and bloggers love Twitter, WordPress and Tumblr.

Here’s an infographic with my thoughts on the main social media apps out there. (Yes, I totally think Facebook is a huge time suck.)

4. Set up Google alerts. You want the content you are passionate about to come to you so you don’t have to spend time chasing it down. No one has time for that. Google Alerts email the info right to you.

To set up one (or ten) of these handy alerts:

Go to google.com/alerts in your browser.
Enter a search term for the topic you want to track. As you enter your terms, view a preview of the results below.
Choose “Show Options” to narrow the alert to a specific source, language, and/or region. Specify how often, how many, and how to receive alerts.
Select “Create Alert.”

5. Don’t be afraid to schedule. Especially during busy weeks, when I don’t have time to both post AND monitor, scheduling tools let me “have it all.” I go back and forth over whether I like HootSuite or Buffer better, but here is an article that compares them both. I also used Social Oomph for a while.

Overall, I’m super happy with social media. I don’t use all the tools I’d like to use, and I always feel like I’m swimming up stream in terms of time, but notifications and alerts allow me to at least keep up with the people who are interacting directly with me. I count that as a win.

More than anything, your time online needs to be fun and productive. Find your tribe and enjoy them. If your time online is fun, you’re less likely to resent it or view it as wasted.

Now it’s your turn! Introvert or extrovert? Social media lover or hater? And what are the tricks that have allowed you to fit it into your busy schedule?

By Jenny Hansen

Visit us at First Edition Design Publishing

Here’s How to Protect Yourself Against Social Media Trolls Now

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I’m not sure how you’re feeling about social media right now, but it’s hard out here for many of us. I’ve never seen a nation so divided or divisive, and I observe this daily on Twitter and Facebook (more than other channels), particularly as a sexual abuse survivor with a large author and advocacy platform.

I fully realize, and accept, that by being vocal about my stories, experiences, and beliefs on public channels, and sharing content on controversial topics (gasp: violence against women, sexual assault, rape, and the F-word: feminism) puts a huge target on me and I take the good with the bad (more on that in a moment). Oftentimes, it’s men in particular who have Something To Say about what I’m supposed to say or should do or present myself a certain way. It’s pretty comical.

Until it becomes threatening and scary AF.

I follow who I want to follow, I unfollow, mute or block who I don’t want to interact with. Sometimes, though, that’s not enough. I’m often attacked by others who don’t approve of the way I’m sharing my stories, or even by others who want me to do things for them and when I decline, I’m somehow the bad guy. I also see so many survivors are consistently harassed, stalked, doxxed, and even threatened — it’s become seriously disgusting.

We must protect ourselves.

Social Media Trolls

Twitter and Facebook agree (finally), and have given us ways to cut down on interaction with these trolls. Because my business (as BadRedhead Media) is doing social media, I realized I’m maybe a bit more aware than others on how to maximize these options so I want to share some of these tips with you today.

Why? I still believe in the many wonderful benefits of social media: forming community, finding support, learning, connecting, building bridges, camaraderie, a laugh when we need it, the brilliant commentary, and the many forces for good.

Social media is what you make it, so mold it to be the experience you need it to be, and disregard the rest.

Here’s how.

Twitter Trolls

Change Your Settings on Twitter

Most people don’t know how to or don’t bother doing this, yet Twitter has made it soooooo easy and you have many options as well.

First, look at your toolbar, click on the Notifications tab and you’ll see a Settings tab. Looks like this:

Click on the Settings hyperlink, and you go to this screen. You can see how I have set my Notifications right now on my @RachelintheOC Twitter account:

Another option here is the Advanced QUALITY FILTER, which allows you to mute specific words or phrases from showing up in your notifications. For example, if you’ve just had it with Trump, you can add that as a word that will always be muted, regardless of the tweet, and you will not see it (whether it’s from followers, news articles, quotes, trolls, whatever).

Reminder: all of these settings are changeable, so if you’re having a bad day, do what you need to do and then change it back the next day. If you want to make it a permanent thing, that’s also your choice. These are options for people you DON’T follow.

Note: You do not have to give Twitter your phone number. You don’t have to give any social media channel your phone number unless you want to sign up for two-step log-in verification (something I highly recommend — and even then you can use email instead of text if you prefer). This is to prevent hacking of your account. Again, totally your choice.

Why is this an option then? Bots, spammers, and trolls who create numerous accounts to troll from don’t have numerous phone numbers — Twitter knows this. It’s simple to create a new email and Twitter account in a few minutes — it’s altogether different to get a new phone number to go with each of these accounts. So this option isn’t about you giving your phone number — it’s about protecting you from interacting with bots, spammers, and trolls you don’t follow.

Some people argue that removing words or notifications is akin to putting ourselves in a bubble or echo box, where we only interact with people who agree with us; others say we are censoring others. I say: bullshit. You create and curate your own Twitter experience, and if you feel bothered or upset by what people are sending you, then it’s within your power to cut them off.

You are not obliged to interact with haters or trolls. You are not censoring them, as they will argue (which always tickles me). They are still free to spread their hate and vitriol — you simply do not need to be their final destination.

And on that note, Twitter has made a change to their algorithm: it will use behavioral signals – how users react to a tweet – to assess if an account is adding to or detracting from conversations. If it feels it’s exhibiting troll-like or bot behavior, the tweet will be removed or shoved down to the ‘show more replies’ graveyard. I think this is a great and needed change — what do you think?

Facebook Trolls

Oh, Facebook. What a disaster you have become. If you’re still there (I am. I love my Street Team — click to join! — and survivor group), you have your reasons. Pages are different and important if you’re an author or small business for the sole reason that you cannot advertise your books or services on your personal wall (if you are, stop it. You’re violating the TOS – terms of service) and they have every right to shut you down.

I find it’s almost impossible to post practically anything without someone making a political comment on it — in fact, I posted an article the other day about the legal difference between the terms sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, and sexual abuse, and some guy posted on my wall about why he changed political parties and “deep state” political conspiracies. I was like, dude, seriously? Sigh. (For what it’s worth, I kindly asked him to delete his comment. When he refused, I kindly deleted it for him and blocked him as well.)

I do think it’s possible for us all to disagree about politics and still like and respect each other, and have conversations about it if that’s what the designated topic is. Here, it was not. Anyway, I digress.

Managing Your Newsfeed

Did you know you can do that now? Before, you had to put people on lists and it took hours and hours. Days, even. And then you had to keep it all updated as you friended or unfriended folks. So most people didn’t bother. Now you don’t need to. Here’s how:

Click on your toolbar (top right by your face), where the little upside-down arrow is:

Once you click on that, a drop-down list appears. Click on News Preferences:

Now, you just click on this handy box with the weird crab (I don’t get it but whatever). My kids don’t get it either. Can someone explain the crab to me? It’s just weird.

Click on each tab and do your thing. What’s important here is the light blue tab: you can UNFOLLOW people and they don’t know. You don’t see their vitriolic, ranting, or weird, crab-filled posts anymore and they have no idea.

Personally, I have zero issue with blocking folks and find a kind of sinister glee in it, yet I know some of you feel bad about that because you have hearts and stuff. Again, do what makes you feel good.

A Bit of Advice

If I choose to engage with someone who comes at me — because what’s the point of having this platform if I don’t use it, right? — I have The One-Reply Rule: I reply once (if at all). If that person comes back at me with ad-hominem attacks, circular logic, straw-man arguments, or are just plain ridiculous, etc., they’re gone. If, however, we can engage in some kind of discussion that is educational, beneficial, and all that, cool.

Listen, I get that people have feelings and need to feel their feels. Most people in this world just want to be heard.

None of us needs to be the target of someone else’s hate, though. Do not feel obliged to engage with anyone on social media, ever.

Final Thoughts

When all else fails and it becomes too much, turn off social media. Walk away. Turn off all your notifications. Your mental health is far more important than social media.

If it helps, here’s what I do with regard to social media (and remember, this is my business, too):

No phone notifications, ever.
No desktop notifications, ever.
I keep Twitter and FB open when I’m working on social media scheduling or interacting with people, otherwise, they’re closed
I always have Hootsuite open because I’m always scheduling or looking for great content to schedule
I definitely recommend using a SMM (social media management) tool as well as the coordinating browser extension (in this case, the Hootlet)
I never have social media open when I’m writing (blog posts or my books)
If I’m working on client deliverables, social media is off.

Some people enjoy the arguments, some people take things personally, and the overall experience can go sideways quickly. Practice compassion with others and importantly, with yourself. If silence is the best answer for your self-care, do that for you.

I hope this post helps you figure out ways to find your peace.

By Rachel Thompson
Source: rachelintheoc.com

Visit us at First Edition Design Publishing

In the time you spend on social media each year, you could read 200 books

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Somebody once asked Warren Buffett about his secret to success. Buffett pointed to a stack of books and said,

Read 500 pages like this every day. That’s how knowledge works. It builds up, like compound interest. All of you can do it, but I guarantee not many of you will…

When I first found this quote of Buffett’s two years ago, something was wrong.

It was Dec. 2014. I’d found my dream job. Some days, I would be there, sitting at my dream job, and I would think, “My god what if I’m still here in 40 years? I don’t want to die like this…”

Something wasn’t right. I’d followed the prescription. Good grades. Leadership. Recommendations. College. Dream Job. I was a winner. I’d finished the race. Here I was in the land of dreams. But something was terribly, terribly wrong.

Every day, from my dream job desk, I looked out into their eyes. Empty, empty eyes.

There were no answers.

In January of 2015, I found Buffett’s quote. I decided to read. I was going to read and read and read and never stop until I got some damn answers.

I didn’t quite make 500 pages a day, but, in these last two years, I’ve read over 400 books cover to cover. That decision to start reading was one of the most important decisions in my life.

Books gave me the courage to travel. Books gave me the conviction to quit my job. Books gave me role models and heroes and meaning in a world where I had none.

I want to say reading 200 books a year is an amazing thing. But the truth is, it’s not. Anybody can do it.

All it takes is some simple math and the right tools.

1. Do not quit before you start

When average Joe hears the advice “Read 500 pages like this every day,” his snap reaction is to say, “No way! That’s impossible!”

Joe will then go on to make up reasons to justify his belief without doing any deep thinking at all. These might include “I’m too busy,” “I’m not smart enough,” or “Books just aren’t for me.”

But what if we go a little deeper? For example, what does it actually take to read 200 books a year? Two years ago, I stopped to do the simple math. Here’s what I found: Reading 200 books a year isn’t hard at all.

It’s just like Buffett says. Anyone can do it, but most people won’t.

2. Do the simple math

How much time does it take to read 200 books a year?

First, let’s look at two quick statistics:

The average American reads 200–400 words per minute (Since you’re on Medium, I’m going to assume you read 400 wpm like me)
Typical non-fiction books have ~50,000 words

Now, all we need are some quick calculations…

200 books * 50,000 words/book = 10 million words
10 million words/400 wpm = 25,000 minutes
25,000 minutes/60 = 417 hours

That’s all there is to it. To read 200 books, simply spend 417 hours a year reading.

I know, I know. If your brain is like mine, it probably saw “417 hours” and immediately tried to shut off. Most people only work 40 hours a week! How can we possibly read for 417 hours?

Don’t let your monkey brain turn you away yet. Let’s do a quick reframe for what 417 hours really means…

3. Find the time

Wowsers, 417 hours. That sure feels like a lot. But what does 417 hours really mean? Let’s try to get some more perspective.

Here’s how much time a single American spends on social media and TV in a year:

608 hours on social media
1642 hours on TV

Wow. That’s 2250 hours a year spent on TRASH. If those hours were spent reading instead, you could be reading over 1,000 books a year!

Here’s the simple truth behind reading a lot of books: It’s not that hard. We have all the time we need. The scary part—the part we all ignore—is that we are too addicted, too weak, and too distracted to do what we all know is important…

All it takes to start reading a lot more is to take “empty time” spent Twitter-stalking celebrities or watching Desperate Housewives and convert some of it to reading time.

The theory is simple. It’s the execution that’s hard.

4. Execute

We all know reading is important. We all know we should do more of it. But we don’t. The main reason this happens is a failure to execute.

I’m not so perfect at it yet, but here are some tactics that have helped me get results.

I. Use environmental design

If you were quitting cocaine, would you keep it lying around the house? Of course not. Media is designed to be addictive. Moving away from media addiction can be as difficult as quitting drugs.

The biggest bang-for-buck changes here are environmental.

If you want to read, make sure (1) you remove all distractions from your environment and (2) you make books as easy to access as possible.

As an example, here’s my immediate environment:

I travel a lot. That doesn’t stop me from reading. The picture on the left is of my “bookshelf” in Thailand. I try to keep books everywhere so I can just pick one up and start reading.

The picture on the right is my smartphone desktop. Notice there are only two apps. One of them—the Kindle app—is for reading. The other is for habits… Which brings me to my next point.

II. Upload habits

Willpower is not a good tool for lifestyle change. It always fails you when you need it most. Instead of relying on strength of mind, build a fortress of habits—these are what will keep you resilient in tough times.

If you’re not familiar with habit science, my favorite book on the subject is Tynan’s Superhuman by Habit. It’s infinitely practical, and practical is all I care about.

Getting good at habit formation took me years. Many of the mistakes I made were avoidable. If I could go back, I’d find a habit coach. Here’s how I see it. One game-changing idea from a good book is worth thousands of dollars. If a coach helps you read ONE more good book a year, you already get your money’s worth.

(A shout out to Cherry Jeffs and Nathan Sudds, two coaches who have helped me out a lot.)

III. Go multi-medium

When it comes to reading, be a jack of all trades, not a specialist.

If your goal is to read more, you can’t be picky about where you read or what mediums you use. I read paper books. I read on my phone. I listen to audiobooks. And I do these things everywhere—on park benches, in buses, in the toilet… Wherever I can.

Make your reading opportunistic. If you have a chance, take it. If you don’t have a chance, find one.

I read a book one day and my whole life was changed.

— Orhan Pamuk

If I hadn’t started reading, perhaps I’d still be at my dream job. Perhaps I’d still be at my desk, taking peeks at the clock and wondering if that was how I was going to die…

If you’re looking for answers, give reading a try. You may find much, much more than what you were looking for.

Source: qz.com

Visit us at First Edition Design Publishing

Ready for More Social Media Clean-Up? Here’s How To Go About It (Part 2)

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Did you do Part 1 of the social media clean-up yet? If not (and come ON already, why not? It’s not like you have writing or work to do. I mean), get on with it already. If so, yay you! I covered key updates on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.

Here’s your next assignment, should you choose to accept it (sorry, had to):

updating Instagram,
LinkedIn,
your blog/website and
Amazon author bio (if you have a book out).

Let’s do this thingy.

Social Media: Instagram

Many writers and bloggers either aren’t Instagram at all, are on it and post photos of their cats (*raises hand*), aren’t sure what to post so don’t post anything, or are caught up in nothing but selfie culture (ugh).

We can do better, writer friends! Instagram is no different than any other social media channel — be strategic. Use your keywords as a basis for your personal branding. Share what makes you, you.

Key ways to update your Instagram now:

Is your bio complete and updated? You have 150 characters only, so make the most of them. More than anywhere else, this is especially key here as it’s the only place on Instagram where you can have an active hyperlink (links do not work in individual posts unless you are paying to advertise). What do you want to link to? I suggest your most recent release, however, some writers prefer to link to their website. Your call.
TIP: You can update this hyperlink frequently (if you want to), based on your sales objective. Here’s mine as an example (follows appreciated):

Have a giveaway or an event? Change the link on your bio.
Have you transitioned to a Business Profile yet? It’s free and allows you far more options! This post walks you through every step. Why bother? Paid advertising. It also links to your Facebook Author Page — if you pay for advertising on your Facebook Page, the ad also shows up on your Instagram (and vice versa).
Find readers using hashtags in Search. This is NEW.
Use pertinent hashtags in your posts to attract readers.

Social Media: LinkedIn

Is your bio complete and updated? This is trickier on LinkedIn — there’s a lot to fill out. Here are some key tips from Grammarly on exactly how to do that.
Do you need to be there at all? I get this question a lot. Well, think about this: who’s your demographic? Do they work? Probably. Are they digital readers? Probably. Boom. That’s why you should be there. It’s also a great way to connect with others in the writing and publishing community.
Here’s a great read on how to make the most of your bio and connections (so you don’t have to just take my word for it). Plus, if you have a side business, you can create a ‘company profile’ attached for your personal profile (e.g., my LI profile is under Rachel Thompson, and I have a BadRedhead Media Company Profile).
Utilize LinkedIn Pulse (their blogging section). Why? Visibility! Either take posts you’ve already written or write original content. Either way, you are helping your SEO.

Not Social Media, But Still Super Important: Your Website About Section (aka, Bio)

Little bit different format here, so stay with me. What is the point of your Author Bio? It’s not really to list all of your accomplishments like on a resume (or Tinder for you young’uns); it’s to help the reader decide whether you’re interesting enough (sad, but true) for them to pay attention to and possibly buy books from. Here are a few expert tips on writing the best bio possible from Hubspot:

Always write in third person (I know it sounds weird, but think about this: people will share your bio when you do things like blog tours, guest articles, and events — so having your bio in first person will be even weirder in those situations.) TIP: Create a media kit people can download for these occasions OR give permission for people to copy/paste your information.
Remember: It’s not really about you. It’s about your reader. What will they gain from reading your blog posts, articles, and books?
Establish credibility — truthfully. Everything is searchable, so be absolutely truthful with everything you share in regard to your credentials (not that you shouldn’t have been before, but you know). If you share that you’ve written for Forbes, link to the article. If you cannot provide that link, do not list it in your bio.
Explain what you do. Most writers will say: I’m an author. Most bloggers will say: I’m a blogger. Yea, we got that. Do this instead: What will reading your books DO for people? What will they feel? What will they learn? What problem will it solve? Food for thought.
Add a CTA (Call to Action). Your bio can be an appropriate place to add a simple Q&A pitch, e.g., “Want to learn more about rocking your book marketing? Buy BadRedhead Media’s 30-Day Book Marketing Challenge here (add link).”

Finally, and most importantly, be sure your book covers, banners, visuals, and links are all updated, and do this on a regular basis. TIP: go back through your old blog posts and update your book links, book covers, etc. I’m doing that now myself since I’ve republished all my books and the old links are dead.

Amazon Author Bio

Many authors upload their books to Amazon and think, okay, cool, done. Not so fast. You need to go to Amazon Author Central and create your Author Bio. Here’s a link to Author Central and info how to do the basic set-up.

Whenever you publish (or re-publish) a book, you must claim it through author central for it to show up under your author name on Amazon (this also counts toward books you’ve contributed to, e.g., anthologies). This helps expand your backlist, makes your bio page more robust, and it’s totally legit. You did the work, so take the credit.

Other items you can (and should) add:

Your blog RSS feed
Events (e.g., speaking engagements or signings)
Up to eight photos — feature new books, upcoming promos or giveaways, even awards you’ve won. Remember, though: whichever photo you place in the first spot will be the one featured on your page (so if it’s an award and not your face, that’s what readers will see). **Update these photos frequently if you are using them for promos/giveaways which will be short-lived.
Videos – book trailers, typically, though you can share a YouTube video or FB Live video as well (or a speaking event if it fits your theme).

An important final note: all this work is for your Amazon country of origin only, meaning you need to repeat this process for international pages. You can’t do every country, but you can create additional pages in the UK, France, Germany, and Japan. Here are the links to all those Author Central sites:

France: https://authorcentral.amazon.fr/
Germany: https://authorcentral.amazon.de/gp/home
Japan: https://authorcentral.amazon.co.jp/gp/home
UK: https://authorcentral.amazon.co.uk/gp/home
US: https://authorcentral.amazon.com/

I don’t personally speak French, German, and Japanese (I don’t know about you), so I hire someone who can help me. You can also use Google Translate and hope for the best.

And that’s it for now. Do the work, keep writing, and you’ll be set for 2018!

Source: badredheadmedia.com

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Tumblr 101 for Authors [Guest Post]

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Publisher – Aggregator – Master Distributor

Another great guest post from Duolit! by Adrienne from Design Roast.

Tumblr is a must for any author looking to build a following of readers. It is a platform to promote your writing within a tight-knit community, as well as a place to dynamically tell the world about you and your books through videos, quotes, photos, reblogging, links and just some straightforward text too. The most popular way to share on this site, however, is through the creative use of animated gifs.

What do all of these forms have in common? They’re short, easily digestible content.

Today, a variety of literary figures can be found on Tumblr, including book reviewers, publishers, booksellers and, of course, authors. Tumblr has many opportunities for authors, so keep reading to learn how to get started.

Sign Up for Tumblr and Set Up Your Profile

For starters, create an account. This means uploading a photo of yourself and creating a unique username. Since your username will be a part of your tumblr URL, choose wisely.

Some established authors, like John Green, have gotten creative with their username — his isfishingboatproceeds. If you’re looking to build a following, consider using a familiar title from your books, or simply your name/pseudonym.

The rest of the account settings are pretty straightforward. In the “About” section, share a bit of your background, as well as a few of your book titles. You can also set your preferences by allowing, or not allowing, replies from people – and since you’re building a community, it’s a good idea to allow these comments.

Another great feature is the “Ask” section. By turning this on, your readers can ask you questions; just be prepared for them to potentially ask about everything from your favorite place to write to further details about your characters and when your next book is coming out!

How to Customize the Appearance of Your Site

There’s a variety of functionality you can add to your site; one way to really stand out is to personalize the look of your site with a theme (found under Settings > Edit Theme).

If you have a header or background that you’ve designed, you can upload these here. Alternatively, you can simply change the color background to set a tone for your tumblr site. This area of the Tumblr settings even gives you the ability to change your site’s font.

Just keep in mind: Every setting you choose creates an impression about you and your books. Choose colors that will be pleasing to your audience, and fonts that aren’t too hard to read.

If you need assistance with your design, check out the “theme garden” by clicking on Settings > Find Themes. This “garden” is full of choices that can reflect what you and your writing are about. There’s a plethora of options – they even have a storybook theme perfect for children’s authors.

While some of these themes are free, others do cost a nominal fee, which is much less than what you’d spend hiring someone to do the design work for you. Plus, you can do some customization after choosing a theme, such as change up the features – color, font, etc. – to really make the site yours. Just keep in mind the theme will only change how your readers see your page; it won’t change your home feed (where you’ll make updates and monitor other people’s pages).

How to Enable Comments

Many of the themes available through Tumblr include the ability to add comments through Disqus. If Disqus isn’t enabled, the only way people can interact with your content is by liking it and reblogging it. If you’re looking for more interaction on Tumblr, start by making a Disqus account and then adding your Tumblr site under “Your Sites” in Disqus.

Next, visit your Tumblr settings and choose Settings > Edit Theme > Customize. Once there, put your Disqus-supplied username in where it asks for your “Disqus Shortname.” Disqus also gives you the ability to check if it was installed correctly and allows you can set rules in order to moderate your comments.

How to Promote Your Books on Tumblr

Now comes the fun part: building up the content on your site! While you’re free to post about whatever you want on your Tumblr page, as an author there are some things you should focus on:

Quotes: Not only can you offer an excerpt from your books, but you can also quote reviews of your work or even just quotes by others who inspire you. Then, you can comment on the quotes you post.
Videos: Think book trailers for your work or just content you think has some relevance to your brand and the topics you love to write about.
Images: Have a new book coming out? Tease what it’s about through images that inspired you while writing, and then post the book cover to Tumblr.
Links: The world is your oyster when it comes to posting links. Share articles you’ve written around the web, press coverage, links back to your personal writing blog where longer text content resides and more. Like videos and quotes, you can provide some commentary on any link you post.
GIFs: Animated gifs are by far the most popular way to tell a story or share a thought on Tumblr. They can be about a TV show you’re inspired by or simply something fun to share with your readers. Find gifs to use on Giphy.

No matter what medium you use to blog on Tumblr, be sure to tag each and every post with keywords, so users other than your followers can easily find you.

How to Gain a Following on Tumblr

For starters, start following others. You find others by searching their email, URL, or username. Alternatively, search for topics and blogs that interest you. You can focus on publishing-related sites, but follow sites that simply interest and inspire you too. Some people might follow you back, some might not, but it’s a start within the community.

As for gaining followers and readers of your own, simply interact with the site. Like other people’s posts and reblog. Spread the love among Tumblr, and Tumblr will spread the love right back.

While the functionality of Tumblr is simpler than writing a lengthy blog post every day, its offerings are immense. Don’t be intimidated by the site; just get started with an account, explore hashtags and other people’s pages and have fun with it. You never know how it might help you in your next writing endeavor!

Adrienne is a freelance writer and social marketer who loves analyzing social media campaigns to see what works. To see more of her work, check out her blog about design.

Visit: www.firsteditiondesignpublishing.com

How Twitter Can Improve Your Writing #FED_ebooks #Author #Writer #Indieauthor

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First Edition Design Publishing

Publishers – Aggregators – Master Distributors

Ways Twitter Can Improve Our Writing

Founded in 2006, Twitter quickly became one of the defining marks of the current web generation. With so much emphasis put on social media and social networking in the last decade, Twitter filled an important void on the internet left by MySpace and Facebook. In all its simplicity and straightforwardness, Twitter has allowed individuals to plainly express their thoughts moment by moment to the mass public. Essentially like text messaging for the internet, Twitter mastered the key concept of simplicity and vanity that every social media master seeks today. But, with huge success comes, almost always, widespread criticism. Social media hubs like Facebook and Twitter have received a significant amount of flak from various parties online for various reasons. Many argue that Twitter inspires poorly written half-thoughts for the sole purpose of self-promotion and distraction. While this may be true of some Tweets and some Twitter users, there is much more to Twitter than these critics take the time to explore. There are several insightful and worthwhile writing lessons Twitter instills in the hundreds of millions of users who use it each day.

Encouraging Concise Writing

Twitter trains writers to focus on sentence content

Clear, concise thoughts are a sign of strong and intelligent writing. Though the trend in academic writing today involves endless academic jargon, complex sentence structure, and longwinded thoughts, simple writing remains highly valued. Limited to only 140 characters, Twitter forces users to create sentences that get directly to the point as clearly and as quickly as possible. Writers can often get caught up in the construction of a sentence, losing sight of the true purpose of their writing. Twitter encourages people to focus on the point of their sentence rather than the structure, language, and length of that sentence. At some point in academic writing, length and vocabulary became the perceived measure of intelligence and quality. However, this is simply not the case. Clean and concise writing is valued above all else. Twitter teaches writers to craft sentences that are succinct and brief. With limited space to convey your message, you cut out the dribble and get straight to the point.

Practice in Editing

Editing and proofreading are two aspects of writing that the internet has seemingly hindered. Because the internet works at such a fast pace, much of the writing done online is messy and rushed. Skim through the average forum or Facebook page and you are sure to come across numerous misspellings, grammatical errors, and typos. However, editing is also an area that Twitter can remedy in many ways. Editing is one of the most essential tools and skills a writer can possess. Even the roughest of first drafts can be polished and perfected into a pristine piece after the right editing tweaks. Twitter is a great resource for learning to fine-tune your writing and narrow your arguments without sacrificing your unique style. Confining yourself to 140 characters helps you create sentences that are precise and pruned, while also remaining alluring and interesting.

Teaching People to Read Their Audience

The basic principle behind rhetoric is finding a way to create material that has an intended effect on an audience or reader. This is one of the most under-recognized skills that writers posses. Twitter is a wonderful tool for honing in on how you read and cater to an audience with your writing. When Tweeting, you must always be conscious of who your audience is and what they are looking for. Much of the writing that we do on social media and social networking hubs is very reader centric. We write and post things with the hope that they will be read. In this way, Twitter constantly takes into consideration what your readers want to see. While many may think this is some form of selling out, writing really is about both the writer and the reader. A writer must constantly keep their audience in mind. Often we shape our Tweets around what we think our audience wants to read and how they might interpret what we’ve written. This is great practice in persuasive rhetoric and an important writing lesson to master.

SOURCE: www.bestcollegesonline.com

BY: Madeline Sanders

First Edition Design Publishing, is the world’s largest eBook distributor. Ranked first in the industry, they convert, format and submit eBooks to Amazon, Apple, Barnes and Noble, Sony, Google, Kobo, Diesel, 3M, Ingram, Baker and Taylor, Nielsen, EBSCO, scores of additional on-line retailers and libraries, schools, colleges and universities. The company also has a POD (Print On Demand) division, which creates printed books and makes them available worldwide through their distribution network. The Company is a licensed and approved eBook Aggregator, Apple Developer and Microsoft Solution Provider.

#Pinterest Marketing Tips for Writers #FED_ebooks #Author #Writer #ebook

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First Edition Design Publishing

Publisher – Aggregator – Master Distributor

Pinterest Marketing Ideas from the Pros

Pinterest now counts 11.7 million unique users, and one BEA panel helped writers learn how to use the site for book promotion.

At a BEA, KMS Public Relations president Kathleen Schmidt moderated a “Pin it on Pinterest: Driving Traffic to Your Brand” panel. The experts includedWall Street Journal pop culture reporter Katherine Rosman, Book Riot executive editor Bethanne Patrick and Book Riot community manager Rebecca Schinsky.

During the presentation, Rosman recalled how she met the founders of Pinterest when they were working out of a small Palo Alto apartment last August. Since those humble beginnings, this photo-sharing site has risen the ranks and become the third most popular social media platform in America.

We’ve collected some advice below–be sure to check out our Pinterest Tips for Writers post and our collection of Pinterest Boards for Book Lovers as well.

Pinterest Marketing Ideas for Writers

1. Pinterest works especially well to drive traffic to highly “visual” (image-driven) content. It doesn’t have the same impact on text-based content. When using this tool Schinsky advised, “take the idea of your book and make it visual.”

2. “Follow some big names on Pinterest and learn from them.” The panelists praised publishers Chronicle Books, Random House, and Scholastic for building incredible Pinterest boards.

3. Being succinct with your text usually garners a more favorable response. Keep descriptions to 200 words or less; “if you can describe your image in 7 words, do it in 7 words.”

4. Highlight a juicy quote from a book review and then use shareasimage.com to pin the text onto your Pinterest board; both the quote and the link source will show up.

5. “You don’t ever want to use your Pinterest board or any social media tools purely for promotional purposes.”

Source: mediabistro.com

By Maryann Yin on June 7, 2012

F i rst Edition Design Publishing is the world’s largest eBook distributor. Ranked first in the i nd u stry, they convert, format and submit Fiction, Non-Fiction, Academic and Children’s Books to Amazon, Apple, Barnes and Noble, Sony, Google, Kobo, Diesel, 3M, Ingram, Baker and Taylor, Nielsen, EBSCO, scores of additional on-line retailers, libraries, schools, colleges and universities. The company also has a POD (Print On Demand) division, which creates printed books and makes them available worldwide through their distribution network. The Company is a licensed and approved eBook Aggregator, Apple Developer and Microsoft Solution Provider.

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Social Media Trolls

Twitter Trolls

Facebook Trolls

Managing Your Newsfeed

A Bit of Advice

Final Thoughts

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1. Do not quit before you start

2. Do the simple math

3. Find the time

4. Execute

I. Use environmental design

II. Upload habits

III. Go multi-medium

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Social Media: Instagram

Social Media: LinkedIn

Not Social Media, But Still Super Important: Your Website About Section (aka, Bio)

Amazon Author Bio

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Another great guest post from Duolit! by Adrienne from Design Roast.

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