Guest Post: Down & Dirty Social Media Tips

Today I'm welcoming Jennifer Lovett Herbranson, author of Social Media for Authors: Book Marketing for Writers Who'd Rather Write. Jennifer is a marketing whiz. She's used it in her military career, and has long helped with social media aspects of marketing for Pikes Peak Writers. I highly recommend her book. As a preview, she's given us some social media basics.

My down and dirty social media tips

•  Pick one. Instagram is hot right now and about as happy a place as you can find on the Internet. Use up to 30 hashtags but rotate their usage so you don’t seem like you’re spamming those categories.
• Stories. Best use of Instagram right now is Stories. If you’re a storyteller, these are made for you! Post one a day or every other day.
• Groups. Best use of Facebook right now is Groups. Organic reach on a Facebook Page is abysmal unless you pay for ads. However, with Facebook’s algorithm change, they are prioritizing friends, family and groups. If you have a street team or want to start one, use Facebook Groups to do it.
• Tweet away. If you’re looking for industry professionals to connect with, get on Twitter. #MSWL (Manuscript Wish List) is a quarterly agent ask for specific types of manuscripts. Check them out. They just might want what you’ve written.
• Content calendars will save your life! I know planning is a pain but if you do it, you’ll give yourself so much time back in your day for writing your book. Use paper and pen or a scheduler like Buffer to help you plan that content.
• Email is gold. Yes, it is. 25-30% open rates can’t be beat anywhere. Just don’t spam your subscribers with crap. Give them good progress reports, updates and fun news about you, your public persona and the world you’re building. 

Check out “Social Media for Authors: Book Marketing for Writers Who’d Rather Write” in ebook and print on Amazon. Jenny gives you permission to throw the traditional marketing playbook out the window and develop your own using these principles:

• You do not have to be on every social media outlet.
• You do not have to post every single minute of every day.
• You need a plan. Plans create efficiency. And effective plans grow your readership and give you time back in your day.

Get it on Kindle Unlimited at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07X99T2G4

Follow Jenny!

On Instagram @writernationjen

On Twitter @writernationjen

On Facebook @Writernation

What do you think about these tips? Interested in the book? 

May you find your Muse.

[Mostly] Wordless Wednesday - Bad Trucks, IWSG, & Links

Today's [Mostly] Wordless Wednesday is just a funny sign I drove by (for some reason, my cell phone tinges photos blue, like the Moonshine Express photo last week):

Yes, please, those of you driving trucks, do try to avoid the sidewalks...

Today is also the first Wednesday of the month, which means it's time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group, created by Alex J. Cavanaugh!

While I have plenty of insecurities, the one I was most worried about this month was a love scene I had written, my first ever. For a week, I refused to turn it into my critique group, but finally closed my eyes and sent away. The feedback I got was great, and I feel better about it now! I find sex/love scenes to be the scariest thing to write, and have avoided them until now.

However, I'm still feeling insecure as to whether I'll be keeping the scene in. If not, I'll have to save it for a more opportune time. I'm just not certain about having a love scene in the second chapter. I didn't plan on putting it there, but it just happened. Events seemed to naturally lead to the scene. The character other than my MC actually doesn't show up in the rest of the book (except maybe at the end, which is not yet written), so I'm questioning the point of the scene, and whether I should remove it, keep things as is, or bring the other character more thoroughly into the story (which has been requested by my critique group!).

Decisions, decisions, decisions. What do you think? Is the 2nd chapter too early for a love scene in an urban fantasy?

Thank you to the co-hosts today:  Nancy Thompson, Mark Koopmans, and Heather Gardner!

And now, for links.

Accepting Submissions:

Burial Day Books is seeking short stories set in one of the following places: cemetery, funeral home, morgue, haunted house, active or abandoned hospital/mental institution, active or abandoned juvenile or adult correctional facility/prison. These stories will be in a Gothic Blue Book, similar to the follow-up to chapbooks back in the day. Deadline July 19. $25 token payment and 2 contributor copies.

Long Hidden is a speculative fiction anthology being funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign. They're still seeking short stories through July 31. They welcome writing from anyone, but are especially interested in writing from those in marginalized groups. Pays 5 cents per word.

Dark Opus Press is seeking short fiction submissions based on Grimm's Fairy Tales for their Tell Me a Fable Anthology. Pays 1 cent per word, plus a contributor copy. Deadline July 31.

Alban Lake Publishing is seeking submissions for their quarterly MG magazine, FrostFire Worlds. Open submissions throughout the year. Pays $15 for original stories, $3 for original poems, $6 for illustrations, $10 for articles.

Mantle Lane Press is seeking fiction from authors in the East Midlands area, or with an East Midlands setting. Pays in scaled royalty. Deadline July 15.

Contests:

Kazka Press's 713 Flash Contest is now in its July open window. Deadline July 20. The current theme is Sax & Violins (and Other Tales of Music). Pays $10 per story.

Fleeting Books and Wrecking Ball Press are holding the No Cheap Tricks: Rules for Writers Competition. They're looking for a one-line rule for writers. If your rule wins, you'll be in their book, plus win 100 pounds.

Conferences:

The Writers Digest Conference is being held September 27-29, in Los Angeles. Early Bird registration ends July 19, at which time the price will increase by $50.


Anything you're interested in? How early is too early for a love/sex scene? Anything to add?

May you find your Muse.