Posted on
by

Using Social Media to Engage Younger Readers — Willamette Writers Con 2014 (#WillWrite14)

Kiersi Burkhart

@kiersi

http://prolificnovelista.com
  • Your brand
    • social media engagement is a long game. start social media engagement 1-2 years before publication.
    • Who you are. What makes your unique. What you write. Your career goals.
  • You will not see results right away. It takes time then starts to snowball. You want to accumulate some following by the time you launch so you can use that to drive initial sales.
  • Who are you?
    • You are curating yourself for this audience.
    • Who do you want to be? What’s the image you want people to have?
    • Sure, there are alcoholic children’s book writers out there, but that’s not how they project themselves.
  • The Cult of You
    • this is your ultimate goal
    • you want to create devotees or spokespeople.
    • you can’t individually talk to 10,000 people and handsell your book.
    • but you can talk to dozens or hundreds of people who are influencers, and each of those people can talk to their dozens or hundreds of friends. the net effect is 10,000 people reached.
  • What are younger readers?
    • Picture book, elementary, and middle-grade:
      • No direct marketing.
      • Indirect marketing to those with purchasing power
    • Young adult:
      • Direct marketing is OK.
      • They have money.
      • They have twitter accounts, and instagram. They are online.
  • Younger Audiences
    • Parents
    • Friends and family
    • Teachers
      • If you’ve got a book that belongs in the classroom, you want to talk to teachers.
    • Librarians
      • Place huge book orders. Both school and public libraries.
    • Grandparents
      • Have a lot of time online.
      • On Facebook.
      • have extra money to do book purchasing.
  • Young Adult
    • More than 55% of YA books buying power in adult hands
      • 78% of adults buying for themselves. (almost half of these are 30-44)
      • 22% of adults buying for teens
    • 45% of YA books are teens buying for themselves.
  • Social Media overview
    • Twitter (really important to connect with people)
    • Facebook
    • Goodreads
    • Blog / website
    • Edelweiss: a way for influencers to get books
    • Add-ons: instragram, pinterest, tumblr
  • Twitter – The Basics
    • Use keywords to find your community
      • YA, MG, picture books, author, location
      • Use has tags like #YALitChat, #MGLitChat
      • Aim small, not big. Big is not helpful.
    • Start a conversation.
  • Why Twitter
    • Direct interaction with your audience
    • Connect with other authors – your peers
      • Engagement, support, resource sharing, networking
    • Focus on delivering value in order to gain followers
      • Relevant links, personality, industry knowledge
    • Be You! Readers want to know the real you.
  • For my middle grade: what’s the value I can deliver to parents / teachers / librarians
    • food safety
    • where does the book take place
    • school lunches
    • mystery / thriller
  • There’s no point in promoting yourself to your twitter followers. They’re already following you. All you’re going to do is annoy them.
  • Twitter Tips
    • Use a twitter client like tweet deck or hoot suite
    • Create lists for:
      • writers/authors
      • agents
      • fans
  • Facebook
    • Be sure to create a public fan page
    • Be aware of your time investment
    • Pictures, links, personal status updates
    • Events — good for book signings, releases, etc.
    • Let your readers get to know you
  • Goodreads
    • A growing platform
    • To-Read lists create anticipation
    • Book / ARC giveaways
    • Review etiquette
    • Author Groups for established authors
  • Your website
    • primary brand
    • offers content readers will want to explore
    • interactivity
    • connection is key to your readers identifying with you.
  • Your blog
    • use your blog as a way to reach other bloggers
    • cross book promotion / mutual back scratching
    • let readers get to know you and your process
  • Book bloggers
    • teen book bloggers: perfect spokespeople
      • search teen on twitter to find them — not people who are blogging about teen books, but teens who are blogging about books.
      • they’re doing it to get free copies of books.
      • a close-knit group / community (get in with one, get in with the others)
      • themed blogging
      • engagement over time is key
  • Librarian Book Bloggers
    • Search librarian on Twitter or Google
    • Have a large community
    • Great way to reach parents & teachers
    • Also teacher bloggers, parent bloggers.
    • stackedbooks.com
  • Author bloggers
    • Connect with authors in the same category or genre
    • Already interacting with them on your blog / twitter
    • cross-promotion allows you to access to one another’s audiences
    • great if you can befriend an established author
  • Talking to book bloggers
    • Building your platform is a long game
    • start engaging bloggers far in advance
    • build a relationship before you need them
    • focus giveaways on bigger blogs / platforms
  • Word-of-mouth is king
    • key way to reach teens
    • find your influencers and make them want to talk you up
    • continue to interact and engage with them
    • create a street team
    • thank them with swag
  • Street Teams
    • Your street team are your spokespeople
    • other authors, bloggers, influencers
    • cover reveals, blurbs, excerpts, interviews
    • local influence
    • provide an ARC for reviews
    • ask your friends! don’t be afraid.
  • Talking with teens
    • remember being a teen yourself
    • take them seriously
    • treat them with respect, like you would any adult
    • talk with them, not to them
    • captive vs. voluntary audience
  • Talking with teens
    • Ask questions to engage
    • Ask for stories and tell stories
    • Keep the dialogue open and never condescend
    • Always reply to them. interactivity is key
    • Let them get to know you (backstage pass)
    • Be personal, not formal
    • If you’re going to use pop culture, you’d better be totally up to date, or you’re gonna sound old.
  • Should you go local?
    • Direct sales are inefficient
    • Only do it if you have access to influencers
    • Cost/benefit analysis of signings & appearances
    • Consider conferences like ALA or BEA