Take marketing for example--I know there are differing opinions in terms of how involved an author should be in social media based on concentrating on a few social networks versus using all of them at once. Either way an author looks at it, social networking is very important in NY publishing and in e-publishing. But what used to be a simple task, like announcing a book release, now takes much more effort to truly get the message out there. It's no longer enough to stick to one site for announcements and giveaways.
Now message's have to have reach and depth while standing out from posts about what someone ate for dinner, what someone else is reading, and a crazy celebrity death. No room for messing around here. Other than interacting with people social marketing as a job, with a specific angle, is epic and mentally taxing. It's like going to war with strategy, numbers, and how to hit someone over the head the hardest.
Why is this? Why is marketing so stressful now?
Maybe it's because there are so many other messages fighting to take root in a user's brain. An overexposure to content. People are thinking a lot quicker these days with a limited attention span which makes branding a tricky trial of luck. Cross-posting and flashy ads won't quite do the trick anymore. Word of mouth is king. But what exactly works best after people have gotten wind of how awesome your book is and sales have gone into overdrive? What keeps readers coming back for more when it comes to marketing?
Personally, I think it's a mix of different social mediums. Best results are concentrated on what you, as an author, enjoy while also utilizing readily available book genre data to make sure the right audience is being targeted for your book. For example, I know more than a few erotic romance and romance blogs have done public polls to organize a pool of reader opinions on what social marketing catches their eye and what keeps them hooked.
Sometimes, if you're lucky, that poll is broken down into genre. Using that data an author can formulate a plan of social media attack say, knowing that you aren't wonderful at long spouts of writing, but you can do short bursts, you sign up for a Twitter account. Tweeting is a controversial medium of marketing because people argue back and forth on whether or not it tactfully works to sell books. But, lets just say for the sake of argument that Twitter does sell books--even if indirectly through someone getting to know an author's personal views and liking them enough to buy a book. Is that one sale a result of the author's outreach and effort on Twitter?
The short answer? There's no damn way to know anymore. With so much information streaming back and forth mostly author's can only hope to make a dent, pray to the goddess of book buy-age, and hope for the best. No matter how many pages of analytics, polls, or statistics we read readers are ever-changing in what they pay attention to daily. So, you better pray to someone higher than you that you like whatever marketing strategy you've chosen, otherwise you're going to become one bitter drop in the social well.
I've heard it reiterated over and over that no author should spread themselves too thin and only concentrate on what social networking tasks make them happiest. Though I guess you're out of luck if no social networking makes you happy. I've been known to struggle with this issue. Sometimes I am pulled in different directions only because I'm not terribly social in real life. Color me a hermit. My goal as a small child was to be locked up in a musty, Rapunzel-like tower with a bunch of old books, some paper, and a pen.
This was my dream. No, seriously--at seven years old I wanted complete isolation. Such a little weirdo is me. Anywho. Back to our regular scheduled rant.
So, making a social effort online can be a bit taxing when I'm not in the mood, because, occasionally, marketing can feel like a job instead of hanging out with a bunch of cool friends on the computer. But I have to remind myself often that making a presence isn't a race or a competition. If you keep at it people will like you and what you have to say--eventually--and if they don't, what's the loss? Well, my mind often goes to the most dramatic incidence of falling off the face of social planet and no one will ever buy my books again.
Odd that my ideal world as a kid was based in isolation and now I don't know what I would do without my internet connection. Wonder what that says about my social media efforts to market my own books. Maybe I take it too seriously or there's no ultimate, secret key? Maybe I should just be happy to stare at a picture of Jonathan Rhys Myers for the next hour instead of trying to predict how many millions of people are going to see me and my book.
Yeah, Myers, come here!
