Authors face a veritable gauntlet of online book marketing advice. Deciding which strategies to follow can be overwhelming. (See last week’s post on avoiding decision fatigue when publishing your book.)
When it comes to book promotion and social media, much of the advice follows the model “this worked for me (or author x), so it should work for you as well.” You’ll read stories of viral social media posts or Facebook ads driving thousands of email list signups.
One size most definitely does not fit all when it comes to book promotion strategy. It’s easy to waste a great deal of time, energy, and money chasing social media tactics to no avail.
That’s why I was so delighted to read the latest book from Chris Syme, Sell More Books With Less Social Media. The title alone is promising: it’s not about doing more, but about working strategically and leaving yourself time to write.
The book offers practical advice grounded in sound marketing practices. Most importantly, it helps readers (authors) create a social media strategy based on their current platform and needs.
Syme lays out three different platform maturity models for nonfiction and fiction, recognizing of course that some nonfiction genres are more of a blend of the two. You, the reader, can find your current level, and then determine which strategies will help you move to the next. By doing so, the book replaces one-size-fits-all advice with something more nuanced.
The rest of the book is filled with actionable advice on social media book marketing. She offers a free class to accompany it.
I’d recommend this book to any author wondering how to fit social media into their marketing strategies.
