WARNING: This is *not* a negative post about social media. It isn’t; really. I think social media opens up a ton of doors for marketing authors and their books, especially for “shy” writers like myself.
But I also think that it’s as important to know what NOT to expect from something – especially something we all spend so much time on – as it is what TO expect.
I think it helps to be real, so while the following 5 Things NOT to Expect from Social Media may be expectations that don’t come to light, at least not right away, knowing them can help us feel better when they don’t materialize overnight:
The First Thing Not to Expect from Social Media: Follow Through
Not everyone will do everything he or she says they’re going to do.
You might have 250 people with your book listed as “to read” on Goodreads.com, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that every one of them will read it; or that people who aren’t on your list won’t read it.
Goodreads.com makes it way too easy to add a book to your list that, at the time, you plan on reading but… life gets in the way. I see some users with literally thousands of books to be read on their list, with mine buried somewhere in the middle. If I were to hold my breath for that person to rate or review my book right now, or today, or tomorrow or even next week, well… I’d be sorely disappointed. (And perhaps waking up in the ER!)
They may very well review it yesterday, but I find I sleep a lot better at night if I just leave it up to them and don’t constantly check to see if they’re halfway through it yet!
My point is, it’s very easy to say you’ll review something, rate something, leave a comment, follow a blog or fill in the social media blank here, but it’s also just as easy to forget to do those things as well. People are human; we commit to things we mean right now, but don’t always follow through on. And that’s okay; enough people will, whether they tell you about it or not.
The Second Thing Not to Expect from Social Media: Loyalty
Loyalty is something you build over time; not with one or two clicks.
You can have a zillion Facebook friends or Twitter followers, but the majority of them are often folks who clicked an “accept” or “follow” button once and… then never came back. It happens; it’s fine – it’s human nature.
Realistically, I can count on, maybe, two hands the folks I interact with on a weekly basis; who’ve re-tweeted me, commented on my blog, thanked me for re-tweeting them, made personal contact, reviewed a book, etc. It doesn’t mean the rest won’t one day, but in general people are busy; they are not there to serve your book promotion needs.
The same goes for me: I am loyal to a few dozen very cool, very fun, very active, very loyalty-encouraging authors but it didn’t happen overnight and it takes repeated exposure to their personality, posts and projects to put a face with a name, or a title with an author, or a book cover with a Facebook friend – and then drive me to actually purchase one of their books.
Give yourself time to inspire loyalty and don’t expect every one of your social media connections to rush out and buy your book the day it’s released. Some will have to wait until payday, until they’ve bought the rest of the Facebook friends’ books or, perhaps, until next year. It might happen, it will probably happen, but it’s not a 1:1 ratio where you send one message to all your followers and sales spike that day.
The Third Thing Not to Expect from Social Media: Return On Investment (ROI)
There is no 1:1 ratio of time invested with the return on that investment.
Social media takes a ton of time. Every time I do a post on social media a few people pop up to remind me how time-consuming this all is. I know it; because I do it. I’m spending WAY too much time on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Scribd, Smashwords, Wattpad and the like, and yet there are folks who spend two to three times as much as I do and it’s still not enough; it will never be enough.
The point is, social media requires a huge investment of time, of energy, of networking, of commenting, of reviewing, of reading, of thanking, of asking, of telling, of questioning; and it’s awesome – every minute of it.
But… but… don’t expect to immediately or even visibly see a ROI (Return On Investment) just because you’ve put in the time. Some folks are really, really successful with social media; others struggle. I like to think I fall somewhere in the middle there, but who’s to say?
The key is to work at it as much as you can, have realistic goals, monitor them carefully and measure them as accurately as possible. You can see success with the amount of “friends” you have, or “followers” or, if your book’s for sale; sales number or rank or figures or royalties.
But no matter how well you do, if you spend a ton of social media you’re bound to think that “you should have done better.” Gotten more friends, more followers; more sales. Maybe that’s natural, but it’s not always positive.
Do your best; the rest will sort itself out.
The Fourth Thing Not to Expect from Social Media: Fans
Don’t look for fans; look for connections.
Fans! I see a lot of great, wonderful YA writers with legions and legions of fans. It’s hard not to feel inadequate if you try to measure yourself to them; so… don’t.
Make friends, first. Get involved with readers, see what they like and don’t like, get to know their personalities, the books they dig or don’t dig, the kinds of reviews they give and don’t give.
Recently I got a few great four-star reviews for Zombies Don’t Cry. While I was stoked, my first thought was: Hey, why not five-stars?!?! But... but… if you look at who rated the book, and compare that to the other books they rated, well, these folks give very, very few five-star reviews so by that measurement I was kicking some major butt.
I don’t know if I’ll ever have a “fan,” but I do know that I’ve made a lot of writing, reading, editing, agenting and publishing “friends” in my brief dalliance with social media and they are all precious to me, have all educated me, taught me, comforted me and encouraged me. That’s pretty cool; and lots more than I ever hoped to expect.
The Fifth Thing Not to Expect from Social Media: Fame
Fame is a mindset, not a magazine cover!
Finally, if you’re seeking instant “fame” through social media, I dunno; be on a hit TV series, make 2 million bucks an episode, go off the rails, give some great sound bites, gain a million followers on Twitter overnight and you’re sure to find it!
Other than that, fame is pretty hard to come by; even in social media where the promises are cheap but the reality is hard to come by. There is only so much room in people’s minds for “the” hot book of the week, or month, or year. Will it be yours? Or the hundreds of other books coming out this week, month or year?
There’s a lot of competition out there, and I don’t mean that in the mercenary sense. I mean that our eyeballs only have so much screen time and most of us only have a few minutes at a clip to check in with Twitter or Facebook before our lunch break is over or we have to jump in the shower or nod off for bed.
Seriously, though, you have to define your definition of fame. Is it to be on the cover of People magazine? The New York Times bestseller list? Or just the Amazon bestseller list… in your genre or category?
I can tell you I feel pretty “famous” every time I get a Google alert about Zombies Don’t Cry; even if it’s just to tell me someone added it on their Goodreads list or subscribed to me on Scribd.com. Maybe I’m just easy to please, or maybe I’m just stoked to be having a book coming out that I worked really hard on and think kids will enjoy.
Either way, fame is in the eye of the beholder. We just have to be realistic about the degree of fame we expect to achieve as a result of our social media efforts – and how long those might take to achieve.
Anyway, that’s my take on doing hardcore social media for the last, I dunno, six months straight. I know some folks will disagree; mostly the ones with fans and fame and whatnot.
My point is, do social media, work it, engage, communicate, but have reasonable expectations and don’t become obsessed (like I occasionally have). Use social media as a tool, not a turnkey operation where if you put in six hours, you get six book sales, etc.
Revel in the small thrills of hooking up with someone new, finding a great new book to read, stumbling on an awesome new review site and know that most of what happens with social media happens beyond your control. So control what you can, and let the rest sort itself out!
Yours in publishing,
Rusty
But I also think that it’s as important to know what NOT to expect from something – especially something we all spend so much time on – as it is what TO expect.
I think it helps to be real, so while the following 5 Things NOT to Expect from Social Media may be expectations that don’t come to light, at least not right away, knowing them can help us feel better when they don’t materialize overnight:
The First Thing Not to Expect from Social Media: Follow Through
Not everyone will do everything he or she says they’re going to do.
You might have 250 people with your book listed as “to read” on Goodreads.com, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that every one of them will read it; or that people who aren’t on your list won’t read it.
Goodreads.com makes it way too easy to add a book to your list that, at the time, you plan on reading but… life gets in the way. I see some users with literally thousands of books to be read on their list, with mine buried somewhere in the middle. If I were to hold my breath for that person to rate or review my book right now, or today, or tomorrow or even next week, well… I’d be sorely disappointed. (And perhaps waking up in the ER!)
They may very well review it yesterday, but I find I sleep a lot better at night if I just leave it up to them and don’t constantly check to see if they’re halfway through it yet!
My point is, it’s very easy to say you’ll review something, rate something, leave a comment, follow a blog or fill in the social media blank here, but it’s also just as easy to forget to do those things as well. People are human; we commit to things we mean right now, but don’t always follow through on. And that’s okay; enough people will, whether they tell you about it or not.
The Second Thing Not to Expect from Social Media: Loyalty
Loyalty is something you build over time; not with one or two clicks.
You can have a zillion Facebook friends or Twitter followers, but the majority of them are often folks who clicked an “accept” or “follow” button once and… then never came back. It happens; it’s fine – it’s human nature.
Realistically, I can count on, maybe, two hands the folks I interact with on a weekly basis; who’ve re-tweeted me, commented on my blog, thanked me for re-tweeting them, made personal contact, reviewed a book, etc. It doesn’t mean the rest won’t one day, but in general people are busy; they are not there to serve your book promotion needs.
The same goes for me: I am loyal to a few dozen very cool, very fun, very active, very loyalty-encouraging authors but it didn’t happen overnight and it takes repeated exposure to their personality, posts and projects to put a face with a name, or a title with an author, or a book cover with a Facebook friend – and then drive me to actually purchase one of their books.
Give yourself time to inspire loyalty and don’t expect every one of your social media connections to rush out and buy your book the day it’s released. Some will have to wait until payday, until they’ve bought the rest of the Facebook friends’ books or, perhaps, until next year. It might happen, it will probably happen, but it’s not a 1:1 ratio where you send one message to all your followers and sales spike that day.
The Third Thing Not to Expect from Social Media: Return On Investment (ROI)
There is no 1:1 ratio of time invested with the return on that investment.
Social media takes a ton of time. Every time I do a post on social media a few people pop up to remind me how time-consuming this all is. I know it; because I do it. I’m spending WAY too much time on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Scribd, Smashwords, Wattpad and the like, and yet there are folks who spend two to three times as much as I do and it’s still not enough; it will never be enough.
The point is, social media requires a huge investment of time, of energy, of networking, of commenting, of reviewing, of reading, of thanking, of asking, of telling, of questioning; and it’s awesome – every minute of it.
But… but… don’t expect to immediately or even visibly see a ROI (Return On Investment) just because you’ve put in the time. Some folks are really, really successful with social media; others struggle. I like to think I fall somewhere in the middle there, but who’s to say?
The key is to work at it as much as you can, have realistic goals, monitor them carefully and measure them as accurately as possible. You can see success with the amount of “friends” you have, or “followers” or, if your book’s for sale; sales number or rank or figures or royalties.
But no matter how well you do, if you spend a ton of social media you’re bound to think that “you should have done better.” Gotten more friends, more followers; more sales. Maybe that’s natural, but it’s not always positive.
Do your best; the rest will sort itself out.
The Fourth Thing Not to Expect from Social Media: Fans
Don’t look for fans; look for connections.
Fans! I see a lot of great, wonderful YA writers with legions and legions of fans. It’s hard not to feel inadequate if you try to measure yourself to them; so… don’t.
Make friends, first. Get involved with readers, see what they like and don’t like, get to know their personalities, the books they dig or don’t dig, the kinds of reviews they give and don’t give.
Recently I got a few great four-star reviews for Zombies Don’t Cry. While I was stoked, my first thought was: Hey, why not five-stars?!?! But... but… if you look at who rated the book, and compare that to the other books they rated, well, these folks give very, very few five-star reviews so by that measurement I was kicking some major butt.
I don’t know if I’ll ever have a “fan,” but I do know that I’ve made a lot of writing, reading, editing, agenting and publishing “friends” in my brief dalliance with social media and they are all precious to me, have all educated me, taught me, comforted me and encouraged me. That’s pretty cool; and lots more than I ever hoped to expect.
The Fifth Thing Not to Expect from Social Media: Fame
Fame is a mindset, not a magazine cover!
Finally, if you’re seeking instant “fame” through social media, I dunno; be on a hit TV series, make 2 million bucks an episode, go off the rails, give some great sound bites, gain a million followers on Twitter overnight and you’re sure to find it!
Other than that, fame is pretty hard to come by; even in social media where the promises are cheap but the reality is hard to come by. There is only so much room in people’s minds for “the” hot book of the week, or month, or year. Will it be yours? Or the hundreds of other books coming out this week, month or year?
There’s a lot of competition out there, and I don’t mean that in the mercenary sense. I mean that our eyeballs only have so much screen time and most of us only have a few minutes at a clip to check in with Twitter or Facebook before our lunch break is over or we have to jump in the shower or nod off for bed.
Seriously, though, you have to define your definition of fame. Is it to be on the cover of People magazine? The New York Times bestseller list? Or just the Amazon bestseller list… in your genre or category?
I can tell you I feel pretty “famous” every time I get a Google alert about Zombies Don’t Cry; even if it’s just to tell me someone added it on their Goodreads list or subscribed to me on Scribd.com. Maybe I’m just easy to please, or maybe I’m just stoked to be having a book coming out that I worked really hard on and think kids will enjoy.
Either way, fame is in the eye of the beholder. We just have to be realistic about the degree of fame we expect to achieve as a result of our social media efforts – and how long those might take to achieve.
Anyway, that’s my take on doing hardcore social media for the last, I dunno, six months straight. I know some folks will disagree; mostly the ones with fans and fame and whatnot.
My point is, do social media, work it, engage, communicate, but have reasonable expectations and don’t become obsessed (like I occasionally have). Use social media as a tool, not a turnkey operation where if you put in six hours, you get six book sales, etc.
Revel in the small thrills of hooking up with someone new, finding a great new book to read, stumbling on an awesome new review site and know that most of what happens with social media happens beyond your control. So control what you can, and let the rest sort itself out!
Yours in publishing,
Rusty
3 comments:
Social media takes a lot of time is so true. My w.i.p. is collecting dust now. My mind has banished the voices of my novel for new blog post ideas. It is sad, but I've had a great time getting to know writers and reading their blogs. Good post!! New follower.
Thanks for stopping by, following AND commenting, Diana. I agree, it's always a struggle between, "Should I write or do social media?"
I guess my thing is they're both writing, in a way; and both definitely useful. I think while I'm away from my WIPs I come back fresher and ready to rock; then I write fast and heavy for awhile and step away and do some more social media. It's still juggling, but I find I'm more creative that way. Anyway, your feedback is MUCH appreciated!
Nice to see some realism about social media!
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