Typewriters & Bookstores, Websites & Facebook

My guest blogger this week is Michelle Gill. 

Before I introduce her to you, I want to emphasize how much the publishing world has changed over the past several decades. Anybody can be an author really. However, one's success as an author these days, isn't just based upon what or how you write, but in finding ways to market to and reach your desired audience. There are specific ways authors can do that and here is where a professional can help! 

My professional is Michelle. She is my website designer, advisor in all things computer and social media. She is also an event planner and a writer, herself. Her career began in political campaigns and fundraising events for nonprofits and now focuses on creating authors’ and artists’ internet presence through website design.

It's easy to understand why Michelle's skills are centered on reaching-out online. She is a Graduate of Roanoke College in both Political Science and Written Communication. Every Wednesday, you can find Michelle working as a barista, simply because she loves people! She is married and has a lovely daughter, Casi, and lives near the Appalachian Trail (not far from me, actually!). 

Typewriters & Bookstores, Websites & Facebook
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By Michelle Gill
Typewriters and bookstores, what do they have in common? A writer used to hope to have a traditional publisher read and publish their typewritten pages. Once those labored-over pages were printed in book form, the publisher would advertise their book and send them to a local bookstore lined with wooden shelves and large windows to be held and bought. Today most writers do not use a typewriter, publishers require the author to market their own book, and a bookstore cannot depend on their physical location alone to sell books. Bookstores are forced into online sales and digital marketing. Today your book is written on a computer and sold on the internet.

Marketing, generally, depends on the writer. If the writer is chosen by a traditional publisher, that publisher looks at their digital follower numbers. I have personally known bloggers who were picked up by a publisher or agent because of the following that they created themselves on-line.

As a writer, you are sharing a story or you are sharing your story. You are inviting people in to take a look at your work, to take a look at you. The internet is a way to reach people, lots of people at once. I tell my clients to think of their website as their home. It is from there that you reach out, that you invite people in for a visit.

Most writers are not interested in social media or digital marketing. It is all too overwhelming. But think of them as invitations. These are tools to invite others to read your message, to share your world.

Social media, store links (author pages), and blogs are all avenues or vehicles to you, your work, your art. Your website should send readers to stores selling your books, to social media to be shared, and to potential reviews. Your social media, online stores, author pages, review apps, blogs, and the like, all bring readers back to you at your on-line home, your website. It is an interconnected circle of information connecting you and encouraging others to introduce you into their community.

Building a Website
Finding a website builder who builds through coding is not necessary for an author. Today most website building programs use the “drag and drop” system. It is one where you drag an element, text, or image and drop it where you want it on the page.  Most platforms or programs include security, templates, and instructional videos. If you have the time and inclination, you can learn how to use any of the drag and drop systems. Or you can hire a builder-designer to do it for you. I recommend that if you do hire someone, that you inquire if they will show you the basics of blogging and maintaining your own website. Some companies choose to not allow their clients in to make basic changes and/or require a monthly fee.

As an author your basic needs in a website are standard pages offering a biography, blog, social media links, and store or links to on-line stores to purchase your book. You will need a subscriber feature most likely as well. This feature helps you to continue relationships with those interested in your work.

Social Media
I advise my clients to choose the social media that works best for them. Do not create accounts in all the social media that you can find, but those that you will be able to maintain easily. If you have a profile in any social media, it needs to be active. Choose your top two. For an author, right now, I would say Facebook and Twitter. In general, both are not as popular with the under thirty generation but Twitter focuses on words and this is necessary for a writer and it is easy to gain followers in Twitter. Facebook is a mainstay and through a page, advertising is inexpensive. But do your research and see where your desired audience is the most active. Make social media part of your regular schedule. An example would be to post something new each Monday and Friday.

There are so many more tricks to getting your name out there as an author and there is always paid advertising which is called digital marketing. I would not suggest buying into all the so-called experts and paying a thousand bucks for someone on-line to tell you what to do through videos. In the end you are still the one who has to do the work. Follow successful authors that you would like to emulate. How do they do it? Learn from them.

Good luck in your great web adventure! And may your readers come to you by the thousands! (And support your local bookstores often!) 
 
​For more information, feel free to contact Michelle Gill: www.michelleranaigill.com

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