Happy New Year!
For those of you who didn't live under a bubble last year we experienced a paradigm shift in literary marketing. Public Relations activity trumped Advertising. The down economy, the saturation of books in the marketplace, bookstore and print publication closings left us with little money and outlets to advertise our great books. However, Social Media Services gave us a new playing field that bypassed many gatekeepers and went straight to our market, book buyers. Unfortunately, many of us destroyed our fan based and brand because we don't understand New Media Marketing and have yet to become educated on how to use it. Sure there are many social media rockstars, gurus and authorpreneurs(my most unfavorite new word of last year) who will sell you that they have the magic formula to cracking the converting social media activity into book sales code.
They don't.
Others will try to sell you that their social media marketing kit is the only way to successfully market your book.
Impossible.
And the others will tell you that the only way to sell your book is online.
Ridiculous.
Since we're starting the new year off with reflective and receptive hearts, heed my words: Benchmark your literary PR efforts, especially the social media kind.
Ask yourself these questions:
- How am I measuring my social media activity success?
- How much of that activity converts into book sales?
- Which efforts are successful?
- How many publishing gatekeepers have I connected with and have forged relationships via social media that have improved my sales contract goals?
- How can I improve in all areas of social media marketing?
- Have my content become viral, if not, why?
