The role of social media in promotions continues to be a hot topic among book promotion services professionals. In the early days, it was met with skepticism, except for those few celebrities who already has millions of followers when launched a book. Today, the role of social media in marketing books is generally accepted, though the results can vary widely by book and author. In some genres such as young adult fiction, posts and shares can be quite beneficial. However, if you’re a scientist publishing a book on a scholarly topic, other kinds of promotion may be much more effective for your work.

For those authors in genres where social media is useful, the timing and content of posts can matter a lot. It’s also a rule of thumb to begin building your following long before you release your first book. There are stories about something going viral and someone ending up with a hundred thousand new followers in a month, but it’s rare. The better and more dependable route is to have profiles on two social media platforms and progressively build followers over time. Post frequency also matters. You’ll want to post several times a week but no more than daily – over posting can lose you followers. 

What makes the ideal author social media post? Keep posts informational/useful or entertaining and be alert to what works best for you. If you’re a nonfiction authors, facts and figures are often of interest and can be widely shared. News items related to your book’s topic are also popular and well received posts. Often, it’s as easy as posting a brief introductory comment and then a link to the news story. New studies or statistics related to your topic also can be of interest to your followers. You can also look generous by occasionally sharing your favorite books and authors with your fans. If you’re a novelist, you can use your book’s characters, its location, time period, and other story details as posts.

Readers have a desire to build relationships with authors whose work they enjoy or admire. Social media facilitates it to some extent and can be helpful with book promotion. It’s generally not the only way to market a book and a well-rounded program will bring better results. But posts do belong in the mix and can be assets to any author. It takes the right content (entertaining or informational) and keeping your accounts active with posts routinely. If you get stuck for post ideas, check out the accounts of other successful authors in your genre. Over time, you’ll develop a post formula that’s right for you.