Creating a social media plan for your book
The exact steps to take
One of the many pieces of advice that you see bandied about online about marketing one’s book is that you should aim to show up on social media regularly and talk about your book. But what does that actually mean?
First of all, I absolutely do not believe that you should feel that you have to be present and active on every social media channel. Just off the top of my head, if you were, that means you would have to try and create content for:
Instagram (reels + stories + posts)
TikTok (3-4 posts per day + daily stories)
Threads
Twitter/ X
Facebook page
Facebook groups
LinkedIn
Reddit
Susbtack (because Notes IS a social media platform, don’t deny it!)
Any and all other tools that crop up during the course of your time online
Maintaining a presence on all of these channels would be exhausting and would take up 100% of your time. This is someone’s full time job. In fact, if it’s a good place to work, it’s more than one person’s full time job.
You might already HAVE a full time job, and be writing on the side, or you want writing to be your main focus, not managing your marketing.
So, here’s how I make things more sustainable, along with the exact framework I use and recommend to the authors I work with who are struggling to come up with what to share on social media.
1/ Stop trying to do all the things on all the platforms.
I DO think that you should register your author name on any platforms you come across that seem interesting. Try to go with something consistent, and something that actually has your name in it. So, don’t go for Pixie2390_lol, or something along those lines (I know some of you are still doing this! Stop it!). Go for your name, or your name + author if needed. So - mine would be KatieSadler or KatieSadlerAuthor (and yes, if I was starting from scratch, I probably would have that as my handle everywhere, rather than using my middle name!).
Then, pick only one or two channels where you want to focus your attention. I know, that doesn’t seem like a lot, but please - less is more, I promise. These are the places you are going to actively create content for, and to engage on.
How do you pick these platforms?
Well, you want to be in the middle of the venn diagram between where your reader is spending time and where you want to spend time. Having said that, unless you go for a very niche social media platform, you are likely to be able to find your reader on most of the major platforms. So, in my mind, the place that you should focus your attention is the place where you enjoy spending time most.
What if I hate social media?
If you hate social media, I have a few questions for you:
Why do you hate it? What is it about it that you hate?
Is there a way that you can change your own behaviour to enjoy it more?
Is there a way that you can change who you interact with? Are there people you need to mute or block?
Are there boundaries that you can put in place around the way you use it?
If you STILL hate it, it’s okay to leave it! That doesn’t mean you give up your marketing - sorry, you still do need to market your books - but there are SO many other ways you can do this, without social media. Leonie Dawson’s workshop is a good place to start [aff link], and
has an amazing sounding group programme coming up that I am sure will be brilliant (everything Astrid does is ace).I personally love social media, so I won’t be leaving any time soon. And the reason I love it is because I’ve really considered how I use it, and what its purpose is, for my business, and for me personally.
2/ Have a clear sense of what you’re going to post
To make sure you don't get overwhelmed, and to give yourself the best chance to creating content that connects with an audience that might also like your book, I suggest you do the following:
Get clear on what kind of content you want to share
This will make it much easier to stay consistent. I like to have a list of 4-5 categories of content that are really core to my values as a person and a marketing consultant. So, I talk about:
Book marketing and the publishing industry
Books and love for books more generally
My life as a solo parent
The importance of mindset
Goals / goal setting
Generally, if you look at my content, you can see that most of what I share falls roughly into those five areas. Through these areas, I aim to:
Build trust — I want people to know that I know what I’m doing, just as readers need to believe that your book is going to be good.
Build connection — I want to connect with authors in an authentic way so that people know who I am and what I’m like to work with — this also lets people see the writer behind the book.
Grow awareness — I want to reach potential clients, just as you want to help people discover the book and your writing.
Prompt action — I want people to actually do something with the content I share, as you will want to prompt people to take some kind of action.
Encourage endorsement — I want to build in ways for current and former clients to support me in public. Think about how you can get fans of your writing to spread the word.
As an author, I would suggest you look at having categories like:
Your publishing journey - taking readers behind-the-scenes into what the latest updates are around your book
What brings you joy in your everyday life that you could share with others. Hobbies, routines, work practices, interesting articles, podcasts or playlists you listen to on your walks, images or videos from your local walking spot, etc.
What you and your ideal reader might have in common. So, if you write in a particular area, share other books or TV shows or movies that you think would align with that area. What do you think your reader would enjoy that you also enjoy? You can do some consumer insight around this (ie: email your mailing list or post a poll on Instagram / Facebook stories and ask them), or you can make assumptions
If you write non-fiction, an absolute must is to share your expertise in the area you write in. Share interesting facts, teach people about the topic of your book, and help them learn why they should care about what you write about.
If you write fiction, lean into the book itself. Pick one book at a time, if you have multiple works, and focus your energy on the book. Talk about the inspiration behind it, share the characters, pull out any themes that run through the book, etc. If a reading group were discussing your book, what would they talk about? What would they argue about? What bits would they love? Talk about them, and - like with non-fiction - help readers learn why they should care about your book.
Are there threads that link all of your books together? So, again, thinking about book club discussions - if a group of strangers got together to discuss your books, what do you think they would say connected them, beyond your name on the cover?
One thing I think it’s easy to forget, because books are often so low priced, that the price is not always the main consideration. Many, many people struggle to find the time to read, so you need to give people a reason to spend their time on YOUR book. Social media can be a good way to do this.
Once you have your categories, do a big brainstorm about what you could talk about within that category and come up with at least 10 things per category. Having this list will cut down HUGELY on the ‘what should I talk about on here?’ brain space that gets used up on a daily basis. It also means that you stay consistent and regularly mention the book - something I see a lot of authors avoiding!
The bonus of this is - once you have shared your 50 posts, you can go back to the start and post them again. I’m serious. You can copy and paste the words, update them if needed, maybe share a new image or video, and reshare that content. Do not worry about repetition. People need repetition to take in information! People are busy! They forget things! The algorithm generally only shares a tiny percentage of your followers your content! All of these things are true, and mean you need to stop worrying about repeating yourself.
3/ Don’t make it all about sales
I 100% believe that social media can sell books. But the primary point of social media is TO BE SOCIAL. It’s about engagement and connection. Don’t just post content and run away. Don’t enter a Facebook group and tell them about your book and never interact with anything anyone else posts.
Making connections is one of the absolute joys of social media, and it is also one of the best things you can do for yourself as an author. Both in terms of having an online support network of people who want to see you succeed and eventually, in terms of growing your sales.
That means that as well as posting your own awesome content, part of your social media plan should involve meaningfully engaging with other people’s content. This could look like:
Sharing their posts to your audience, with a note about why you shared it.
Leaving a comment about why the post connected with you.
Replying to their Instagram stories and having a chat in their direct messages
Seeking out people who are reading and enjoying your book and leaving a comment (side note: if someone is NOT enjoying your book, NEVER leave a comment or defense of your book. Instead move on with your life (or write their name on a piece of paper and burn it, ha!)).
Seeking out people who are reading and enjoying other books similar to yours.
Working together on some kind of joint collaboration - these are so underused, in my opinion, but when two authors, or two people with any kind of aligned audience work together, magical things can happen! Do a live on Instagram or TikTok or Facebook. Guest curate their next newsletter or write something for their blog and vice versa, then share the top lessons / highlights on social media.
All of these things can start to lead to you growing your audience, growing your engagement and eventually selling more books. But it starts with the connection, not with ‘BUY MY BOOK’ messaging. Plus, working with other people makes it all a bit more fun, which might get you excited about doing it, which is a win in my book.
4/ Decide on your schedule
The final part of the puzzle is to decide on your schedule. Social media algorithms like consistency above all else, so although there is endless online advice about how often to post and when the best times for posting are, if you can only post once a week, you can only post once a week. Don’t beat yourself up to maintain some dream schedule that is going to cause you stress and not allow you to write your best next book.
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How does that sit with you? If you have any questions or want me to elaborate on anything (or if you have anything you disagree with or just want to share!), please do leave them in the comments.