Guest Post: How to Promote Online by Debra Burroughs

How to Promote Online, by Debra Burroughs, author of She Had No Choice

Whether you are traditionally published, small press published, or self published, I have learned that most, if not all, marketing is put on the shoulders of the author. Unless you are a well-known author or a shooting star, you have to be prepared to promote your work yourself.

Most authors I know would rather do almost anything than wear the “Marketing” hat. But in today’s publishing world, like successful author and blogger D.D. Scott says, “You better put your big girl panties on,” and do it.

The first online page you should concentrate on is your Author Page on Amazon.com. If you haven’t uploaded your photo and bio to this page, stop what you’re doing right now and take care of it. Go to: https://authorcentral.amazon.com, log in with your username and password, click on Profile in the blue bar at the top, and use the tools on the right on the next page. Easy peasy.

The second online presence you should have is a Facebook page. Some people say you should have a personal page, some say have an author page, some say have a page for each of your books, and some say have all of the above. I don’t know who’s right. I have a personal page and an author page where I will promote all of my books. Go on Facebook several times a day (early morning, noon, and evening) and post something interesting so people want to be “Friends” with you and come back. You can post about your books sometimes, but show people you are a real person with some personality.

After Facebook, set up a Twitter account and learn to use it. I’m reading Twitter Power 2.0, by Joel Comm, right now to help me become an expert. Make sure to upload a photo to your Profile and write something interesting about yourself so when people check to see if they want to follow you, you can hook them with why they should want to follow you.

The next avenue of online promotion would be your website and/or blog. Some people blog every day, some only once a month, and others do it anywhere in between. It’s an excellent vehicle to drive your Facebook and Twitter followers to, so you can engage with them. Make sure you have a place where they can subscribe to your site and a “Contact Me” button so they can send an email to you.

My last bit of advice is to continually learn more about marketing. Every day, I receive a blog post in my email from TheWritersGuideToEpublishing.com with great tips on marketing and promoting books. I’m also reading We Are Not Alone, a book by Kristen Lamb, about building your brand and online marketing for writers. I go to KindleBoards.com/writerscafe and join the discussions. There’s just so much out there to know. Good luck!
 
About Debra Burroughs:
 
Debra Burroughs grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area during a tumultuous time when the Civil Rights Movement was gearing up and racial tensions were mounting. Her parents moved the family to a more peaceful small town in the Central Valley of California.


Over the years, with a large Mexican family, she heard many stories about their history, particularly from her mother and grandmother. As she would relay these colorful and heart-wrenching family stories to her friends, many times she would hear them say, “You should really write a book about that.”

After continual encouragement and gentle prodding from her husband, she finally decided to do it. Now that their children are grown and gone, Debra has found a quiet place to write in their home in Boise, Idaho.

You can visit Debra Burroughs’ blog at www.DebraBurroughsBooks.com.