It's All About the Hashtags
By Marcie Bridges
Many
authors assume that once they have achieved the coveted contract with a
publisher, the marketing aspect of their book is strictly in the hands of the
publisher.
I
hate to break it to you, dear authors, but the majority of promotion for your
book is on your shoulders. Publishers cannot get as personal with your readers
as you can. Publishers cannot go to a library and read a chapter from your book
and converse with the public for you. Publishers cannot go to bookstores and do
your book signing. No, these special occasions are just for you.
Which
brings us to social media. The idea of social media is just what it implies. It
is meant to be “social.”
Your
publisher can put your book out on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, but they
cannot build the kind of relationship with your followers you can.
Now,
you don’t want to inundate your followers or friends by asking them all the
time to buy your products, but you can use social media as a tool to get the
word out about your book or books.
The
best way to build your following is to apply hashtags. A hashtag, which is the
number symbol (#), goes before keywords in each social media status you share.
Hashtags create a group for followers to join and interact with.
If
you are a fiction writer, you most definitely should always be using the
hashtag #fiction or #fictionwriter. The same goes with #non-fiction.
You
can also get extremely specific in your hashtags. If you write romance novels,
by all means add that to your status. For example, Land of My Dreams by
Norma Gail would contain #fiction #romance #Christianromance. Or you might have The Perils of a Pastor’s
Wife by Nan Jones as #pastorswives #inspiration #ministryhelp. Do you have a book on parenting you want to
advertise on Instagram? For Praying for the Prodigal by Andrea Merrell
you would use #prayer #prodigal #children #encouragement #parents. And that’s
just for starters.
There
are all kinds of hashtags you can use. Use your imagination, especially on
Instagram. With Instagram you can have up to 30 hashtags with your post. But be
careful with Facebook and Twitter where they only encourage up to 3 hashtags
for each post.
A
great way to build your hashtag list is to make a spreadsheet with a list of
hashtags for each of your social media accounts. It will take some time, but in
the end, it will be worth the effort. At one time, I built a list for our LPC authors and had four pages each for fiction and non-fiction categories.
So, now
it’s your turn. What hashtags will you use for your
book? We'd love to hear your suggestions.
(Photos courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net, David Castillo Dominici, and Chris Sharp.)
TWEETABLE
Marcie Bridges is a lover of God, people, poetry, and
chocolate. She is a freelance editor as well as the Author Care Representative
of Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas (LPC). Marcie’s deepest
passion is sharing her faith through poetry. She is the author of Broken and Spilled Out: An Offering of Poetry
and Prayers for the Hurting Soul. She lives in Western N.C. with her
husband, Mark, and two daughters. You can contact Marcie
through her website: www.marciebridges.com
or at lmwbridges@gmail.com.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mwbheartthoughts/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Marcie_Bridges
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mwbheartthoughts/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Marcie_Bridges
Check out Marcie's book, Broken and Spilled Out.
Are you feeling
broken? Needing a place to find rest for your weary, worn-out soul? Broken and Spilled Out: An Offering of
Poetry and Prayers for the Hurting Soul is a collection of poems Marcie has
written chronicling her journey from places of brokenness to healing. You will
also find places to rest and pour out your own prayerful thoughts within the
pages of this heart-stirring book.
Book Available at:
Thanks SO MUCH for this post!! I tend to totally space out the hashtags!! I took a minute and created a few for my new story, One for the Price of Two, Book 1 in my new series, FourSquare.
ReplyDelete#fictionwriter
#battleforidentity
#twinfiction
#ChristianFiction
#ChristianRomance
#twinsmarryingtwins
#miscarriageandadoption
#twinconflict
You're welcome, Robin. Glad it was a help. Just remember that the rule of thumb is only three hashtags per post. Blessings!
DeleteI am finally remembering to use hashtags more and more. Thank you for this great reminder. :-)
ReplyDeleteSo glad we could help. Thanks so much for stopping by, Melissa. Blessings!
DeleteThanks for sharing. I don't know much about hashtags and this really helped explain it in terms I could understand.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Thanks, Sheryl. :)
ReplyDelete