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Writer's pictureRose Rivers
Aug 14, 20225 min read

My Two Cents on How to Social Media

Hello there my lovelies!!! I’m sorry I've missed you a couple of weeks recently, but I’m back and ready to give you my not-so-expert advice on something I’ve been struggling with lately. Today I’m giving you my two cents on How to Social Media like a boss!



First off, I’m going to tell you again, I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHAT I’M DOING!!! I'm still learning along with you, so this blog post is more likely to point you in the direction of A.) someone who does or B.) what not to do… Also, like most of my posts, this one is generally themed toward writers who are looking to be published but could easily be translated into ways to help you if you're an editor, trying to be a book reviewer, wanting to go into digital marketing for books, basically, anything BOOK related.


So, as far as social media influences go, I think I follow a lot of the right people. I follow my author idols, indie authors, social media influencers, book-tokers, reviewers, etc. 90% of my followers are either writing, reading, or writing about reading. I also follow a lot of editors, publishers, marketing experts, and other people who have knowledge about the industry that I want to absorb. I have a few celebrities and musicians too–because anyone who reads my book knows how obsessed I am with a couple of them 😬😳🤣. But mostly my social media is strictly related to the reason I’m there, to promote my book, blog, or interact with my (hopefully) future reading community.



Btw if you haven't already, please follow me:


See what I did there? 👆👆👆 (shameless self-promotion Sunday )



Anyway… I think I'm doing the right thing by following those people/groups. At least according to Jenn dePaula @MixusMedia. She says I should be in “The Attraction Phase.” This means I’m writing/editing and NOT releasing my book in the next couple of months. I’m trying to grow my audience and make connections so that when it’s time to release my book, I have a built-in readership. If you wanna know more about the phases of marketing and what Jenn @MixusMedia says you should be doing right now check out her site… https://www.mixtusmedia.com/


She has a lot of good ideas for posts, though personally, I wish she would just post for me, (but from what I can tell that’s not among her paid plan options--*hint, hint* Jenn, I'm your first customer😂😂). Anyway, there's lots of good stuff on her page so I highly recommend checking it out if you like my content (even vaguely because admittedly I may not be the best interpretation of her instructions but I’m sure you will be…)


Anyway, if you're like me, you may be tempted to join a paid program that guarantees to grow your followers, but from all the research I've done, that's not a good idea.



You may get thousands of followers, but will they be the right followers for you? Are they your audience? Will the followers translate into book sales, reviews, or feedback on your book when you release it (Or use your editing or reviewing services if you're not a writer)? If not, then chances are you're barking up the wrong tree. A lot of times what happens when you use those services is you end up with bots and fake engagement followers which could end up hurting more than helping.


I am not going to lie and pretend like I understand how social media algorithms work because I have no idea. AT ALL! But from everything I can tell, it's better to have a smaller number of authentic connections than thousands of followers who could care less about your romance book/editing services. Also, it seems like having all those bots could potentially get you lost in the algorithm, so my suggestion is just to build your followers the old-fashioned way, by following the people you want to follow you. Most writers/authors follow back, so that's the easiest way to do it.



Moving along...

I think people like Jenn @MixusMedia and Josh Steimle https://joshsteimle.com/influence/how-build-audience-buy-book.html have it right. If you’re writing a book, starting an editing service, writing a blog, or want to become a paid book reviewer, and you want it to be successful, you can't just start marketing once your book/services are on the market. You have to start WELL BEFORE you put it out there or publish (no matter what path you’re choosing to go down Traditional or Indie publishing).


If you’re choosing to publish traditionally, having a built-in readership is only going to make your book more appealing to publishers. If they know you're willing to put in the legwork and really promote yourself and your book before you even have a book to promote, they know you'll do it once you do, right? If you’re indie publishing then it's ALL ON YOU. You won't have marketing people to fall back on, so why not start early? Build your audience and if it's the right kind of audience, that should translate into sales. The same goes for services. If I, as a writer, see that you have a lot of engagement on social media, I'm going to use your services because hopefully your audience will also become my audience and we can help each other!



The next suggestion is one I'm still working on. It's about building an audience and growing your list of contacts. It's talked about a lot in the Josh Steimle post (linked above) and also in a free class offered by Christina Galbato https://christinagalbato.com/ The lessons they teach are about growing your own audience OUTSIDE of social media. Build a list of contacts that drive people to your blog/website. Admittedly, at the time of this post, I have about 10 members/subscribers to my blog, I don't always engage them properly, and I haven't quite mastered the use of SEO and tagging (systems used to make your posts viewable on search engines like Google), but hopefully, I’ll get there one day.


But James and Christina both agree it's not enough to get 10K followers on one social media source or even two. What if TikTok goes the way of MySpace? (did I just date myself?😊) Or what if Facebook succeeds in taking over and becoming the monster social media king of the world and you don't really have a presence there the same way as Instagram/Twitter? Anyway, the point is, you own the membership to your blog/website, so it is one of the best ways to grow an audience you can't lose. I haven't quite implemented all the suggestions made through the resources available by James and Christina but they are helpful and I highly recommend you check them out!



OK... So, this post has gone on probably far longer than it should be, given the level of knowledge I have on social media, so let me wrap it up. Ultimately, it boils down to a couple of pieces of sage advice from the experts listed above.


  1. Start growing your audience NOW. Don't wait until your book comes out, or a couple of weeks before, build an audience, engage with them and make them love you and want to know more about you

  2. Don't limit your audience to any one media. Jenn @mixiusmedia says it's not important to be on every platform (pick the one or two that feel organic to you and your audience) but also Christina and James are right in that you shouldn't limit your efforts to JUST social media. Grow an audience independent of social apps so they can never disappear into the algorithm.


So that's it, folks! That's my two cents on Social Media-ing like a boss. Do it now, do it often and don't give up!


Thanks for reading and have a great week!

XOXO

-Rose Rayne Rivers


If you have any additional advice, comments, or resources please comment below!




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