Are you an aspiring wordsmith seeking to enhance your digital footprint? Want to elevate your authorial presence? Delve into this expert breakdown of social media content for writers, designed to fuel your creative journey. 

Got a book idea? Spend a couple of weeks writing, send it to a publisher, and receive a cheque longer than your arm. 

Not really. 

Traditional publishers expect their authors to already have a following before taking a chance on them.

Thanks to an explosion of Indie presses and self-publishing platforms, the book industry has become fiercely competitive. So before publishers invest their editing, design, marketing, and financial resources in a book, they want to know it will sell. 

It’s a fact, the bigger your community, the bigger the book deal you can get. I know it can all be overwhelming. Coming up with social media content is not easy, especially for writers.

I always advise my book writer clients to use these five pillars to generate their social media content. I’m going to share those pillars with you today.

Social media content that attracts people to you

This pillar requires you to post content that attracts people to you. 

This kind of content will likely have a call to action. So it’s really marketing basics 101.

This is where you increase traffic and hook more leads. Things you could do under this pillar include:

• Promoting your lead magnet.
• Sending traffic to your blog, YouTube channel, podcast, etc.
• Subscribe people to your mailing list.

Social media content to grow your audience

The second pillar focuses on growing your audience and building upon already existing relationships.

You want people to connect to you and feel like they know you.

I’m sure you’ve noticed additional footage of how a movie or music video was developed always goes viral. The same concept applies to book publishing.

This is where you create social media content that closes the gap between the big-shot expert and mere mortals. Some things you could try to achieve this include:

• A behind-the-scenes look of what your day is like.
• Your favorite content topics.
• Your favorite tools.
• What CRM you use.

In short, people want glimpses of how you work. It helps you build a relationship with them by making you more human.

Social media content that promotes your brand

We already touched on how saturated book publishing is. Standing out as a credible expert with a loyal fan base is absolutely essential.

This is where you want to leverage things like case studies and client spotlights. Got testimonials from customers? Now’s the time to show them off.

If you want to share and show off some completed projects that you’ve worked on with clients, this is a great spot for that as well.

This is about making sure people understand what your business is about. Why are you in your chosen field? What is the soapbox that you stand on? 

The book

The next pillar is the book itself.

Releasing singles from an upcoming album or movie trailers has served the entertainment industry for decades. You can do the same for your book.

I have a client who is writing a book that will only come out in 2023. One of the things we’re doing is posting updates about his book on social media.

This is sometimes something as simple as, “I just wrote two chapters. What a day. Now it’s time to edit.”

Sometimes a mere picture of you working with your cup of coffee next to you is enough. The key thing is to make people feel they’re involved in the process.

Relationship building

Behind every great book is a great professional. It’s also true to say behind every great book is an ordinary human.

That human is who people want to connect with on a personal level.

This is about what you do outside work. Do you have hobbies? Are you the pet mom/dad to some adorable furry creatures? What’s happening in your life?

One of my clients is releasing a book in 2023. He recently moved. I had him post a video of him unlocking his new house for the first time on social media.

The post went bananas.

People want to see you as a home seeker or dog owner – they want to see you as an ordinary person just like them.

I have a post on Facebook where I shared that I have a wooden spoon collection. People loved it.

I’m a strategist. But when I post anything about baking, it goes crazy.

That’s my behind-the-scenes.

People want to know who I am. I have to let them in. So do you.

Social media content for writers – key takeaways

Are you out of content ideas for your social media? You can use these five pillars to come up with ideas:

• Social media content that attracts people to you
• Social media content to grow your audience
• Social media content that promotes your brand
• The book
• Relationship building

Still failing to get ideas?

I help authors generate more leads and build effective marketing lists. Book a free call with me to discuss your project.