Blog Tour: Having Fun While Saving Money

special guest blogger: Janiera Eldridge

Why Social Media is Gold to Your Book BEFORE it is published!

As someone who frequently uses twitter I can’t tell you how many authors I see pushing the release of their books at the last minute. What is the last minute, you might say? A month before it is released! Seriously, starting to advertise your novel a month before its release means you’re already behind the curb. The right time to start tweeting, facebooking and buzz talking about your book is…. while you’re writing!

Does that sound too early? It did to me too but, it isn’t. Marketing a book is a hella crazy process so you want to get the ball rolling on that as soon as possible. I received book sales from the first day my book was released because people already were familiar with my book and what it had to offer. Granted, my book was non-fiction but, it works exactly the same way with a fiction novel. In fact, I’m already done with the first draft of my novel Soul Sisters and people are already slightly familiar with the storyline. The most important part is that they know that it is coming soon which builds up anticipation. Here are some awesome ways you can start getting the buzz out about your book while you’re writing it:

• Document your writing process through twitter or facebook. My favorite venue is twitter because writers are so supportive and open on there. Talk about the struggles and joys you are going through while writing your book. When you’re on twitter (and after you have come up with a title) make sure that you always put a hashtag (#) before the title of your book and include it in ever tweet about your writing process.
• If you don’t already have a blog run and make one now! I can’t tell you how much attention has been drawn to my book because I have built up an audience through my blog. It can be a book blog, a blog chronicling your writing experience or like mines, all three! Make sure that you talk about your writing process every now and then and drop the name of your book. By the time your book is ready to go you will already have an online presence that will give your book the fuel it needs to sell!
• Never stop marketing. Even though you started marketing early that doesn’t mean that when the book is released you can stop. I always say that an author is also a marketer, marketing is half the job and it is not easy. However, if you start early it can be a lot of fun and beneficial from the start.