Tuesday Tidbit: Are you afraid to use social media to market your memoir?

If you hope to sell your memoir to more people than just your family and friends, you’ll need to learn about marketing—you’ll need to learn a lot about marketing.

Most if not all authors use social media to market their books. 

But the world of social media is huge—it’s more like a universe than a world. And it keeps changing.

Using social media can intimidate those who haven’t leaped into that universe. It can even cause lots of angst.

But don’t let fear of social media hold you back because I have good news for you:

You have lots of opportunities to learn about social media, and you can educate yourself for free if you want to.

For example, you can learn a great deal by following Laura Christianson’s blog, Blogging Bistro. Just check out her blog’s left column and you’ll see a long list of How-To-torials and past blog posts. I’ve followed Laura’s blog for years and she consistently offers a treasure chest of helps!

Laura’s recent guest blogger, Janis Fisher Chan, will encourage all who are stressed about starting to use social media, including those who want to market their memoirs. In My Social Media Marketing Fears and How I’m Overcoming Them, Janis discusses:

• You can’t farm it out (at least not completely, not in the beginning)*
• If you start at zero, be ready for a steep learning curve
• Apply what you’re learning
• Make a plan to achieve your goals
• To put your plan into action, you might need help
• Keep learning!

*Regarding Janis’ first point above, she hired consultants to help her get started. I recommend that you learn as much as possible from reputable websites online (which you can follow on Facebook) before spending money on consultants.

At the bottom of Janis’ post, you’ll find a link to a free action plan to develop your marketing strategy. Check it out!

Go ahead—be brave! Get started on your social media marketing. Start small. And remember, “Don’t despise small beginnings because God rejoices to see the work start…” (Zechariah 4:10).

On Facebook, I post many

links to helpful articles

and other resources

for those writing, publishing,

and marketing their memoirs.

If you’re not following Spiritual Memoirs 101 on Facebook,

you’re missing a lot!

On self-publishing and marketing your memoir

Let’s face it: Most of us will never sign a contract with a traditional publishing company. Thousands of writers don’t make the cut, not even good writers—not even great writers.

But nowadays we have publishing options we didn’t have only a few years ago: self-publishing companies. They offer various services for various prices.

Note: They also publish books of varying quality, in both contents and materials. Too many self-pub books can’t be described as “high quality.”

Having said that, many self-published books are top-notch quality, so much so that some prolific traditionally-published authors are now going the self-pub route. Self-publishing can be an excellent choice for most of us.

Nevertheless, some people continue to turn up their noses at self-publishing.

“Some writers will think you’re not a good writer because you’re self-published,” writes Joanne Dannon. “There is still a stigma that you’re not good enough since you’re not traditionally published….”

But if you want to be a good writer, Joanne says, “Focus on being the best writer you can be. Self-publishing is not for bad writers, it’s for motivated, savvy writers who write quality books….

“Successful self-published writers have excellent books with a well-written story, professional editing and formatting as well as a quality well-made cover (not home made)” (What I wish I’d known before self-publishing).

To write and publish a professional-quality memoir, you must work hard.

Become a student of everything related to writing, publishing, and marketing.

Among other skills, improve your self-editing abilities. Bethany Cadman offers tips in Practical Advice for Editing Your Manuscript.

Also check out Jami Gold’s post, Writing Habits: We Can’t Fix What We Don’t See.

And then there’s successful marketing: We must educate ourselves, pre-plan, and commit to hard work. Look over Joanne Dannon’s blog post, What I wish I’d known before self-publishing.

I highly recommend Sandra Beckwith’s blog, Build Book Buzz. Begin by checking out Facebook advertising for authors: A quick-start guide.

If you want to be

“motivated, savvy writers who write quality books,”

educate yourself.

Make it your goal to publish a well-written book,

professional in editing and formatting,

whether you’re publishing your memoir for only friends and family,

or for the masses.