Are There Social Media Tools for Writers and Should You Use Them?

Yes, there are social media tools for writers.

Working with a client who happens to be a writer, I’ve come across several and am impressed with them.

Let’s talk about them!

But, before we get into them, let’s go over the fundamentals first.

A good social media program will contain some or all of the following: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and/or Instagram, and a blog.

(I’m a big believer in blogs!)

Not necessarily all of these, but two or three at least with a blog.

The key to a successful social media program is a broad based community starting with these popular and well known tools.

This is the prerequisite.

Is the writer’s craft any different than any other profession.

Not really, while how professions earn their keep does vary (e.g., law, medicine, writing) they are similar in that each has a specific trade and markets itself to a client base for the purpose of continuing in that profession.

The social media communities for professions can overlap and frequently do.

Although, the reasons why people will follow certain professions will vary.

(A writer’s fan will follow a doctor for very different reasons.)

Yet, there are tools which allow writers to focus on one particular type of follower, one who likes to read books, and I’ll talk about three of these now.

First is Goodreads, a site where books are catalogued, reviewed, readers can set up their own reading lists, and most importantly for authors, they can have an author’s page and develop a community around their books.

Next is BookBub, a free service offering deals on books, recommendations from readers, and also allows authors to have pages to engage with their fans.

LitSy is an app which allows readers to comment on the books that they’ve read.

There is no capability at this time for authors to have pages but it does give them the opportunity to engage with their readers.

So, yes, there are social media tools for writers.

And, yes, some may see this as more work but it’s not.

Each of these communities contains enthusiastic readers who are fans of the authors they read.

Proper engagement with these communities will allow writers to have a successful career writing for their fans!

That’s it for now!

Please check-out my 8 step approach for developing a social media program to get some more ideas on how to use social media.

Also, never forget to reach out to either ask questions or to ask for help from someone like myself!

In the meantime, thank you for following and reading my blog!

I look forward to any and all comments that you may have. I will reply to any comments made to this blog post as promptly as I can.