Let’s have a quick talk about influencers, which too many writers ignore in the search for social media platform.
Social media platform consists of the total number of people who follow you on the various social media like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, BookBub, Goodreads, etc. When examining your social media platform, many editors, agents and marketing executives investigating the numbers dig deeper, to see how much interaction or engagement you have on each medium. As we know, people can simply buy followers— dishonest as that may be. The way to tell if those followers are engaged is to dive into likes, comments, reviews, etc. and see if when you talk, conversation begins within the following community.
Influencers are those people who have a following of their own but know you, respect you and are likely to hold up your book and recommend it. As soon as you begin thinking about your book, you should begin to collect and curate your list of influencers. At some point your publisher is going to ask you for your list of 50 to 75 influencers. They will probably gift a book to these influencers along with a personal letter from you. You’ll notice I am not recommending fellow writers. These may be great influencers and may be glad to promote you and your book, but fellow authors are often overwhelmed with influencer copies. Try to fill the top of your influencer list with non-writers and put your writing friends at the bottom. Or have a strong influencer list and give some of the free copies your publisher provides you to writing friends who will read, recommend and review.
Let me give you a few random tips about influencers in no special order. Please feel free to add more tips to finding serious influencers in the comments below.
- Think of those people you know well who appreciate what you have to say and regularly stand up in front of large crowds.
- Consider media personalities you know. Perhaps you’ve regularly appeared on television or radio shows— these hosts are influencers.
- Librarians make good influencers, especially those who choose the books for their branch. Get to know librarians.
- Pastors of large churches can be significant influencers, if they are willing to read a book and possibly recommend it.
- When my first book came out twenty-some years ago, I was one of the best customers of my local Christian bookstore. I’d supported them with significant purchases over the years. The owner and his staff became tireless promoters of my book. Local bookstores.
- Think of other bookstore relationships you may have made on any signing tours. Do you have frontliners who will read your book, recommend it and review it?
- If you know significant social media personalities who know you well and love your work, this can be a perfect choice.
- For nonfiction books especially, some of the best influencers are well-known professionals in the same field.
- What about college roommates who love you and will recommend the book to their circles?
- Do you belong to clubs, like Toastmasters, Lions Club, etc? You may find influencers here.
- How about your college newsletter editor? Most newsletters feature alumnae achievements.
- People you know well in the publishing industry who do not belong to a competing house are possible influencers.
- Know any famous people? Those can be gold.
Okay, your turn. Where might you find your influencers?
A Social Media Platform that REALLY Sells Books: TikTok
I’m chasing famous people
to speak up for my book,
looking under mega-steeples,
and in the voguish nooks
for pastors and alt-rockers,
talk-show hosts and movie types,
reality-show shockers
and anyone who’ll bring the hype,
but so far all that I’ve found
are folks who drive beat-up used cars
on their homely daily round
so far from bling and flash and stars,
but they gave the highest praise,
that my words improved their days.
Love it, Andrew!
This promotion gig is very awkward. Confidence to speak up for your voice is hard. Feels so counter-intuitive to how I was raised. I need to value my voice enough to speak up for it.
Glad I have time to work on that as I’m the world’s slowest book writer. 🥴😊
Spot on, Andrew!
Two other ideas:
– High school newsletter list: I learned of one a few years ago (thousands of alumni) and the creator is happy to celebrate a new book by running my promo piece verbatim.
– Family newsletter list/blog: My extended family has one with hundreds on this list. While my close family expects free books, LOL, the extended cousins etc. often buy the book.
Great possibilities, Janet. Thank you.
Yeah, I’ve got good relationships with librarians and book store owners, but I don’t go to a big church or know famous people. Aw, well. If I become friends with any, I’ll try to remember this, ha! I guess my strategy is simply to be kind and engage with anyone who interacts with me online. Can’t go wrong there.
So true and so real.
P.S. I don’t go to a big church either.
Thank you, dear Wendy, for helping us think beyond our typical social media reach.
I’ve already had some people come to mind who are way more crowd savvy than I’ll ever be.
I met them through my children and my grandson’s music lessons.
Outgoing personalities are often willing to go all out for books they believe in.
Blessings – Wendy Mac
Right. That’s why influencers can fill in where we shyer types fail.
This is a helpful list – some ideas I’ve not thought of. That’s not too surprising, given I’m a debut author. When I sold my book “Rain” in November of 2019, I had a website that badly needed updating and less than a hundred names on my newsletter list. My publisher told me they generally only signed authors with platforms including an active website suited to the genre, regular blog and newsletter with at least 1000 subscribers. I promised to work hard toward those goals immediately. It would have been better to have those earlier, but I did what I could. The influencers I’ve become acquainted with through social media have been great. One influencer in particular posted graphics for Rain daily for nearly a month during my launch.
Thanks for this post. I’m always learning.
It’s frustrating that publishers expect a debut novelist to have a significant newsletter list. Your newsletter list is for readers or potential readers. Before you have a book it’s a slog to try to get readers. Hopefully you are building now.
Yes, I began when I was signed and now I have nearly 1300 who are mostly readers or influencers. While Rain was going through edits, I wrote a biblical novella for a newsletter magnet and participated in some giveaways with other Inspirational authors. I paid for a cover and traded with an editor and basically self-pubbed the little novella. It was the basis for most of my subscribers and the good thing was, I wrote the sequel as a prequel to Rain, which helped sell it when it was released six months later.
This is wonderful food for thought. Here are a few more groups that came to mind as I read your list:
Teachers and school librarians can be good influencers for middle- or high school markets. This seems obvious for private or Christian schools, but even the public schools in our area have Bible study and FCA groups. Those leaders could be influencers.
Connecting within the homeschool market could be huge, whether you write for students or their parents. My friends who are involved with homeschooling or co-op schools are always talking about and recommending books.
Bible study leaders at large churches can be influencers within their own groups and among leaders at other churches. Church librarians or church bookstore managers could also be big cheerleaders.
Your denomination might have a bookstore, newsletter or blog at the regional or national level. They might promote your book or even let you be a guest writer/blogger.
You’ve started my wheels turning!
Leigh, your ideas are great and expansive, thank you! Your positive and encouraging share was appreciated…
Chrysa, I just had to comment on your name. My great grandmother was a staunch Scottish Presbyterian, named Elizabeth McKelvey. It’s not often I come across that surname.
Thank you, Chrysa! The more we can encourage and support each other, the better. 🙂 I hope some of the suggestions are helpful.
Leigh, I should have met you before I wrote my blog. You have given us gold here. I should have remembered homeschoolers. My own books have been promoted by homeschoolers for twenty years!
Wendy, you’re too kind! I appreciate all the ways your team helps us grow.
My first thought was school librarians and the other ideas bubbled up while I was writing. I hope some people find them helpful — I need to file them away for myself!
This was a very helpful post, Wendy! At first I found it quite overwhelming–I don’t personally know too many people with huge followings!–but when I started actually amassing a list, I realized I had more possibilities than I realized, various connections of family and friends with schools, college, church and missionary groups in various places, different folks who have been cheerleaders for my writing and have their own networks. So helpful to think about reaching beyond our already over-stretched author friends into those with the potential to reach readers beyond our usual limits. Thank you! 🙂
Excellent, Kiersti. Hearing that it helped puts a smile on my face.
Influencers? I don’t believe it works, at least not for a self-published author. I gave or sent copies of my Bible study to approximately 20 people I considered to be influencers—pastors, church staff, district superintendents, evangelists. Not one (I will repeat, not one) gave me so much as a shout out on social media. Four thanked me. The pastor who married my wife and me, for whom I’ve done several favors over the years (including driving 200 miles each way to speak at his retirement banquet) who sends a newsletter out to thousands, said nothing.
I don’t know anyone in the media. Maybe one newspaperman.
IMnsHO, influencers are a waste of time and money. They don’t need you; you need them.
So sorry to hear this, David. I wonder if this happened because it was a Bible study? Emphasis on the “study” part. We can drag feet sometimes– sad.