• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Deborah Munro, Author

APEX, a Sci-Fi Thriller Set in Rural Oregon

  • Home
  • About
  • Science
  • Blog
  • Publications
  • Contact

Gain Readers with Social Media

December 5, 2017 By Deborah Munro 1 Comment

Successful Advertising on Social Media.

Social Media for Authors
As a rookie writer, I naively assumed the hard part was finishing the manuscript, followed by finding a way to get it published, but I was so, so wrong. The hardest part, BY FAR, is marketing your book to the world, and these days that means, “How do I effectively use social media?”

According to Eric Schmidt of Google, we now produce more data in two days than we created from the dawn of civilization to the year 2003. Dr. Mark Algee-Hewitt of Stanford Literary Lab says over 2.7 million books are published each year in English. Of these, over 227,000 (8.2%) are fiction novels—otherwise known as my competition for readership. Even if I am one of these books on the shelf, the odds of someone finding my book are ridiculously small.

Unless I advertise.

I am not Stephen King, JK Rowling, or Michael Crichton (yet!), so next to no one is going to pick up my book and take a chance on it, because I’m an unknown. I don’t have a reputation, good or bad, and there are so many excellent books being pumped out from known authors that readers know will be satisfying and fulfilling reads. So how do I get someone to learn about me, build trust in me, and thus take a chance on reading my first novel?

Become known.

Being an engineer and a scientist, I decided to conduct some research and find out from people who read how they find their books. First, I read some books about how to market and publish creative works, one great one of which was “Sell Your Soul: How to Build Your Creative Career” by Russell Nohelty. This book was jam packed with excellent advice, had concrete advice with specific steps, and presented all the information in a well-organized manner that lived up to its jacket slogan of, “Discover how to build a prosperous creative business without feeling gross.”

One of the first things he learned was that he had no idea who was buying his books or why, and he went about figuring that out. I decided to take a different twist on this and find out how readers engage with social media and what would entice them to start engaging with me.

Let the interviews begin.

So, I conducted interviews. Since I am publishing my sci-fi thriller, APEX, on a unique platform called Inkshares.com, which uses a crowd funding model to determine which books to publish, I had a source of readers from which to do my poll. I wanted a variety of people—Millennials, Generation Xers, and Baby Boomers, both male and female who shared my tastes in books and movies. I asked for volunteers and ended up with eleven, three of whom were female. This was a nice representative sampling and included people who used no social media to those like Jacqui Castle, author of “The Seclusion”, who was able to build a Twitter following of over 11,500 and crowd funded her book over the 750 pre-order threshold in three months! More on her success story later…

Research.

In parallel, I did some internet research to find out how many people use the internet and social media for fun. I also wanted to learn which platforms they were using. The data I gleaned was incredibly interesting, and it is going to save a lot of wasted effort on things that my readers would not have liked. Here are the key takeaways on social media usage:

  • A whopping 81% to 97% of English speaking adults use the internet for at least one reason, such as email, reading the news, or researching data.
  • Of adults age 14+ that speak English, about 40% to 46% of them are “online” for some entertainment reason, meaning they use the internet for more than just email.
  • Of these online adults, 79% of them use Facebook.
  • Instagram is used by 32%, Pinterest 31%, LinkedIn 29%, and Twitter 24%.
  • 76% of Facebook users are on the site daily, along with 51% of Instagram users and 42% of Twitter users. The other sites have less than 25% of daily users.
  • Sites like Pinterest and LinkedIn seem to be used occasionally, once per week or less often.
  • One interesting correlation I found on PewInternet.org was that if someone is on Twitter, they are on all other media platforms—93% on Facebook, 65% on Instagram, 54% on LinkedIn, and 48% on Pinterest. For someone on Instagram, 95% are on Facebook and 49% are on Twitter.

I’ll expand upon what I learned from my research in a series of future posts (it’s 23 pages of data, and I don’t want to overwhelm you). I’ll also be posting each of my interviews and the nuggets of wisdom I received from each of these avid readers.

Stay tuned, or subscribe to receive notification of new updates at the bottom of this page.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Social Media for Authors Tagged With: social media research

Deborah Munro

Science is pure joy for me. I love understanding how things work and teaching others what I've learned. Thus, I am a bioengineering professor, scientist, and author. I've recently expatriated from the beautiful Pacific NW and have founded a new life for myself in New Zealand.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Ferd says

    December 14, 2017 at 5:30 pm

    Nice! I’m looking forward to this series! I’m also going to check out, “Sell Your Soul:…”
    Thanks, Debbie! 😀

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Footer

Follow Deborah Munro

If you're a science enthusiast, like bonus material and short stories, love learning about the craft of writing, or want to know the latest on APEX, here's your chance! Be notified of new content and receive short posts by subscribing today.
  • Count Me In!

Facebook Author Page

Facebook Author Page

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

INKSHARES

Please pre-order your copy of APEX here.

APEX cover

Instagram Feed

deborahmunro.author

Deborah Munro is the author of APEX, a contemporary world sci-fi thriller set in rural Oregon.

deborahmunro.author
On every walk, there's that one thing you see that On every walk, there's that one thing you see that brightens your day. From my new house, the walk to the bus stop offers this rock sculpture. I think of it as a woman crouching in an ornate cloak. 😍
2020 was a difficult year for most of us, but it a 2020 was a difficult year for most of us, but it also contained many bright spots for me, and I'd like to highlight a few of them.  I started the year in Tonga with my biomed students and my friend Dawn. Amanda became a divemaster and also released her first two singles, and Carolyn graduated with a Master's degree in clinical psychology and is establishing themselves as a counselor. Carolyn's new puppy, Luna, joined the family, making me a granddog-parent twice over (with Simba being my first granddog). I spent the lockdown hiking and knitting, and I even created some how-to videos on socks, which was fun. Once things returned to normal in NZ, I took advantage of the lack of tourists and had a road trip with a friend, taking in all of the south island. I also entered and won the HealthTech Supernode Challenge, providing much needed publicity for my research. I even obtained my New Zealand residency, which enabled me to purchase my first house here sooner than I anticipated. So, here's to us all having a prosperous and joyful 2021! Happy New Year!
We're having oliebollen for our New Year's celebra We're having oliebollen for our New Year's celebration. It's a traditional Dutch doughnut with raisins, and I can confirm they are delicious 😋.
Zoom Christmas with Settlers of Catan and my kids. Zoom Christmas with Settlers of Catan and my kids.
Merry Christmas from New Zealand! It's summer here Merry Christmas from New Zealand! It's summer here and usually warm and sunny, although the next few days will be drizzly. I'll be celebrating with friends, as I can't travel to see my kids in Denver. Instead, @once_upon_a_munro, @amandamunromusic, and I are planning a Zoom Christmas, something I would never have envisioned a year ago. Thank goodness for the digital age we live in!
https://deborahmunroauthor.com/blog/ As a creative https://deborahmunroauthor.com/blog/
As a creative, I well know that feeling of releasing the product of my soul to the world. It’s about as appealing as walking naked down a city street, and on a bad hair day. To create is to be vulnerable, and so it is no wonder that so many of us cringe at the thought of exposing ourselves to critique, judgement, and perhaps even rejection.
Walking on the beach. Had it all to myself. 🥰 Walking on the beach. Had it all to myself. 🥰
I moved today! It was a ton of work and still not I moved today! It was a ton of work and still not fully done, but that view makes it all worthwhile 😍.
Just a cat greeting me on my way to work 🙃 Just a cat greeting me on my way to work 🙃
Happy Thanksgiving Kiwi-style! Happy Thanksgiving Kiwi-style!
Another fun day fishing in beautiful NZ, this time Another fun day fishing in beautiful NZ, this time off the coast of Kaikoura. I caught two legal size blue cod at the same time! 😍
Amanda's first single will be released in November Amanda's first single will be released in November.  Pre-save it now by following this link https://linktr.ee/amandamunromusic.
Load More... Follow on Instagram

HOME | ABOUT | SCIENCE | BLOG | PUBLICATIONS | CONTACT

Copyright © 2021 Deborah Munro, Author

WordPress Website by Waterlink Web | connecting your customers with you

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.