Are you reluctant to post about your book on social media?

I totally get it. Guilty as charged.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that I don’t encourage my authors to do exactly what I can’t bring myself to do, especially if they’re writing a series. To be honest, that makes things a whole lot easier when coming up with content.

For me, the toughest part about regular social media posting isn’t the writing, since posts can be so short. It’s generating all the ideas. When you’re writing a series of books, however, that can shape your whole focus. On the other hand, so can your latest book.

Did a character just surprise you? Drop a teaser about that, keeping it all mysterious, of course.

Working with a designer on a cover for the book you’re finishing up? That can lend itself to a bunch of posts. You can even involve your audience in the selection process, as one of my clients did.

Is your book or series based on a locale that’s similar to where you live? Take yourself on a walk and snap a ton of photos. Then run one at a time, with a sentence that relates to you or the book.

Did you just hear a colorful expression that you’re going to find a way to include in your novel? Share that.

Or perhaps you’ve just come up with an idea for the next book. Time for a not-too-subtle, but not-too-revealing hint.

It helps if you can create a social media posting schedule for yourself and stick to it. Here’s the one my Incubation Press associate, Keri-Rae Barnum, created for one of our clients who just published his third novel:

• Monday – Writing/Life update
• Wednesday – Book Meme
• Saturday – Beach or Coastal Picture
  

“You can post these the day of or use Meta Business Suite to schedule posts up to 30 days out,” Keri wrote in an email. Then she reminded him that since he wanted to gain more readers by advertising his series, pushing himself without delay on the social media front was a good idea. “We need these regular posts to help create the platform for Facebook ads, so the best time to start is now.”
Is that advice you need to heed?