3 tips to start building your author social media profile today

You’re busy, you’re in a hurry, you haven’t got time to constantly create social media content to build your author profile. I get it.

With that in mind, here are my top 3 tips to get you started today. 

If you do nothing else but these 3 things, I give you my word you’ll make progress building your social media profile quickly without spending hours on it each week.

None of these tips involve spending time creating loads of content to go viral. They’re tips to help you become more human online with your limited time and resources.

Step 1: Remember it isn’t all about your books

See how easy this is – my first step isn’t even a step, it’s a reminder. You don’t have to do anything but read it, absorb it and remember it. 

Your social media presence isn’t all about your books. In fact, very little of it is. If you are a one trick ‘please buy my book’ pony, fans and followers will understandably run a mile. 

Nobody wants to be sold to and marketed to all day everyday. They’ll vote with their ‘unfollow’ buttons or they won’t follow you at all.

Your books are part of you but not all of you. On social media, you need to be a rounded human being, just like in real life.

Step 2: Create a regular feature 

So, we’ve established that it’s not all about your books but that doesn’t mean you can’t talk about your writing or life as a writer.

The key here is to think of a theme and post something regular each week so your followers and fans come to know what to expect.

It doesn’t have to be earth shattering or time consuming. 

Some authors share images of the view from their writing window everyday and as a follower you get to see the seasons change through their window with them. 

Others share pictures from their daily walks as they plot their novels.

Many authors have families and day jobs, so your regular feature might not even be book related and that’s okay, too.

The point of this is to create something regular, something your fans and followers will come to recognise as one of your things.

I follow a poet who always posts a new poem on Twitter every tuesday. Someone else I follow shares photos of abandoned pieces of furniture on the streets of their hometown every Wednesday. 

Others (like me) share pictures from their morning dog walks.

The point is, find something (and it can be quite quick and simple) and be consistent about posting about that thing, week in week out. 

Give your fans and followers something related to your life that you are passionate about. Let them in a little bit… let them come to expect it.

Step 3: Follow and engage with others

Seems like a no brainer but you’d be surprised how many people think they’re doing the ‘engage with others’ part, when really, they aren’t, they’re just trying to get people to engage with them.

Engaging with others online isn’t posting a comment on other people’s posts with a link to your book (or some other obvious ‘look at me’ tactic). 

It’s about actually reading their posts and… you know… engaging with them.

Set yourself a small target or finding and following only 3-5 new people a week that seem interesting. These might be other authors, book bloggers or avid readers. 

The goal here isn’t quantity, it’s quality… actually read their social media posts and (if they interest you) comment and engage with them. 

If they don’t interest you, unfollow them – or better still, don’t follow them in the first place.

Support the people you follow when they need to get a message out by sharing and amplifying their content. 

This small weekly action isn’t hugely time consuming but over time it makes a massive difference. 

Before you know it, you’ll be engaging with a large number of people you’re actually interested in – and guess what, they’re much more likely to engage with you online and support you,  too. 

That’s it. If you do nothing else but these 3 things, within weeks, your social media profile will be vastly improved. Don’t believe me? Try it and find out.