What to Post on Social Media?

Today I attended a webinar about social media. There were definitely two camps. There were people who post regularly and those who do not. The thing that surprised me most was that even some people who post regularly are often stymied about what to post. Instead of creating any kind of original content, they repost things that they like from other social media creators.

Don’t get me wrong. If you’re on Twitter, there is nothing wrong with retweeting content on a daily basis. After all, the more active you are, the higher your posts rise in the algorithm. But you should also be creating content of your own.

Not sure what to post? Check out this list of possibilities.

• Push your own books. I’m listing this one first not because it should be your focus but because I want to emphasize that this should be only a small part of your content. If you post about your own books more than once a week, that is too often. Don’t be that person who only talks about herself. Especially when there is so much more you could cover.
• Give an inside look at the creative life. This is different from pushing your books. Post about the writing process and what it’s like to research a new project. Talk about revising and submitting. Post about your home office or what its like to write on the road. Discuss where you get your ideas.
• Write about other people’s books. Just because you shouldn’t post about your own books daily, doesn’t mean that you can’t post about other people’s books. When I read a book and absolutely love it, I post about it. I recommend it. I explain who I see as the audience. I discuss what it helped me see about the writing process.
• Blog tours. In addition to posting about the books you find on your own, you can also take part in blog tours. Blog tours give you additional books to review. You also have opportunities for guest posts and interviews. Some blog tours will let you host a giveaway. Blog tours are also a great way to attract new readers.
• Book related humor. I’m always on the lookout for comics, humor and memes that have to do with books and reading, libraries and grammar. Anything that is book or literature adjacent is fair game.
• Quotes. When I find a book or reading-related quote that I love, I use photoshop to create a book badge. That’s an image with the text of the quote as well as the URL of my blog/site. That way if someone shares the badge, they also share my URL.
• Freebies. Create freebies for your fellow writers or your readers. Share these through social media and, again, be sure to include your URL or other identify info. These two are a great way to drive traffic back to you.
• Invite participation. You can also create posts that invite participation. Ask a question that people will be eager to answer. If you write for young readers, you might ask something about reading. “How old were you when you started reading independently?” “What was the first book you remember reading on your own?” You can also poll readers – which cover do they like best? Which photo should you use as your head shot? Which graphic do they like better for your site?

As you can see, there are a wide range of things that you can post about. Some will work better on your blog. Others will be best suited to Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. Repurposing material on multiple platforms is totally acceptable and a great way to get more mileage from your social media content, especially if you are going through the trouble to post about something other than your own books.

–SueBE