I attended a Serious Writer’s retreat two weeks ago with speakers Cyle Young and Michelle Medlock Adams. It was chockful of helpful information.  I want to share with you a few tidbits I learned over the next few posts. Today I’ll mention social media and genre. Deciding which social media platforms to be on is so confusion. Someone will say all of them, while others say pick one and do it well. I learned a few tips to help me focus. Genre and your target audience play a big part.

LinkedIn is for those looking for freelance work. Many corporations have websites and need bloggers. There are people looking for ghost writers and you can find experts on subjects for any article assignments you may have. If you write fiction it’s a good place to get writing assignments that pay well to supplement your income.

Facebook If you write women’s fiction, children’s books and even things that appeal to men focus your time here. Statistically, women buy the most books. Moms and grandmothers buy the majority of books for children through middle school.  They not only buy for their children, grandchildren but their husbands as well.  Non-fiction books on a variety of subjects can be promoted here too. For the same reason, women make most book purchases. You want to be where people are more likely to spend money.

Twitter is considered the best place to meet editors, publishers and other authors. Also, if this is your favorite social media and you have lots of followers, this can work for promoting your books. I’ve heard of authors selling a large quantity of books by having a large twitter following.

Instagram is for YA authors because young people aren’t on Facebook, they consider it their parent’s social media.  YA readers are active on this site. YA authors have a better chance to find followers and promote their books on Instagram. Don’t forget Instagram is a picture, video driven media. Memes are big on this platform. There are tutorials with tips to promote on this media. Google them.

Pinterest is a great place to promote cookbooks, craft books and any do-it-yourself books. How many cool ideas have you found when you’re remodeling or searching for a new recipe? This leads to sales as you offer fun pics and videos around your books.  Building character boards for your fiction is a nice way to introduce your book to the world. You can link to your sales platform. It’s a nice addition for fiction, but it’s not the premiere spot for sales.

Not everyone will agree with these suggestions because you may have found your sales niche in a platform other than those recommend above for your genre. These guidelines will help you not waste time on media that won’t find the audience you need.  The larger your followers, the larger your platform for sales.

Remember the 1 in 6 rule. Post one buy my book post for every six posts on social media. The other five should be memes, photos and stuff that interest you even other authors books. Then you are not beating your followers to death with a sales pitch.

Hope you found these tips helpful.

What social media has worked best for you?