This is Novel Marketing, the longest-running book marketing podcast in the world. This is the show for writers who want to build their platform, sell more books, and change the world with writing worth talking about.
 
I’m your host, Thomas Umstattd Jr., and today we are going to talk about social media. We often say if you are going to do social media (which is totally optional for a successful career by the way), pick one or perhaps two social networks maximum.
 
I’ve realized that the advice has never gone beyond that. We haven’t offered any specific advice on the differences between the various networks.
 
In this episode, I am going to talk about the social networks from a cultural perspective. From a feature perspective they are mostly the same. You can send private messages to just one person, post photos, post videos, post text, etc. What really makes these networks different is who uses the networks and what kind of authors thrive in that environment.
 
Saying a certain kind of author thrives in a certain social network is like saying palm trees thrive on tropical islands. It is possible to get palm trees to grow all over the world but the farther you get from that tropical environment, the more work it takes to get the tree to grow. Could you get a palm tree to grow in Norway? Probably but it would cost a fortune in both time and treasure. That same palm tree would grow like a weed in Barbados.
 
So with that said, I am about to hit you with some overgeneralizations. Are there exceptions? Yes! But that’s not the point.
 
The goal of this episode is to help you understand the difference between the various social networks.
 
Authors Who Thrive on Instagram are Beautiful Photographers
Why?
 
Instagram is a selfie-driven medium. The better you look in the selfie, the easier it will be to get followers.
 
There is a reason fashion models and celebrities do so well on instagram.
 
Instagram is a real-time celebration of the current cultural definition of beauty.
 
Instagram is also a celebration of excellent photography.
 
Instagram started off as a place to use filters to make mediocre photos look better.
 
Each year, people use fewer filters and rely more on excellent photographic technique.
 
My beautiful wife has taken a photography class and is amazing at instagram.
 
Authors Who Thrive on Twitter are Pithy Snarks
Each year Twitter gets snarkier. It is a social network that thrives on outrage.
 
The Twitter mob demands a weekly celebrity sacrifice.
 
Having clear enemies helps draw followers.
 
Success at Twitter requires knowing how to keep the conversation on Twitter, which requires a level of brevity unique to Twitter.
 
Being pithy and snarky can operate independently. There are authors who are able to thrive just by being pithy and others who can post successful rambling snark fests.
 
Authors Who Thrive on Facebook are Rich Advertisers
Facebook no longer allows you to reliably communicate with your fans without paying for it.
 
If you pay, you can talk to other people’s fans too.
 
If you spend effort building a following on Facebook, you are building a platform for other authors to advertise to.
 
As an advertiser, you can target the fans of similar authors.
 
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Facebook Groups still work for organizing launch teams and they can still work for communities (like the group for liste...