Choosing a Site to Start - video

Rusty Shelton, President and CEO of author publicity firm Shelton Interactive, recommends that authors begin their social media marketing on sites other than Facebook. He advises authors to start with a website or blog, in order to gain name recognition by marketing through other outlets like Pinterest. Shelton says that using Facebook to market a debut book isn't the best marketing tactic because people aren't looking to find new brands or make new relationships on Facebook. Therefore, an author Facebook account isn't a great way to build awareness. Authors need to do other things to drive interest in their book.
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  • Thanks so much for your video. I really enjoyed it and it made me realize that the way I was thinking was correct. I do have a blog I haven’t been consistently writing on my blog. I have been trying to complete my manuscript so I could send it to my publisher to have it copy edited and line edited. After listening to your video I’m going to get busy with my blog again because I am a new writer without name recognition at this point. Thank you so much for your insight.

  • Thanks, Gypsy Spirit. Your help is priceless. You seem quite knowledgeable. I am excited and having a good time. I appreciate all of your information. Thanks so much, again.
  • Former Member
    Former Member
    Hi Anne - congratulations on your forthcoming book! There is lots of information here on ALC about marketing, including info on using Facebook. You can search on terms like Facebook, twitter, social media, publicity, PR, etc... to find content on specific topics. But you can also use the book launch tool to walk you through the marketing phase of your project. This tool is available from your Author’s Space. Click the BOOKS tab at the top of the page. Start a new book and you’ll see three tabs full of common writing, publishing, and marketing tasks. You can jump right to the Marketing tab. Each task has associated content to help you with completing that step. You can also customize the task lists by adding notes, re-arranging the tasks (click, drag, and drop a task), or deleting those that aren’t part of your personal process. You can even add your own custom tasks. Next to each task you’ll see a slide bar that you can use to indicate your status each task. Doing so posts updates about your status to the COMMUNITY tab. Be sure to go to the Community tab and invite up to 7 people to the author circle for your book. Your circle is the group of people you’ll go to for advice and feedback, and who will be your biggest supporters. Each book project you start has its own task list and author’s circle.
  • I am a first-time writer. I need help in marketing my first book, "As The Scarlet Tanager Sings." My book is about my life story of facing three life-threatening illnesses in a short time and discovering myself in the process. It will come out in August with AuthorHouse Publishers. Can you please tell me where to start? Also, I need help marketing the book on facebook. Any help you can give I would greatly appreciate.