Welcome to the final installment of our “Social Media Series.” To wrap up the series, we’ll focus on why social media matters!

We get a lot of authors that come to us with books already published, they’re ready to invest money on marketing, but they have no social media presence. Worst case scenario? They have the icons on their website that go nowhere, or they go somewhere, and it just isn’t pretty. The good news? It’s never too late, it really isn’t! But if you’ve lost steam or never garnered the steam you should have had in the first place, remove those icons from your website for the time being. It’s unprofessional and makes it look like you can’t see things through, which isn’t a quality you’d put on a business card, no matter you’re your genre.

As an author, as a business person (and they are the same thing!) social media is an all or nothing strategy. This doesn’t mean you need accounts on every social media platform, far from it! Just figure out which one makes sense for your interests, commitment level, and most importantly, your market. You can even take this great quiz we created to help you narrow this down.

But if you’re just ho-hum about social media, maybe you tried to start an account but then got frustrated and abandoned it, or you figured you start one “someday,” that’s fine – that’s your reality right now – but don’t shine a spotlight on it by advertising it on your website or blog.

We’re big fans of social media because it’s a fantastic way to show your fans and potential readers that you care about more than just selling them books. You want to engage them, entertain them, get to know them – and that personal connection has taken brands and products from “just okay” to “I’m telling all my friends!” faster than you can imagine.