How To Implement Social PR

In our previous author resources post we discussed Social PR. A strategy that has helped authors to generate large amounts of sales rapidly. It has very quickly become our most popular piece to date. It was so popular in fact that our founder was asked to write a more detailed piece for The Guardian. It should be appearing this week in the Small Business Network section.

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Therefore we have put together an exclusive piece for all those on our mailing list. Please do share this piece with other authors, publishers or literary agents. If they sign up we can give them access.

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So How Can You Implement Social PR?

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STEP 1 - Plan - The process begins by first focusing on your own book and goals. Let's say you have a roman historical fiction novel. Your target audience are readers interested in roman history and historical fiction. Chances are you already have a great idea of where your ideal readers spend time online. You probably spend time on many of the same outlets. Make a list of social media outlets that fit with your audience. Aim for the big ones.

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If you don't already have a list, start by using Twitter Search. Find some relevant accounts and then look at who they follow. Also take a look at the lists they have created. Some may prove very useful in finding more relevant accounts. The same process works for Facebook. Look at other accounts they interact with. See which pages the page you are viewing has liked.

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STEP 2 - Reach Out - Now the hard part begins. You need to grab their attention. There are some questions you must keep in mind when approaching influential accounts.

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• Why do they run the account? Is it business or pleasure?
• What do their audience want?
• What does their audience find valuable?
• What type of content have they posted in the past?
• Why will their audience love your book?

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Remember they get approached a lot so don't waste their time. Do your homework and always flatter them. Keep your email, Facebook message or tweet right to the point.

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STEP 3 - Negotiating - Once you have their attention it helps to have something you can offer them in return. Promotion through your social channels for a post they put out recently or something they are looking to augment exposure of. If you can't offer that then all is not lost. It just means you have to focus twice as hard on the content and supplying them with something their audience will love and they want to share.

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STEP 4 - It's Not About You - Keep the focus on them and the benefit they will see from sharing details about your book with their following. Reviews are really going to help here. If you can show your book has excellent recommendations they will be keen to gain social recognition for sharing something popular.

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Our original post on Social PR and why it is important can be found here.

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Please do tweet us with your thoughts and views @PublishingPush.

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If you have any questions, please contact us.

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MORE AUTHOR RESOURCES.

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