by Jackie Todd
There’s nothing scarier than showing vulnerability online. The fear of looking silly or “being cringe” is often so debilitating that it becomes impossible to show up online at all. But, in today’s social media age, more and more often we’re seeing literary agents signing authors with a social following. And, while a social media following is not an indicator of a book selling, from a publisher’s perspective it takes a great deal of risk away if there is already a warm audience with cash in hand.
Rather than seeing this as a scary thing, I implore you to see the positivity. When you build up your own social media platform, you are in control of the narrative. It gives you a direct path to talk to the people who are going to read (and love!) your book.
You may be thinking, “that’s all well and good, but how do I actually start?”
We as authors know how to structurally set up a novel and I’m happy to report that a strong social media page also has a structure, it just looks a little different…
Content Pillars: The Backbone of a Social Media Page
Content pillars are essentially “buckets” that all content on your page should fit into. We are all multi-faceted humans with many interests, but if we show too many of them it may be confusing to our audience. What we want to do is hone in on the most important aspects of our novel to make sure that we’re creating content that will draw in our target audience. I recommend selecting 3-4 content pillars that best represent you and your novel, and make sure that all of your content fits into at least one of the pillars.
Let’s use my WW1 historical romance novel as an example.
Pillar 1: History
More likely than not, if someone is picking up a WW1 novel they are going to be interested in history, so that is my first pillar. Content that might fit within that pillar could include historical facts, educational content, visiting historical locations, etc.
Pillar 2: Books
Obviously, the people buying my book will be readers, so I know that they are interested in books. I could make “books” my second pillar. This content could include reading updates, deep dives into books, highlighting my favourite bookshops, etc. I predominantly read historical fiction books, so the more I talk about this genre, the more readers I will draw in with the same preference for historical fiction (of which my future novel is a part of).
Pillar 3: Writing Journey
Viewers love a work in progress. We like seeing trials and tribulations, because it’s relatable and it makes us feel better about our own problems. Yes, you could wait to talk about your novel until it’s pretty and polished, but it’s much more interesting to viewers if you pull back the curtain and let them in on your process. This will drum up excitement before the novel even releases. Content in this pillar could include your writing process, writing tips, character reveals, fan art, etc.
If you’re anything like me, the last thing you’re doing while writing is thinking about setting up a camera to record your process. That’s where I found the Writers’ Cabin to be extremely useful.
Nestled into the gorgeous Welsh countryside, the cabin is perfectly situated on a hill with a view of the valley below. From a rocking chair on the front porch to a cosy writing desk lit by oodles of natural light, there are so many great locations to capture content. The decor is filled with charm in every corner, and I didn’t have to think about cleaning up before taking photos (which inevitably happens when I try to create content at home). I was able to spend a bit of time snapping photos and videos of me writing, and then I was then free to spend the rest of the day actually writing, knowing that I had a bank of content to post in the future to satisfy Pillar 3.
You don’t need a fancy setup – I just used my iPhone and a £15 tripod I found on Amazon. That’s what’s so great about the Writers’ Cabin – it’s naturally beautiful, so it takes half the work away in capturing good content.
Extra Tip: Assign percentages to your content pillars so that you know how much of each topic will show up on your page. If your book isn’t releasing for a while you might want to have Pillar 3 take up only 20% of your content, but that might increase as you get closer to the release of your book.
Everything on social media is a story. The story of you writing a novel is also a story (and one that a lot of people would be interested to see!). There is an awful lot more to social media than can fit in one blog post, but hopefully this gives you a starting point to build your page so that when your novel releases into the world it will be absolutely flying off the shelves!
Curious to experience the Writers’ Cabin first hand? Book your next writer’s retreat here.
