"Authors, Don't Confuse Us!" Basic Marketing Tips for Your Brand

by Annie @JustReadTours

Hello! Annie here. As an avid reader, I also love to check out author websites, social media and book sites like Goodreads and BookBub for the latest reads from my favorite authors or publishers.  Though at times, I come away more confused than satisfied. Ever felt that way?

"If you're not confused, you're not paying attention."  - Tom Peters

Well, in that case, I'm paying attention. 😁 With JustRead Tours, we come across more specific areas that I'd like to share with authors here, particularly with an author's online presence.


Website
Authors themselves are their own brand. Therefore their website should reflect who they are, and what they want to present.

• Websites should be easy to navigate. Navigational menu short, sweet and to the point.
• Invest in getting your own domain. Preferably as your name such as http://authorname.com or .org or whatever works.  Another option is a tagline that associates with your brand. 
• Home page should be simple and to the point. If your home page directs to your blog, make sure it doesn't create more confusion with your content. 
• Don't over crowd your sidebar (if you're using a blog format). Create distinct segments.
• Make sure all your links work and direct to the correct web page you want to direct to.
• Include all your social media links using icons, and make them easy to find (top, side or footer of your website). 
• Be sure to only include the platforms you use for your brand (not personal accounts, especially if you have an author one).

Social Media
Social media platform is a crucial marketing tool for authors and publishers. However, done wrong, it can more often than not, confuse or turn readers off.

• Depending on the platform, separate personal and author accounts. 
• Create accounts on platforms you will be active in.  If possible, use the same username for each one. For example, @justreadtours is our username on all our social media platforms we have.
• Be active! 
• Make sure your author accounts are linked correctly on your website, newsletter, and even in the profile of other social media platform.
• Even if you do not have an account on one particular social media platform, the use of hashtag such as #authorname is sufficient if you or your readers are sharing something.

Goodreads, BookBub and Amazon
These three sites are important and essential for authors and publishers alike for different reasons, but definitely relative.

• Create an author profile if you don't already have one for each of these sites.
• Make sure you only have one author profile for each of these sites.
• Include your website link.
• Add the same short author bio for all three sites. 
• As to books, make sure there are no duplicate listings for the same book. (This concerns Goodreads particularly. One time, I found 4 listings for the same book!)
• Consistency is key. If you update or change something, specifically in the book blurb, make sure to update on all relevant sites, including these three, plus others like the publisher's book listing on their website, and your own website. 

"That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well." - Abraham Lincoln

That's it for now. I might make this into a series if you're interested, since I actually could've added more! 🤣  Let me know your thoughts in the comments, and if you're interested in entering the giveaway. 

Giveaway

JustRead Publicity Tours will be launching our Author Services this Fall, and to start it off, we're giving away an Author Media Review to one interested author! An Author Media Review is to review your current social media and website platforms to relation to your current book, and provide a written assessment for you to consider working on. To enter, just leave a comment on this post. 

Annie is an avid reader and former book blogger at Just Commonly. She is the co-owner of JustRead Publicity Tours, a full-service publicity tour company for published works in the inspirational and clean genres. She is also the co-founder of the Christian Fiction Readers Retreat.