VBTC Guest Blog with Janet McNulty - Sugar And Spice And Not So Nice

Today Janet is stopping in off the tour train to chat with us. Welcome Janet, we're happy to have you with us today.

How Has Social Media Helped You with Marketing?

You’ve written a book. Congratulations. You’ve published it. Great. Now what? Now is the time to market it. Most people stick with the traditional readings at bookstores, media advertisement, and press releases. They are all a good way to start, but one avenue of marketing that new authors forget about is social media.

Social media consists of social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Myspace. These areas are a great way to let people know about your published works. If you already have an account with any of these sites, great. If not, sign up. It’s free.

Social Media helps you build word of mouth with free advertising. To begin this process, friend people on these sites that are authors like you or like to read the genre that your book is in. Let them know you are published and provide a link to the product sales page. Doing this once or twice a month will help them remember that you are a published author and might entice some to check it out. However, refrain from over posting the link to your book’s product page because that creates the illusion that you are a spammer.

Social Media also allows you to build relationships with a potential audience. Relationship building is very important when you are a new author, especially if you are self-published. This is why I follow other authors on Twitter. I also follow anyone interested in the genre that I write in. Then I post about my favorite books, hobbies, where I am in my current writing project, giveaways, etc. Sometimes I even post dialogue from my characters or trivia about my books. This allows people to see me as another person just like them and it allows them to get to know me. I do the same thing on Youtube and Facebook.

This is how social media has helped me with marketing. Keep in mind, you won’t get instant results and your books sales won’t skyrocket right away. Building relationships is a time consuming process. But by connecting with others like yourself on the various social networks, it allows you to advertise yourself without investing a lot of money. Each day post one or two updates so as to stay active. Gradually, your list of followers will grow and some will even post to their followers / friends about your book.

Janet McNulty currently resides in West Virginia where she moved after receiving her B.A. in History. She lives with her three cats who keep her on task.

Ms. McNulty has also recently published a novel, Legends Lost: Amborese, under the pen name Nova Rose. She is currently working on the second novel in the series called Legends Lost Tesnayr, but also has another nonfiction book in the works, that is untitled at this point. 

Mellow Summers just wanted to go to college and get her film degree. She moved into a furnished apartment with her friend Jackie only to find that it already had a tenant: the ghost of a girl who was murdered a year earlier. Now it is up to Mellow to not only discover who the murderer is, but to prove it as well.

With the help of the ghost Rachel, Mellow sets out to solve the year old mystery. She soon finds out that she may have taken on more than she can handle. Pursued by someone who wants the identity of the killer to remain a secret, Mellow will have to use all her resources to outwit him and help the spirit of Rachel move on.

Teaser:

 "I groaned as I rolled over onto my side. I opened my eyes. Rachel stood over me. “Oh, no,” I said, “It wasn’t a dream?”"

“You didn’t tell me everything,” I accused. “You told me that you last saw Rachel at her apartment, but the truth is you went to the computer lab. Why didn’t you tell me?”"

"My name is Mellow Summers and I am twenty-six years old. I was never was one to believe in ghosts...That is not until I met Rachel."

Thank you for chatting with us today Janet! Your book sounds amazing! You can follow Janet's tour HERE