How To Use Social Media: An Author's Perspective

As an author I am always trying to find new ways to connect with readers and other writers. Social media has been a godsend for those of us in the book-making community, much as it has been for the rest of the business world.

The obvious benefits of social media for an author are:

• Relationship building
• Free advertising
• A World Without Borders
• Unlimited access to going through the same trials and tribulations

I have often linked posts to my Facebook or Twitter accounts because those seemed, to me, to have the most recognizable benefits from an advertising perspective. What many writers, and business people in general, fail to recognize is that the best form of advertising is relationship building, connecting with your audience, and actually getting to know one another.

When your audience cares about you, who you are as a person, they are much more likely to be interested in whatever it is you do - and if you are a writer - they will be that much more interested in your novel and that much more likely to pick it up or purchase it.

To that end, Instagram and Snapchat are perfect windows into your life.  They say a picture tells a thousand words.  So from that logic one photo on these accounts is saying about 8 times as much as a Twitter character count. While Facebook allows users to share posts up to 63,206 characters, most of that will be hidden unless you click to open more, and let us be honest, with Facebook's terrible algorithms there is a good chance that most of your audience will never see it anyway. One way to increase the amount of people who might be able to see it?

Include a picture.

So, if pictures are still king when it comes to communicating, Instagram and Snapchat should be leveraged. I know, I know: 

But I am a writer - how do words apply for a person like me? 

Listen up you clod.

You can take pictures of your words.  Or books.  There are entire communities of people on Instagram that search for pictures of words, poetry, quotes, books.  These communities are using relevant hashtags in order to find the items they want, hashtags like (and I didn't use commas so you can cut and paste these hashtags for writing and reading straight into your posts): 

#writers #readers #bookstagram #writerscommunity #poets #quoteoftheday #writersofig #poetsofig #igreads #poetrycommunity #author #poem #qotd #prose #booklove #yalit #booknerd #wordporn

That is just a few! Also, they are the most popular hashtags for writers and the most popular hashtags for readers. For an example check this out at my Instagram:

I literally wrote something I thought up, on a coffee stained napkin.  No one cares.  They care about the words.  Those are the type of people you want to attract, become friends with, and ultimatly -hopefully - convert to readers.

Now Snapchat is a little more difficult.  This community is developed purely by people who are interested in looking into your life.  My best advice for this is the following:

• Be yourself
• Do not be all business, let them see your day to day
• Use the video feature, people want to hear your voice
• Do NOT make massive stories.  People will get bored (no one's life is that interesting that we need a 100-photo flip book). Or worse, people will unfollow -which in case you missed the point of this blog, is completely counterproductive. Five photos and videos a day should be your max.

What is great about this forum is that Snapchat has enabled users to simply scan a user's photo in order to add them.  My Snapchat @ndenmon looks like this (sorry for the growl I was pretending to be Sirius Black from Harry Potter when he was in the newspaper as a wanted murder:

Nicholas Denmon

So add me and let's get to knowing each other!

Oh, and in case you were wondering what Sirius Black looked like - it was this photo from the movie. Let me know what you think of my impression - but only let me know by Snap-chatting me. See what I did there?

Sirius Black:

TTFN Denmonites!

-ND

Giveaway Time - Indie Blog Hop

Every now and again a few of us author types like to do something strange like give away our hard work for free. This is one of those times. In the name of celebrating the independent author and those who support the independent voices of literature we are giving away a bunch of novels written by those types.

We have allindieebooks.blogspot.com to thank for arranging this awesome giveaway!

For other blogs hosting giveaways click HERE.

If you comment on this blog or any of the blogs in that list you are entered in the giveaway. The more comments you leave the more entries you get!

The books being given away are of course, For Nothing by me and then these four as well:

Allie Burke- Violet Midnight

M.E. Franco- Where Will You Run

Thomas Amos- An Apple For Zoe

Mireille Chester - The Chosen One Trilogy (three books)

Top 5 Worst Fears

People are scared of all sorts of things but only a select few have the notorious distinction of making the top 5 all time greatest or most common fears list.  I'll post those five but then I will post my personal top 5 fears.  It will be interesting, to me at least, to see where there is overlap.

1) Fear of Flying

Yikes.  This picture can't be real...

2) Fear of Public Speaking

Imagining the audience in their undies is supposed to work....

...what if it just turns you on?

3)  Fear of Heights 

I imagine this goes hand in hand with the fear of flying.  I am pretty sure

no one is afraid to fly...just the possibility of falling from such a height.

4) Fear of the Dark

I would never admit that...

5)  Fear of Intimacy 

I figured this would be more Freudian and on the subconscious 

level versus an actual fear that could be listed...

The rest of the top ten are rounded out with (in order): Death, Failure, Rejection, Spiders and Commitment.  Some of the top ten seem to be very similar to me such as Rejection is usually a type of Failure, or at least is associated in the minds of those that fear one or the other.  Commitment and Intimacy go hand in hand if you ask me.  I have only two or maybe two and a half fears that match up with the top ten.  But later this week I will share my personal top 5 for your amusement.

I will give you a hint as to one of my fears, and it involves a red nose.  It is not Rudolph nor is it an alcoholic, though both of those might throw me for a loop if I was caught off guard.  Could you imagine running into a drunkard riding on the back of an actual flying reindeer in the middle of an alley at midnight?  

No thanks.

Halloween Update and Script Update for For Nothing

Hope you all had a great weekend.  Mine was relatively relaxing and I was able to write a bit so that was nice.  Weekends can sometimes get away from me because the family expects me to crawl out from under my rock every now and then to visit with them, but this was a kindly weekend and fortunately I was able to accomplish both my familial responsibilities as well as my professional goals.

I just have a few quick updates on this manic Monday...(pause for the 1980's flashback brought to you courtesy of the Bangles).

Update Uno:

The second installment of my Halloween Special Dark Places will post this week, most likely on Wednesday so keep an eye out.  I love the feedback so far, and thus the story weaving continues!

Update B (yes I know it is not 2, have a sense of humor!):

The screenplay being written by Welsh Lord, Thomas Humphreys is making serious progress.  In fact, he has decided to grace us with a snippet of the work in progress. So without further ado, please read on:

Catch up with writer Thomas Humphreys on Twitter @Mr_Frodo_Esq

Back To Books Blog Hop WINNERS

First, thanks to everyone who stopped by my blog and entered this contest. It has been so fun to see your comments pouring in, even if it was "Just Business". It is great to see so many avid readers out there and even better when a few of you guys are willing to take a chance on a debut novel.

...even if it IS free...

Since I hate speeches, let us jump into the winners of this wonderful contest!

As promised, I am giving away three ebooks!

The winners of an ebook copy of For Nothing, America's #1 Crime Thriller (by Nicholas Denmon) are...

Darlene of Darlene's Book Nook

Tina of Tinaburiedunderbooks

and...

Carmee ... just Carmee...

Now Darlene and Tina you provided an email address and I will email you to see the best way to get these ebooks to you. Carmee - you did NOT leave an email address so I will need you to email me at nicholasdenmon08 at gmail dot com. You have 24 hours to get back to me or I will select a new winner! :) SO HURRY!!!

And now... The Moment you have ALL been waiting Forrrrrr......

The Winner of the Grand Prize!!! The Winner of a SIGNED copy of For Nothing, one of America's best fiction novels (by Nicholas Denmon)is...

BJ of @beejee77 via Twitter!! Congrats! I will email you promptly to discern the best way to have your copy delivered!

For everyone else who entered, remember I hold these contest about once a month so don't lose heart! Your free copy might be just around the corner... of course, you could just buy the book and support my pizza habit.

Now this is how you pump iron!

Well I put the challenge out there to my lovely fans (really just friends and family more likely than not) to help me reach 400 'LIKES" on Facebook.

The terms?

A signed copy of For Nothing mailed out by your favorite author (better be me) to a random fan who liked my page during that run to 400.

Who won?   I knew you would ask.  Stay tuned for the answer later tonight.

In writing news, I am trying to hit 25,000 words tonight on For Nothing's sequel.  Buffalo Soldiers is scheduled to go out October 15th and I need to really focus like a laser beam on that deadline.

In personal news, my brother and I are doing this diet workout thing that sucks.  My dinner tonight is a fruit smoothie and starting on Monday we will be waking up three days a week at 5:30 am to workout before our day jobs.

Crap.  Whose idea was this anyway??

I suppose it's okay though because we might eventually look like this guy and have the same ...er... feelings... towards the effects.

 

It's funny I suppose but when I work out I always take it to another level.  Apparently I can't do anything half way.  This is a home video of me teaching Chris how to properly train:

ENJOY!!!

Interview With Allie Burke Books

Please check out the most recent interview regarding For Nothing with Allie Burke Books. 


The link is here and let me say what a good time it was! 


‎"I am a firm believer that there is rarely a straight line between good and evil." -Nicholas Denmon

[EXCERPT]



For the Loves' first Author Interview, EVER, and I have the pleasure of spending the day with Author of the amazing mafia crime thriller For Nothing. Do join us as Denmon talks about his widely acclaimed novel, of putting himself in "the shoes of a killer", and much, much more.


READ ON!