Guest Post For Writers: Other Ways to Use Facebook, Pinterest, and LinkedIn by Toi Thomas

Posted August 11th, 2013 in Guest Post / 12 comments

Hey, Everyone! Today we have what I hope becomes a permanent fixture on my blog. Everyday I post something for those readers out there to enjoy, but I want to make sure to provide something interesting for writers too. So every two weeks I will have an author provide us with a guest post that helps those trying to become writers. There are so many topics to discuss, so stay tuned for some advice about writing, publishing, marketing, and social networking.

Today we have the amazing Toi Thomas, author of Eternal Curse: Giovanni’s Angel. She has some great tips for writers on virtual marketing and networking. Enjoy!

 
Other Ways to Use Facebook, Pinterest, and LinkedIn
By Toi Thomas


Reading is a wondrous adventure that has motivated countless individuals to pursue writing as a career and I’m one of those people. While writing is part of who I am; marketing is not. No one ever tells you as a little kid that you can be anything you want to be when you grow up, but you’ll have to learn and do a bunch of things you don’t like in the process. After three years of pursuing writing as a career, I’ve actually found a few ways to have fun doing marketing and branding.


I know it sounds cliché, but as a creative writer I’ve had to think “outside the box” in my marketing efforts in order to be efficient, effective, and not go crazy in the process. To say that the more exposure the better, would be an understatement, but coming off demanding, needy, and pushy won’t do a bit of good for your efforts.


That’s why I’ve started the little project of building my virtual portfolio. It’s not only fun, but it provides me with perspective on my efforts and their effectiveness, while also being a great tool that will stand the test of time…Enough with the vague speech, here’s what I’ve been doing.

1. Since Pinterest is a social sharing community based on first impressions and visual stimuli, I’ve decided to capitalize on that. No I am not spamming pictures of my book cover, my face, or my website logo. What I am doing is setting up pin boards of my blog activity, always being sure that they include relevant non-solely-self-promoting images. I have a board dedicated to all the books I’ve reviewed and I have a board dedicated to authors I’ve interviewed.

2. Facebook has its good points and bad points, but regardless it’s a social tool that can’t be ignored. What I find interesting is the fact that many people and authors share so much information that simply gets buried after a while in the timeline never to be seen again unless someone goes looking for it. While I try to utilize Notes as much as possible, the truth of the matter is, we live in a visual world and images and photos get the most traffic.

What’s so great about Facebook photos are the albums; they are easy ways to organize content that can be easily retrieved at any time. I post all by Facebook interviews as photos and keep them an Interview Photo Album. I find that many author pages don’t contain  much info about the author or their books, but on my  pages I have photo albums displaying my books with descriptions and links and I have albums focusing on my virtual and physical public appearances.

3. LinkedIn is a great way to connect and network, but outside of that what is it good for? Well that’s where I’ve housed my professional virtual portfolio. Because of LinkedIn’s professional and business based platform it’s the perfect place to conduct business and lend credibility. If I’m making a pitch or need to screen prospects, I’m using LinkedIn. While having a website and blog are invaluable, being able to send a booking agent to my profile page to see examples of my writing, blogging, author services, and speaking appearance all in one place, can’t be matched.

I know I’ve covered quite a bit here that some may still be trying to figure out, but I encourage you to check out some the ideas I’ve mentioned by visiting my links and applying these ideas to yourself. Happy Marketing to you!

Toi Thomas is an author and blogger who enjoys reading and promoting books and authors. To learn more about Toi Thomas and her works, please visit The Eternal Curse Series blog and eToiThomas.com.

Author Bio
A self-proclaimed techie and foodie, Toi Thomas was born in Texas, but considers Virginia to be home. Growing up in Dallas, Toi had a strong interest in reading fiction and loved to watch movies. Even today, many of Toi’s friends come to her for the answers to movie trivia. Working with computers and cooking lavish meals have become reoccurring pastimes for the Virginia Beach teacher’s assistant, but now Toi wants to entertain the world with the first installment of her new books series. She’s thrilled to take the world on a journey to discover the secrets of the Eternal Curse. #thetoiboxofwords #cursescanbebroken

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | LinkedIn | YouTube | Pinterest

Book Summary
A doctor in search of purpose and an outcast searching for acceptance, meet online and discover that they may be just what the other has been looking for. Mira’s believes in what she knows and Giovanni knows better than to think he truly knows anything. When Mira decides to meet Giovanni face to face, for the first time, at his secluded country home, their journey truly begins.

Goodreads | Facebook | Amazon

Guest Post

, , , , , , ,

Related Posts

12 Responses to “Guest Post For Writers: Other Ways to Use Facebook, Pinterest, and LinkedIn by Toi Thomas”

  4. Ashley Robertson

    Everyone is all over me to get a Pinterest account. I’ve been fighting it…just one more social media outlet to keep up with, but it seems to be too advantageous to ignore much longer. I see a lot of use during release parties where fans can pin characters, objects, houses, places, etc. that they envision from their experience reading the book. Thanks for the post Toi. Really great insight. And thanks Jen for having her on here. 🙂 ~AR

    Reply

Leave a Reply