What's your story? by Annmarie Miles

This week I’ve been on two different social media courses. Pinterest and LinkedIn. These are two very different platforms but a similar message came from both training courses.

Tell your story. 

The wisdom is, if you use social media, you should make sure that who you are and what your ‘product’ can do for others should be in your bio. The bio section in your social media profile is extremely powerful. It’s helpful for the readers to get a full picture of who you are, but not only that; a well crafted bio also helps the algorithm show your profile to the right people. 

Think of your ideal reader. The person you wrote your book for. If they are searching the internet for a new read, what would they type into the big G? 

Cozy mystery, Christian, comedy, crime, romance, historical, devotional, fantasy? 

If you are trying to sell your books online, you should make sure your genre is in your bio. If your bio says, ‘I’m a Christian who writes, and loves cats,’ the algorithm is as likely to show your profile to moggy loving Methodists as religious readers of romance. 

The basic business recommendation is that your bio says, 

I am... I do ...... for..... so they can.... 

I think this could work for writers. What does your book do for people? Entertain, educate, bless, encourage, make readers laugh, strengthen faith, comfort, restore? If you use social media to sell books, make sure your story, who you are, why you write what you write, is in your bio. 

If you are looking for more social media and book marketing tips, ACW are running some online workshops in February. There's also a poetry workshop coming too. Go to the events page of the ACW website for full information and to book in. 

Are you happy with you social media bio? What does it say about you?

Annmarie Miles is from Dublin, Ireland.
She lives with her husband Richard who is a pastor in the Eastern Valley of Gwent, in South Wales.
She writes short stories, magazine articles, devotional pieces for Christian radio, and blogs about her faith at www.auntyamo.com She is a lover of all things social media and offers help, in the guise of Sunflower Tech Wales to beginners who want to get started. You can find out about her fiction and her podcast, Words, Wobbles and Wisdom, here. You'll find her on social media @amowriting