"Social Media and Promoting One’s Book," by R. Barri Flowers

Once upon a time book promotion was left entirely to the publisher and it’s marketing department, with authors left mainly to promote their books through word of mouth and book signings, if there were any at all.

Spring forward to today and the entire landscape has change, thanks to the Internet and social media. With so many books coming out through various formats, including print, eBook, audio, commercial, self-published, etc., the competition is fiercer that ever.

Consequently, promoting your book is now more important than even. Bringing your title(s), brand, reviews, events, etc. to the attention of book buyers is imperative these days, to give yourself a fighting chance to be noticed and separate favorably from the pack.

There are many ways to promote your book, off line and on, but perhaps the most cost effective and relevant way to promote your new release (or even previously published books) is through social media. This pertains to virtual networks and communities that allow one to produce, disseminate, and engage with others on the Internet.

Some of the most popular social media sites include Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, Goggle+, and MySpace. Blogs and Internet forums are other examples of social networking that can be leveraged by writers in publicizing their works.

In many instances, it costs only the time it takes to move forward and promote yourself and books. In others, the end can more than justify the means.

Using Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and YouTube, in particular, in your promotional efforts are a virtual must for any writer serious about promoting your novel or nonfiction book.

Let’s talk about each briefly.

Twitter seems to be everyone’s favorite social network these days. It allows its users to ”tweet” messages of up to 140 characters and use popular hashtags, such as # and @ to build a following, be located, promote your books, and more. You can also repost messages to your followers and they can retweet to their followers. Forces you to promote with brevity , which is a good habit to have anyway as a writer.

Facebook is arguably just as popular among users as a social networking service, where you can acquire “friends,” “like,” build a fan club, create a profile, exchange messages, and more. All these avenues provide excellent means for promoting yourself and your books, with a huge potential audience of friends and followers. 

Pinterest is a photo-sharing site growing in popularity. Fashioned as a virtual pin board, writers can promote their books through the covers and include synopses, reviews, links to buy, etc. Authors can and should also promote themselves through photographs, pics of hobbies, places you like to travel, and anything related to you and your writings. An ideal social media website to build a following while discovering other you may wish to follow.

LinkedIn is a popular social networking site for promoting your profession. As an author, you can establish a profile, promote your books, build a list of connections, accept invitations to join others professional networks, join groups in which you share interests, and more. It’s a great site for building bridges amongst your peers and making important connections to further your goals as a writer.

YouTube is the most popular a video sharing site, where you can upload and share videos, create your own channel, develop playlists, and more. An excellent website for promoting book trailers, videos about yourself, and otherwise providing information that can lead users to your books, website, and other social networking sites where you have a presence.

Having social media as a big part of your promotional campaign for previous, present, and future books should be as important to every as writing the books.

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About Before He Kills Again: A Veronica Vasquez Thriller

From R. Barri Flowers, award winning crime writer and international bestselling author of Dark Streets of Whitechapel and Killer in The Woods, comes a gripping new psychological thriller, Before He Kills Again: A Veronica Vasquez Thriller.

FBI psychologist and criminal profiler Veronica Vasquez returns to her hometown of Portland, Oregon to assist police in apprehending a ruthless serial killer dubbed “The Rose Killer,” who kills beautiful women in pairs, leaving a rose on top of each corpse.

Heading the investigation is homicide Detective Sergeant Bryan Waldicott. Veronica must win him over, along with the entire task force, and prove herself worthy of the job. Since losing her husband three years ago, Veronica had been focused on her work to escape the pain of loneliness and separation. A romance with Waldicott, who has issues of his own, complicates things for them both as they try to stop a serial murderer before he kills again.

When she begins to suspect that the new husband of her estranged sister Alexandra could be the killer, Veronica pursues that delicate angle and, in the process, becomes a target herself.

Before He Kills Again is tense thriller that will keep readers on edge till the very end.

Amazon Trade Paperback / Kindle /Kindle UK / Kindle CA / Barnes and Noble Nook eBook / Smashwords / Kobo

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R. Barri Flowers is an award winning criminologist and internationally bestselling author of more than sixty books--including thriller and suspense fiction, relationship fiction, young adult mysteries, true crime, and criminology titles.

Bestselling mystery and thriller fiction, including SEDUCED TO KILL IN KAUAI, MURDER IN MAUI, MURDER IN HONOLULU, KILLER IN THE WOODS, DARK STREETS OF WHITECHAPEL, STATE'S EVIDENCE, PERSUASIVE EVIDENCE, and JUSTICE SERVED.

Other novels by the author include the bestselling relationship novel, FOREVER SWEETHEARTS, and young adult novels, COUNT DRACULA’S TEENAGE DAUGHTER, GHOST GIRL IN SHADOW BAY, and DANGER IN TIME.

Flowers has also written a number of bestselling true crime books, including THE SEX SLAVE MURDERS, THE PICKAXE KILLERS, SERIAL KILLER COUPLES and MASS MURDER IN THE SKY. He was editor as well of the bestselling anthology, MASTERS OF TRUE CRIME.

The author has been interviewed on the Biography Channel and Investigation Discovery.

Follow R. Barri Flowers on Twitter (R@BarriFlowers), Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, Goodreads, LibraryThing, MySpace, and www.rbarriflowers.com.