Who are the people who can help you sell more books?

I thought about this after an article source mentioned that his company had acquired a firm that specializes in connecting brands with “influencers” — influential social media personalities.

The companies or brands pay social media influencers to showcase their products to followers. They also advertise on influencer blogs and pay bloggers to write “sponsored” posts about the brand and its products or services, too.

There has to be transparency, of course — the FTC requires influencers to state that they’ve been paid to try and/or write about the brands.

Ethics obligate influencers to disclose their brand relationships, but so do their relationships with their followers. They know that fans count on them to provide information they can trust.

The author connection

What does this have to do with authors?

It illustrates how important key influencers are to good marketing. And good marketing is the difference between a good book that sells and a good book that doesn’t.

Plus, if the big consumer brands are connecting with their audience’s influencers in ways that help them sell more products, shouldn’t you be doing it, too?

The most important reason to identify your reader infuencers, though, is to solicit endorsements. It doesn’t cost you anything, and endorsements carry weight.

Reader influencers play a role with your audience

An influencer is someone who is both active online and respected and followed by your target audience.

“Key” refers to the influential people at the very top of your list. They’re the reader influencers who have the most clout and audience respect.

To find your key influencers, you have to be clear on your target audience. It’s essential that you know who is most likely to buy your book. (For more on that, read “The powerful and effective formula for more book sales.“)

When you know your target audience, you can figure out who they listen to and respect.

Fiction vs. nonfiction reader influencers

People who influence fiction readers are usually different from those who influence nonfiction readers.

Novelists, start with the most popular authors in your genre.

A historical romance author, for example, might include Diana Gabaldon and Beverly Jenkins on their list of key influencers.

A novelist’s list might also include BookTokers, BookTubers, genre bloggers, prolific genre readers, and any well-known genre publishing house editors.

Add lesser-known influencers in those categories, too. They are going to be more accessible than those at the top. (But I believe in starting at the top and working my way down.)

Nonfiction influencers are usually industry or topic experts and leaders.

A cookbook author’s target audience can be influenced by any high-profile food personalities, including TikTok chefs and popular Food Network show hosts.

Successful serial entrepreneurs and technology startup founders probably influence the audience for an entrepreneurship book.

How to find your reader influencers

The question for many authors is “How do I figure out who influences my readers?”

You might know the answer already without realizing it: Who influences you?

• If you write fiction, you’re probably influenced by certain novelists or recognize the names of up and comers. Start there.
• If you write nonfiction, who are the topic experts you’re following already?

Expand your search from there.

Tools to help you find influencers

Whether you have a list of influencers already or not, a handful of tools can help you expand your search.

Social media

Use hashtags on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter to find people posting about what you write about. Check follower counts and engagement. Who’s the most popular?

Google

Type what you you’re looking for into the search box; dig into the results.

LinkedIn and Facebook groups

Both social networks offer groups for a wide range of topics. Group founders, leaders, or administrators are often experts on the topic being discussed.

In addition, many group members are also influential experts.

Trade association officers and leaders

Trade and industry association officers and committee chairs — such as the board of directors of the Romance Writers of America — are usually widely respected in their fields.

Conference speakers

This is a great way to identify influencers on their way up. Study the speaker line-up for conferences you’d consider attending if you could.

Followerwonk

Follwerwonk is a multi-layered social media management tool. The free version lets you schedule content across multiple social media platforms.

But the power is in the paid version. Identify potential influencers with the profile search function, which lets you find people through bio keyword searches.

Subscribe for one month for $15 to get everything you need, then cancel. (Or, get hooked on Followerwonk’s analytics and stick around!)

What do you do with your reader influencer list?

Once you’ve created your influencer list, become known to the people on it. Get on their radar.

It’s a slow, subtle, process.

But it’s a simple and easy one:

• Follow them on social media.
• Share their content.
• Comment on their content.

When commenting, be sure to say something that adds to the conversation. There’s nothing wrong with “Nice post,” or “Good point,” but both are generic comments that won’t help you stand out.

And your goal is to stand out in a good way. When you stand out, you get noticed.

The big ask

When your key influencers know who you are, you can ask for their support.

Ask them to “blurb” your book. A blurb — testimonial or endorsement — from a key reader influencer tells readers that your book has been expert- and authority-tested and approved.

If you haven’t done this before and appreciate step-by-step instructions and templates, get my multi-media training program. “Blurbs, Endorsements, and Testimonials: How to Get Experts, Authorities, Celebrities, and Others to Endorse Your Book” has everything you need to know to reach the right people with the right message.

Alternatively, work toward the kind of word-of-mouth recommendation that can help sell books. Send your book with a personal note that suggests that their followers will be interested in it with a brief explanation of why.

If they oblige, be sure to extend the impact by resharing what they’ve posted with your followers.

Got a big marketing budget along with an audience that pays attention to social media influencers? Explore a paid relationship with a less-popular influencer who might be willing to talk up your book for a fee (and disclose that it’s a paid post, of course).

Don’t skip this step

Whether you ask anything of influencers or not, you need to be familiar with the most influential people in your niche, genre, or category. When you don’t…and that becomes clear…readers won’t have faith in your ability to meet their standards.

via GIPHY

You can’t give readers what they expect when you’re so out of touch that you don’t know who represents the best in your genre.

Make connections that are important to your career and build trust with your readers by identifying and connecting with key reader influencers. It’s easy…and it’s free.

Start thinking about your influencers today — now. Who is one of them? Tell us who it is and why in a comment below. 

Editor’s note: This article was first published in February 2017. It has been updated and expanded.)

TikTok is a social media platform for creating and sharing short videos. BookTok is a TikTok subculture for books and readers. Book lovers create opinionated and entertaining video book reviews, sharing them with the #BookTok hashtag so readers can find them.

BookTok for book marketing is big – but will it help you?

Who’s on TikTok?

Before adding TikTok’s BookTok to your book marketing plan, you need to know if your ideal readers are active on that social network.

TikTok is popular primarily with Gen Z (24 and younger); they make up 41% of its users. That means that 59% of the app’s users are millennials, Gen X, and baby boomers.

Only 2 percent of boomers report using TikTok, though, so if that’s who you write for, don’t spend time figuring out how to use BookTok for book marketing. Put your social media time into Facebook, the most popular social network for that age group.

(Remember this when you continue to see articles and other commentary about how authors must be using TikTok and BookTok for book marketing.)

If you write for a young adult audience, you need to master this social network. Your readers are waiting for you there.

The press is buzzing about BookTok

What else do you need to know about BookTok on TikTok? Here’s a roundup of what publications are saying about the trend and why it’s important to authors.

“TikTok for Viral Book Marketing,” Publishers Weekly

This guest commentary was written by a co-founder of Big Black Chapters, a marketing resource for indie authors of color. Scroll down to the “TikTok’s online book community” subhead and read from there to learn why it’s important and get tips for using it.

“TikTok is driving book sales. Here are some titles #BookTok recommends,” NPR

This excellent overview of the types of book videos shared on TikTok points out that it’s word-of-mouth marketing at its best. We all want to write books that are so good that others do the marketing for us.

Worth noting: BookTok is turning older books (“backlist titles” in publishing parlance) into best-sellers. Remember, though, that TikTok reviewers have to discover your books before they rave about them.

“The rise of BookTok: meet the teen influencers pushing books up the charts,” The Guardian

Watch the BookTok videos in this article to get a sense of what these book lovers are creating and sharing. (If you’re like me, you might get a few ideas for what to read next, too.)

“BookTok has passion—and enormous marketing power,” The Economist 

Not convinced yet? In this article, one publisher describes BookTok as an “absolute phenomenon.” The writer points out that many of the reviews are so emotional that they might make “fogeyish literary types” roll their eyes.

Some of us might see that as a good thing.

“How Crying on TikTok Sells Books,” The New York Times

Get insights into how and why the BookTokkers create videos that go viral and sell books. It’s also fun to read author reactions to sales surges that seemed to come out of nowhere, and how they feel about the source.

“BOOKTOKERS ARE COMPLETELY CHANGING PUBLISHING,” Mic.com

Check out the reviewers profiled as “11 of the best BookTok accounts to follow.”

How to use BookTok for book marketing

The first thing you need to do is use TikTok yourself.

Research how to do that online. For example, there’s good advice from one of the Young People in “How to Use BookTok: A Guide for Authors and Publishers” at the Literary Ladies Guide site. Or, take a course. Register for a free Udemy account, then watch your email for a sale that will get you a discount on one of the TikTok courses.

You can create videos for your own book, but is it possible to get a BookTokker to review your book instead?

Most authors writing for a younger audience or who write mainstream fiction would be thrilled if a BookTokker reviewed their book. That starts with a top-quality book, which is usually the norm with a traditionally published book. If you’re self-published, your book needs to look and read like there’s a big-name publisher behind it.

The quickest route to reaching influential TikTok reviewers is hiring a specialist or agency offering this service.

Going all D-I-Y

Or, you can do it yourself.

Identify the up-and-coming reviewers who are still building a following. Begin to establish relationships with them. Support them by liking, commenting on, and sharing their videos.

And, note that these enthusiastic reviewers like to hold a print book, so if your book is only available as an e-book, getting BookTok reviews might not be a realistic goal. (Or, once you immerse yourself in the platform, you might find some who do review e-books.)

Eventually, you might be in a position to contact a few reviewers personally with a direct message. But first put the time into using the app yourself and supporting the reviewers who love the kinds of books you write.

There’s no question that BookTokkers are having a profound impact on book sales. If you start small and you’re patient, you might enjoy some of that success yourself.

Or, you might just have a lot of fun learning how to create short videos. That’s good, too!

Do you use TikTok and BookTok for book marketing? What’s working for you? Please tell us in a comment.