I’m intimidated by Instagram Stories.

Whenever I create one on my phone for my personal or Build Book Buzz Instagram account, I spend too much time playing around with options and figuring out which ones might work best.

When the Young People do it, they create something interesting and engaging in just a few minutes. Me? At least 15 minutes. At. Least.

So, with the goal of getting better at this, I went looking for how-to information. I found videos, guides, templates, tools, and author examples.

If they help me, they might help you, right? So here are links to the information I found that was most helpful to me. I hope some of it helps you, too.

How-to articles

If you like to learn by reading step-by-step instructions, you’ll appreciate these articles.

Instagram Stories: What They Are and How to Make One Like a Pro

HubSpot is one of my go-to sites for marketing information, and the company didn’t disappoint with this step-by-step tutorial. It’s written for a business audience, but don’t let that stop you. Authorship is a business, so this is a good fit for you.

Within the article, Hubspot links to Instagram Story templates you can download after completing the opt-in form. I’ve included that information below, in the “tools” section of this article.

How to create an Instagram Story

Mashable’s instructions are geared to personal, rather than business, Instagram accounts, but the information still applies. If you have two Instagram accounts – personal and author – it’s best to practice with your personal account, anyway.

Instagram Stories 101: Our Guide to Stickers, Effects, Key Settings and More

Don’t let the “Making an Insta Story is a lot like Snapchat” subhead in this CNET article scare you off (because, really, are you a big Snapchat user?). There are some good details in this one.

How-to videos

I usually prefer to learn how to do something by reading an article or a book, but in this case, I get more from video. It helps me to see cause and effect in quasi-real time.

How to Make Instagram Stories – Tips & Tricks

This Techboomers video is broken into two parts. One is for novices, the other is for more experienced Story creators. At the start of the video, the instructor tells you where on the timeline you’ll find advanced instructions for adding more bells and whistles to your Stories.

I like that this one shows the process without a distracting human on screen.

How to Easily Create Attractive Instagram Stories

Speaking of distracting humans, that’s what you’ll find on this video from Social Media Examiner, another excellent source of marketing information.

While I found the presenter’s effervescence a bit overwhelming, she does a great job of walking us through this in a way that’s clear and understandable. And I love the time-saving and mistake-preventing tips in her instruction.

Be sure to watch this one if videos help you.

Tools

I love any tool that takes me through a process that’s new or intimidating to me. I found a couple that I think you’ll like as much as I do.

VistaCreate

VistaCreate offers a “point-and-click” design tool. The best news (for me, anyway), is that you can use it on a computer, not just a phone. That’s music to my boomer ears.

Create a free account, then get started. The site walks you through the process step-by-step, starting with selecting a template from its collection. This is the first tool I’m going to use for Build Book Buzz.

Canva’s Instagram Story Creator

If you already use Canva, you know that it starts with a template. In addition to linking to templates, this Canva link gives you an overview of all the options you can use to create Stories there .

I like using Canva, so after I’ve created a few with VistaCreate, I’m going to try Canva, too.

Instagram for Business Kit

I’ve downloaded several free templates for different types of content from Hubspot before, so I wasn’t surprised to see the company offers them for Instagram Stories, too.

It has partnered with Talkwalker (I use its version of Google Alerts) to create an “Instagram for Business Kit” mentioned above. When you download that, the system takes you to another page where you can also download eight Instagram Stories templates and 14 post templates.

Author examples and ideas

How Authors Use Instagram Stories to Connect with Readers

BookBub lists 16 Story content ideas with examples of each. Ideas include sharing sneak peeks of an upcoming book and asking for reader opinions.

I also recommend subscribing to the BookBub Partners Blog (partners = authors). You’ll receive an email every time there’s a new article.

Instagram Stories for Writers

In addition to sharing visual examples, writer Susan Shiney links to the Instagram accounts of several author Instagram accounts that she admires.

100 Instagram Story Ideas for Authors

Self-publishing services provider Shayla Raquel lists 100 ideas broken down into nine categories. Bookmark this link and you’ll never be at a loss for ideas.

My commitment

In order to get better at creating Instagram Stories, I need to create more of them.

So, I’m committing today to creating at least one Story a week for my Build Book Buzz account. I’ll create some from my phone and I’ll use some of the tools listed here, too.

Want to join me? 

If you want to join me, drop a link to your author account in the comments so I can follow you. Tell us what you’ll commit to.

Guest post: BookBub ads: One author shares her experience

By Susan Daffron

If you’ve been writing books for any length of time, you’ve probably heard of BookBub. When it comes to e-book advertising, The Bub is arguably the most well-known option.

The bad news for authors is that a BookBub ad is going to cost you. On countless forums, you see writers whining that ad rates are expensive. If your book falls into one of the larger categories like crime fiction or contemporary romance, for example, you’re looking at many hundreds of dollars. The largest lists have more than 3 million subscribers, but spending more than $900 on a single ad gives many struggling authors considerable pause.

Along with the money, getting accepted by BookBub is the other challenge you face. According to the rejection email, BookBub doesn’t accept 80% the submissions it receives. And according to a recent infographic, it received 55,000 submissions.

You are not alone.

The numbers are daunting to say the least. As far as I can tell based on my experience and the experience of many other writers I know, most of the time you submit, your book will be rejected, which can be difficult for a sensitive author to bear. But like the old saw, if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Perseverance is sometimes rewarded!

After quite a few tries, BookBub has accepted my books three times – twice for a free promotion and most recently for a paid one. In my experience, if you can afford it and your book is actually accepted, one ad can change everything.

Getting noticed, at last!

I’m not a million-selling author. In fact, you could argue that I was an idiot to write a second novel, given how poorly the first one was selling. It was akin to the Samuel Johnson quote about second marriages: “a triumph of hope over experience.”

But continue to write I did. I released my first novel, Chez Stinky, in 2013. By the time the book finally was accepted for my first BookBub ad, I had five books in the series and I had made Chez Stinky free. (Note that you can’t set a price of zero on Amazon; to make a book free, you set the price to zero on another site, so Amazon will price match it.)

For whatever reason, BookBub finally accepted Chez Stinky in its Chick Lit category, which is one of their smaller ones. At the time, the April 16, 2015 ad cost me $70 (now it’s $105).

Here’s what happened.

Over the next few days, people downloadedabout 20,000 copies of Chez Stinky. That month, I had a total of 36,000 downloads just on Amazon. Books that had sold absolutely nothing on other channels like Barnes and Noble started selling.

Literally overnight, my books went from invisible to visible. Sales of the rest of the books in the series skyrocketed. The ad paid for itself within hours of the email going out. I got a large number of subscribers to my new releases email list, fan emails, and a lot of new reviews.

Subsequent ads

Although the results of my first ad were impressive, subsequent ad results haven’t been quite as earth- shattering, partly because as a group, my series of books is doing better. Going from almost zero to something (anything!) is always going to be thrilling. But make no mistake, the results from the subsequent ads have been far better than any other marketing I’ve tried, bar none.

My second ad for Chez Stinky ran in November 2015. That resulted in 14,000 downloads, more new reviews, and another increase in sales for the series, which by then had seven books. So although I received fewer downloads, I still got a tremendous return on investment because readers had more follow-on books in the series to read.

My most recent BookBub ad on January 10 was for the second book in the series, Fuzzy Logic, which I discounted from $3.99 to 99 cents. Because the ad was for a paid book, not a free one, it cost more ($210). But it still paid for itself the same day and shot the book into the top 10,000 in the paid Kindle store. I’m still seeing follow-on sales from the tail end of that ad. Interestingly, I have not received any new reviews yet, although I know hundreds of people have bought the book.

New release notifications

New release notifications are a free BookBub feature that started on January 4. The releases are tied to your BookBub author profile. Because I had advertised with BookBub, I had followers on my profile. Followers are those people who have virtually raised their hand to say that they want to know when I release new books.

To take advantage of this new feature, I did a pre-order on my latest book, The Treasure of the Hairy Cadre, so I could time the official release to occur after January 4. That way, BookBub would automatically send a notification to my followers. When the notification went out, it resulted in a nice bump in sales. It wasn’t as good as the email to my own in-house list, but it cost me nothing.

Between the pre-order, Amazon notification (they have a similar “follower” program), and the BookBub notification, my book has stayed in the “Hot New Releases” list for its category since its release.

A few final thoughts

When I looked at the infographic stats from BookBub, one thing that stood out to me was how few authors were selected and able to advertise in 2015. Thousands of e-books are released every single day on Amazon. But there are only 7,600 BookBub authors.

What that means to me is that if BookBub selects your book, you’re hanging out with a small crowd that includes a bunch of big name traditionally published authors. I’ve seen some articles that say BookBub has become a bit of a curating mechanism. In other words, if your book is selected by the mighty Bub, it probably means your cover, blurb, and reviews are good.

Although there are no guarantees in book publishing and everyone’s experience is different, I’m glad I kept trying for a BookBub ad even in the face of many rejections. In a marketplace where it’s almost impossible to get noticed, for me, advertising with BookBub gave my books unprecedented visibility.

Have you advertised with BookBub or any of the other daily deal newsletters? Please share your experiences with them in a comment.

Tip of the Month

I always share a “Tip of the Month,” a free resource or tool for authors, on the last Wednesday of the month.

This month’s relates directly to Susan’s excellent guest post above. If you’re thinking about advertising with BookBub or any of the book daily deal newsletters, you want to make sure your book’s description in the newsletter works hard for you to sell books.

BookBub has researched the language used in its book descriptions to determine which phrases or strategies sell more books. I shared that research in a guest post: “Six Magic Phrases You Can Use to Sell More Books.” You won’t go wrong using what you learn in that article for your ads in other deal newsletters, too.

Your book’s description must be pithy, compelling, engaging, and accurate. It must draw readers in; it must say to them, “You will love this book.”

In addition to appearing on the inside jacket cover or the back of the book, the description is used by online web retailers such as Amazon or Barnes & Noble. You also draw from it as you write your book announcement press release. And if you pay to promote your book in one of the daily deal newsletters that include BookBub, Fussy Librarian, or Riffle Select (among many others),  you’ll pull from that description when you create your deal alert.

You know that your book description can make or break your book.

Know what resonates with readers

That’s why it’s important to know what words, phrases, and references resonate with readers.

To help authors with this, BookBub tested book description language to see what words and phrases help sell more books. I summarized its research findings in a recent Build Book Buzz newsletter; our friends at Where Writers Win recently shared that article as a guest post.

You’ll want to read my newsletter article, “6 Magic Phrases You Can Use to Sell More Books” because the information from BookBub’s research will help you decide what to include in your all-important book description, and what you might leave out.

Let’s give a big round of applause to BookBub for sharing its research with authors!

Was writing your book’s description a challenge for you? Why or why not?

There are at least four deal services for book lovers that use e-mail to help you do that. Each sends daily book deal e-mails to thousands – even millions – of readers who have opted in to get the messages offering books in the genres they enjoy.

These services not only help readers discover your book, they can also:

• Help drive sales for backlist titles
• Be part of a bestseller list marketing strategy (especially when you drop the price to $0.00)
• Generate buzz for your new release
• Introduce readers to what could become their next favorite series – yours

Here are specifics on four that could be selling your books.

BookBub

BookBub describes itself as “the leading service” for publishers and authors looking to reach new readers through limited-time e-book deals. According to the site, “Millions of members turn to BookBub’s daily e-mail to find free and deeply discounted e-books that match their interests.”

Millions is good, right? Top-selling fitness author Derek Doepker is one who credits BookBub for much of the success he’s had selling 50 Fitness Tips You Wish You Knew.

Subscribers to the mailings choose the genres they’re interested in so that messages are tailored to their interests.

To be considered for a BookBub daily e-mail, novels should be at least 150 pages, nonfiction books must be at least 100 pages, cookbooks at least 70 pages, and children’s picture books at least 20 pages.  It must be priced as free or at a minimum 50 percent discount, and the BookBub price must be the lowest price available before and after the promotion.

Learn more at https://www.bookbub.com/partners/requirements.

The Fussy Librarian

This service works a little differently. First, it has different requirements — you need a minimum number of reviews and a certain rating on Amazon.com or BN.com, a price of $5.99 or less (the site says that prices at $2.99 or less sell better), and “a quality cover.” Second, there’s a small fee for your book to be included in a daily e-mail. Third, it not only lets readers select the genres they like, it lets them indicate their preferences about language, violence, and sexual content, too.

The advertising fee is new, by the way. When one of my books was included in a daily e-mail, there was no fee. But it’s not much – either $3 or $6, depending on the genre. That’s a small price to pay to reach 13,800 subscribers who read the kind of books you write. Plus, your book will be included in the site’s searchable database for 30 days as part of the fee.

Go to http://www.thefussylibrarian.com/for-authors/ for details.

Readers in the Know

As with the others, Readers in the Know subscribers can select their book preferences so that the daily deal e-mails they receive are limited to books that match their selected categories, content, genres, and formats. But unlike the rest, readers using this site can also create a “watch list” of books they’re interested in, then be notified when there’s a special offer on any of the books on the list.

Authors and publishers can use the site to schedule promotions or giveaways once or several times. What’s more, they will reach readers in both the U.S. and the U.K.

There are no reader review requirements to be considered for a deal e-mail. You can try the service free for 60 days but after that, the annual membership fee for authors and publishers is $32.17 U.S. for the first three titles.

Go to http://readersintheknow.com/help and select the “Authors & Publishers” tab to get more information.

Riffle Select

Riffle also sends a daily e-mail message highlighting free or deeply discounted e-books representing a variety of different categories. Some are from “brand name” authors, others aren’t. To participate in Riffle’s program, you must offer a discounted price on your book (at least 50 percent off), and it must be the lowest price anywhere.

To qualify, your book must look and read like it’s been traditionally published (even if it isn’t) and must be at least 150 pages (or at least 32 pages for a children’s book).

Subscribers to the book deal e-mails select their genre preferences when setting up a profile. This ensures that your book is marketed only to people who read and enjoy they types of books you write.

To learn more about Riffle Select, start at this link: http://www.rifflebooks.com/advertise/overview. Use the tabs at the top to get more information and tips on how to make the most of this opportunity.

Most of these services have an editorial selection process, which means that your book isn’t guaranteed a slot in a daily e-mail. That also means it doesn’t cost you anything to try, so you have nothing to lose. Why not give one or two of them a try?

Have you used any of these or other services? What were the results?