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Is Twitter Blue Worth it?

Lee Hall 4 Comments

This post lays out in detail my experiences with Twitter Blue. Using the analytics available to me alongside everything I have experienced, my hope is to put together a balanced report of my findings with a view to help others decide if Twitter blue could be for them. My motivations will be explained ahead along with everything else so let us dive in and see if Twitter Blue is worth it…

My Motivations

For those who aren’t familiar with me, I’m a mutli-genre author where much of my marketing efforts are driven by social media and blogging. I’m active on Twitter everyday and have been for several years. The results over time have been quite good – from reaching 40,000 Followers at the close of 2022 to selling books regularly just from my presence on the platform. To put things into some perspective, back in 2020 I started that year with 3,000 Twitter followers so the numbers kind of speak for themselves in terms of what I figured out to become semi-successful with the tweet machine.

Numerous times has it been mentioned by others that soon enough I’d have a verified Twitter account during my rise to 40k follows so it was on the cards although this was before Twitter blue became what it is today. I’d looked into becoming a verified content creator a few times to simply see that the process was not easy and kind of gate kept. In order to be verified I would need to be mentioned in multiple articles or places of prominence by those already verified. I’m not of the elite persuasion and you won’t be seeing me getting mentioned in vogue anytime soon so it was kind of a door in the face. Then Twitter was taken over. The old verification system was out and a newer easy access one was in.

Having pondered for a few months after Blue launched, I eventually decided to take the plunge after reaching that 40k milestone. My motivations were and still are to simply see if there is any real differences or anything better than just having regular Twitter. This was a business decision for me and a serious one because I have always taken my endeavours seriously which is the first step to serious results. Right now I stand somewhere between writing as a hobby and it soon potentially being more. Reaching more people to sell more books is pinnacle to that.

The Financials

A huge factor in my decision to sign up for Blue was in my ability to pay for it without actually being out of pocket so to say. Each month I sell enough books to cover the cost of Blue and so with that in mind, I consider this an experiment that kind of pays for itself. As long as I continue to remain active online and on Twitter to the point where I can sell enough books to pay for this subscription, I’ll keep it.

There are those out there who flat out refuse to put money into the pocket of Twitter’s latest owner but to me, I’m above all that opinionated stuff and I don’t even see it that way. It’s okay to have an opinion about whoever or whatever billionaire is in the driving seat but I’m signed up with Blue for productivity based results so my energy remains elsewhere. Basically for this to be financially viable, I need to sell books or get page reads.

As a resident of the UK, Twitter Blue costs £9.60 a month. My monthly book royalties are on average around £50 and as long as those sales don’t slow down, this whole deal will be viable financially. But this isn’t always about the money and there are plenty of other analytical/observational measures to see if this whole thing has been worthwhile.

Analytics Before Blue

Twitter Analytics is something I have a nerdy obsession with and every day I use it to see what needs work on. These numbers include daily organic impressions (blue bar graph) which is my first port of call when looking at analytics. As you can see for this period of December 2022 and before Twitter Blue it ranged from nearly 40,000 down to 7,000 on any given day. The higher end of 40k is really good in terms of reach and if you can reach people organically with a number similar to your follow count or more, you are doing really well. 583.8K total impressions for the month is also great.

(You can find your own Twitter analytics via the browser version)

I also keep track of my engagement rate which was rather erratic but also good. For me this moves quite a lot but anything around 5% engagement is good. All of these numbers are worth keeping an eye on and they are also live which means they move in real time. Link clicks (purple bars) are particularly relevant as they are the rate in which readers visit my blog and those who potentially by my books.

Analytics with Blue

As you can see from this analytics graph of April 2023, the results are a little divisive. The major observation here is the total impressions are lower than December 2022 but with Twitter blue my daily organic impressions did not slip below 10,000 for the entire month. Twitter Blue seems to give a better level of stable consistency in terms of organic reach. (Ignore the grey bars – this amount of tweets but for some reason it didn’t show up for December 2022 – the analytics can be unreliable sometimes…)

The link click’s number below is much higher suggesting Blue supports links a little more as opposed to regular Twitter. The engagement rate average is also higher but day to day it seems the same for the most part.

Conclusion of Analytics

Using the nifty slider for a fun closer comparison shows there isn’t much difference other than the improved tendency of consistent but overall lower numbers with Blue and the improved link click rate. So in conclusion, Twitter Blue seems to offer improvement in these places:

More consistent with organic impressions every day (10,000 or more for me)

Better link click rates

For someone who has spent much time in the author social media trenches, I know that consistency is the key to success sometimes and having consistent numbers for a month will lead to book sales. Link clicks are also vital as it has always been suspected that Twitter seem to reduce visibility with them but having Blue suggests the opposite.

Other Measures

So we have looked at the analytics Twitter provide, but what else can we look at to determine whether Blue is worthwhile.

Follower Count

Follower Count is an obvious and very visible way of tracking Twitter progress and on the day before my Blue subscription began January 14th 2023 my Twitter following was:

40,599

My current Twitter Follower Count at the time of writing this post is:

44,685

Which means since signing up to Blue and in the time I have been subscribed (just over 5 months) my Follower Count has risen by:

4,086

Book Sales

The important driving factor for Blue is book sales for me and so, has Blue helped with sales? Let us look at December 2022’s sales. This was a month without any paid advertising so most sales are driven by Twitter/social media:

16 Sales for a month without any paid advertising is great. And drove around £54 in royalties which would have been more than enough to cover the cost of Blue. Now let us look at a month where I did have Blue:

Divisive results yet again as the number of sales remained the same but the royalties were a little less at £39 which is still enough to cover the cost of Blue but not as great as December 2022.

So using this information we can partially conclude that not much seems to change with Twitter Blue or we can at least see there are no real vast improvements across the board apart from the link clicks and overall consistency in organic views. But as an online content creator, there are still more places to measure and with improved link clicks in mind, let us take a look at my Patreon growth:

For those who do rely on link clicks from Twitter and have content out there, this graphic is promising in that regard and I’m quite proud of it. Finding paying Patrons to sign up is a huge deal for me and the numbers since signing up for Blue have risen. Of course there are cancellations but that is offset by the arrival of new sign-ups. This is kind of a big deal for me.

Observations

From my experience with Twitter Blue, the lesser known features are what make it worthwhile. Those who do have that blue tick, seem to be given priority and better visibility when commenting on a popular thread. Quite recently, I simply dropped this GIF on a thread and the numbers speak for themselves…

I wouldn’t have experienced great numbers like this without Blue. 45.5k impressions for a single reply is several days worth of impressions.

The edit a tweet feature is just okay and kind of clunky but also quite useful on occasion.

John Cena follows me also… something I imagine wouldn’t happen without Blue.

Final Conclusion

Twitter has always been an enigma and I have a feeling no matter who runs it, that’s how they want it to be. My Twitter Blue experience hasn’t been negative and my numbers haven’t decreased noticeably, they also haven’t risen sharply but perhaps just steadily on a consistent basis.

Consistency and priority in tweet threads along with a good number of link clicks are what I seem have gotten out of the service mostly. For someone who relies on finding people to read my content online and buy my books, this has been quite valuable. Right now, enough money is coming in to pay for Blue and so I’m going to keep it for the time being. If I am to keep going with it, I’ll most probably hit 50,000 Twitter followers by December of this year – something I’d consider a worthwhile achievement. If things go really well then I can also expect a few more Patrons also.

Blue has features that aren’t particularly obvious but can help with visibility and ultimately keep the numbers ticking along consistently. To have an average of 10,000 organic impressions daily is just a shy of a 25% of my following, but still great in my eyes. Twitter is busy and noisy so to get that kind of daily number is an achievement. Having Blue feels like I have to try less to reach people and so my focus or worries can be somewhere else like on writing or procrastinating or thinking about procrastinating.

For Twitter to work on any level for anyone, you have to be present on the platform and learn what works for you and your following.

Thank you for reading what I hope will be useful to a fellow Tweeter. You shall find some further resources and reading below.

My journey to over 40,000 Twitter followers is laid out in detail via my Patreon in a series of Twitter Coaching Sessions. There are also several analytical guides much like this one that are exclusive if you sign up. From finding more book reviews to selling and marketing books – you’ll find a stack of content over there that isn’t available anywhere else. Soon I shall also be releasing a new series all about my querying journey.

Of course for a more concise experience, Consistent Creative Content is a book that lays out everything I’ve done to find success.

Twitter Coaching Sessions 1 to 20 – Out Now!

Lee Hall Leave a comment

Are you looking to get more out of Twitter?

During my decade spent on the platform I’ve learned a huge amount of highly valuable skills to turn my Twitter into a hive of followers, book sales and overall success as a creative online. Whether you are looking to grow or even make money from your content or perhaps you are just unsure where to start, my 20 Twitter coaching sessions will teach you how as I lay everything out to find success on the platform. These exclusive audio sessions cover a wide range of subjects such as:

Creating the best possible profile;

What to tweet about for sucess;

Selling and promoting books on Twitter;

Earning the trust of your followers;

Reaching a Million impressions and so much more.

These unique audio sessions will light the path for anyone at any level of experience on Twitter to better results through methods that work. Sign up here today and carve your own path to Twitter success!

Five Ways to Find Success on Patreon

Lee Hall

The subscription service, something that’s very much on trend these days and Patreon basically provides hosting for independent creatives to put together their own. Whether you are a writer, artist, video game reviewer or pretty much any other content driven creator with something to offer – you can put that content behind a paid subscription wall and start earning money but…

Simply saying that is a narrow version of a much wider picture because like most ventures, even ones on trend take work to reach some level of success. Just what does that success look like? And how do you get there?

Well, for me. I feel my content has some value and alongside a growing social media following, the time for me to launch a Patreon (back in 2021) was right. After quite some time now, I am proud to say that I’ve got several Patrons who regularly view my content and probably the most wonderful thing about that is, I’ve only had one person unsubscribe since launch.

This guide lays out what I have learned as a Patreon creator while convincing Patrons to invest in and stick by me. The following five ways aren’t in a particular order as they go hand in hand. Let’s dive in…

One: Exclusive is key…

Being a content creator online is a huge umbrella of different things but if you have something unique in what you create and can offer it exclusively on Patreon, you’ll generate some interest eventually.

This year I launched my Twitter Coaching Sessions which is basically me narrating to my Patrons all of the things I have learned over the years on Twitter. You cannot find this audio stuff by me anywhere else online.

Since then I have also extended that exclusive audio content into book narrations and even further guides or messages to my Patrons.

This stuff is also in the same neighbourhood as much of the guides I am known for in blogging and on social media. You can read a lot of my free guides on this blog, but I’ll always say to my audience that the better stuff is on Patreon and Patrons want to know they are getting something for their subscription.

Two: Two Tiers sells One Tier…

Talking of subscription, for most of my tenure on Patreon, I kept to a single low price Tier but being experienced with pricing from publishing books, I know that a slightly higher price can be a good tactic to sometimes drive sales. It can also drive sales for lower priced books on my backlist.

Using that theory, I launched a higher priced tier to try and get more lower priced Patrons. Upon launch, one of my existing Patrons immediately switched to the higher price and I even attracted another Patron for that higher tier as well as eventually getting more lower tier Patrons.

Having variety in price works to capture more Patrons on a side by side basis.  

Three: External Rewards Really Help…

Both tiers on my Patreon offer something in return for signing up and to me its important to give an impression that patrons will be getting a little more and then giving them more.

From a Twitter shout-out to a free digital copy of my guide book, these external rewards also attract the attention of others so they kind of work as indirect advertising – especially the regular shout-outs.

If you can think of something to give others which has some value, it will hopefully work to attract and then keep patrons.

Four: Regular Content over time is your friend

After launch, I began to regularly release content for the next few months. This gained just a couple of patrons in that time and then I kind of ran out of ideas…

Six months later I decided to re-launch with a brand new idea for exclusive content. That idea now represents 19 Twitter Coaching sessions and much more. Running point with that content is the regular influx of new patrons and patrons who have stayed. Since re-thinking and re-launching I have churned out content every month, so if you can think of content that has scope to be a series or regularly released, it will help.

Alongside the regular content, time is your friend because starting out can be hard on Patreon, and the more content you have, the more lucrative it will appear for potential patrons. A few month’s of exclusive posts is way better than just a handful. That re-launch month I put out nine different posts which gave potential patrons plenty of choice. Now I tend to release something at least every week/ten days. This frequency hasn’t let me down yet.

Five: The odd freebie helps…

Having exclusive content behind a paywall is great, but littered amongst my content is the odd freebie that aims to attract newer faces. Some of my Twitter coaching sessions are free for all to listen and this works quite well to give potential patrons a taster of what they could be investing in if they do sign up.

Many of my other guides premiere over on Patreon and will then later release on my blog with the original post linked.

I have even released a short snippet of a book narration for free and put the longer version behind the pay wall.

Bonus: Pick your moments on social media…

Now it might be easy to say that I’ve got thousands of followers on Twitter so surely that means its easy for me to attract patrons right?

Well, actually its been quite difficult because like a lot of platforms they tend to limit the reach of certain posts/subjects. Sharing anything Patreon based on Twitter hasn’t really done particularly well in terms of visibility for me. There is a lot to unpack with this subject but I have managed to attract people from Twitter to my Patreon but in a certain way.

We all want to shout about our content and tell the world we’ve got a Patreon, and I did that to begin with. Now I pick my moments on social media and share my content on occasion. Picking the right time is kind of dependent on your own circumstances but I’ll just say, less is more.

You’ll find my Patreon link in the bio of my Twitter profile and so whenever any traffic comes to my profile, its one of the first things someone will see. Sometimes just working on attracting others to my profile will naturally drive traffic to that link in the bio.

Overall my Patreon journey has been incredibly rewarding and to have loyal patrons paying their hard earned money to access my exclusive content is a dream come true, it is also really motivating so I’m going to carry on. I’ve got plenty of ideas for exclusive stuff and of course you’ll find it right here.

If you are thinking of starting your own Patreon journey my advice is simple, make sure you have a stack of content at the ready and keep creating.

You can find my Patreon here and it is stacked full of resources for creatives who want to get better results on Twitter, publishing, and so much more. There is even a full length sci-fi western novella.

Five Ways to Get more Book Reviews

Lee Hall

Let’s face it. Finding reviews for our books is hard. The struggle is something that unites many of us who have published works out there and I’m semi obsessed with finding solutions to sometimes difficult things so here are five ways to get more book reviews.

This post first featured over on Patreon where the real party is happening. Sign up to see articles like this first as well as a huge array of other cool resources.

Selling in Quantity

This may sound obvious to some but the more units you sell, the higher chance someone will read and then review. Now there are many inputs to this concept but quantity really is the key to finding more reviews. Just how do you move books in huge quantities?

From my own experience running a free promo or a price reduction will certainly help. My best influx of reviews have come from big-time free promos where digital downloads were in the thousands.

Mentioning your work regularly across social media will also help. I do anything and everything (within reason) on my social media platforms to regularly sell books through presence and the occasional mention and if you really want to sell books, then you’ll eventually figure out a way.

Running my most recent numbers has pointed towards a review for every 100 sales I get. So maybe quantity is the key…

High End Advertising

This brings us nicely to finding some help to tell the world about your book. Paid advertising is pretty easy to find these days online but the very cream of the crop in advertising should lead you to readers who review. Premiere book promotion sites like BookBub boast to have readers who review and so this is a great place to target readers.

Having successfully clinched three BookBub Featured deals over the years, these were the very best value in terms of sales and then reviews. You can find my list of book promotion sites here.

Shouting About it

If there is one thing I can guarantee, it is every week without fail that I mention on Twitter how important reviews are for authors. Important because they help us in so many ways from finding new readers to potentially shaping our future work. The more we shout about it, the more many readers will realise and I will happily admit before being published, reviewing books wasn’t at the top of my priority so reminding readers will help the greater good.

Approach Book Bloggers

There are plenty of bookish bloggers out there looking for their next read and much like me I quite enjoy being approached by authors looking for reviews. If you offer a free digital copy in exchange for a an honest review and as long as your approach them nicely, someone will eventually say yes.

Consider joining a Review Platform

As a tenured book blogger I have my own profile over on Reedsy Discovery which is an awesome review platform that does its best to place books into the hands of reviewers from indie or self published authors. Some of these platforms have a joining fee but they will also put in the effort to pair your book with the best possible reviewer candidate.

And so that’s five ways to get more book reviews. If you have any other methods then do please drop a comment below. Thanks for reading and for more awesome resources, check out my Patreon

Further Reading:

A Talk About Book Reviews

How I landed my 3rd BookBub Featured Deal

A guide to selling books on social media

Books not selling? A troubleshooter guide

How I Landed my 3rd BookBub Featured Deal

Lee Hall

Even though I have always believed in myself, I’m always in a slight state of disbelief when good things actually happen or when something goes as planned. The imposter syndrome will always find a way to creep in but then sometimes good things just align at the exact time. You see, good things arrive exactly when they are supposed to, they are neither late nor early. They arrive always when they are supposed to.

Being a proprietor of never giving up has brought me the best of rewards as a writer and creative online. All of which I firmly believe have pulled together to help me secure the subject of this post; my third BookBub Featured Deal. Hailed as the Holy Grail of Book Promotions in some crowds and I would agree to an extent, the illusive selectors that reside within the inner workings of the original Book Promo site have always been kind to me, no matter how many times they have rejected my efforts, its the times when they say yes that remain memorable and this post is designed to lay out how I secured that third featured deal. It is broken down into headings that I feel relay the most important factors any author needs when trying to secure their own BookBub Featured Deal.

Consistency

At the heart of all of my efforts as a social media creator and author is consistency. You’ll find it everywhere I go from being ever present on Twitter and growing from 3,000 followers in 2020 to 35,000 very recently to the books I have steadily released over the years. 7 in roughly 6 years with numero 8 dropping in a matter of weeks, its even in the same series as Open Evening – perhaps destiny or just chance or simply because I have positioned myself with consistency this has happened. Even the practicality of bothering BookBub with my submissions for their featured deal is part of why I’ve been selected three times. Every month, pretty much like clockwork I apply for a featured deal with one or several of my books with the ever present hope they would say yes. No matter how many times they don’t, the rewards of what a deal involves are too high for me to forget that monthly ritual of throwing the dice or even the coin into the well.

Conduct

You can be a success on Twitter; a conversational platform without sharing hard pressed opinion or something that will insight passionate debate because they are the two things that I have avoided for nearly a decade. And that conduct of mine has propelled my efforts in all departments of my online creativity. From book sales and reviews where hardly any point towards my personal conduct – yes there are reviewers out there who will hold authors accountable for their opinions online, I navigate myself through the sometimes troll heavy, always-an-argument-about-to-explode waters of social media with ease, the same can be said for this blog. BookBub may or may not be watching but if your social media content and posting is one hot mess of opinion, clumsy arguing and full of stuff that not even the hardiest of publicist will touch with a several foot long barge pole, then you’ll probably fall at the first hurdle. First and foremost you are your brand, so if you chose to throw it around like the many anonymous troll types who treat their presence as an anonymous avatar or you simply don’t have a care for what you say online, anything you publish or create will suffer for it.

Duration

Open Evening is my eldest title. It has seen several changes since the initial release such as the odd edit of typo and all the things that come with being able to amend a book that is live and published – not much has changed within as I personally feel going back to edit a book that has been released for a while kind of cheats the reader out of capturing my writing and imagination at a certain time in my life. This book has been a journeyman work horse for me. It has headed up the most free promos and has simply been there for all the years I have been published. This stuff isn’t an instant success (being an indie author) and finding that success takes time. In that time Open Evening has found reviews that have pushed it towards that apparent golden number of 50 – again is this something BookBub take into account? For the most part I’d like to think so but my super hero comedy The Teleporter was accepted by them twice with less than 20 ratings. Be in this for the duration, release books over time, enjoy the process, learn from it, let it make you a better author and then even when you are several books beyond that release you can still enjoy its success no matter when it arrives.

Timing

Just days before this featured deal my 8th book will drop, a book that shares the same series as Open Evening and now a sure fire launch campaign. The truth is, I have been waiting, waiting for the right time to promote this series as the last in the series was going to launch softly with me then figuring out the marketing after. Timing has changed that and it couldn’t more on point.

Seriousness

Even back when this was just sort of a hobby, I always took it seriously. Like when I used to perform in amdram, yes its amateur drama but the audience are still real and the money they paid me was very real and earned by them so therefore my effort was real. Treating this like a business for most parts has pushed me further and further to make business decisions and treat this whole thing like that. Even with the freedom and creativity that is writing a book as an indie, I take that seriously also and give it the highest level of respect. Stephen King and James Patterson are often featured by BookBub and without boasting or at least trying to, so is Lee Hall because he considers himself a writer too.

Learn

I am always taking on new information to shape what’s next. Just how does one secure a BookBub featured deal? You can apply all of the above and still possibly be nowhere near or they might say yes tomorrow because this journey is one of self learning and discovery. I can guarantee you will find some level of success if you remain open to learning from what have and have not achieved. This post isn’t the usual guide many will be used to, but I’m having a philosophical moment and those guides are great and all but writer Lee Hall is in the building right now and it is my wiring that has got me to this point.

Your writing can take you far also. Don’t give up.

Open Evening will be Free to download a little later this month through BookBub’s featured deal. Watch this space for more!

You shall find some practical advice on how to secure your own BookBub Featured Deal below. Sign up to my Patreon to listen and access all of my best guides.

The Five Elements of Tweeting Success

Lee Hall

Welcome to a reflective anniversary post celebrating my first year on Patreon. In that time I have churned out a bunch of fiction and guides mainly aimed at helping fellow creatives get better results on Twitter. In my many audio coaching sessions, I often refer to the 5 elements of Tweeting success and so here they are, in detail and this post is free for all so everyone can get a taste of what type of content you can access for just a few dollars a month.

Grab your multi pass and if you get that late 90’s sci-fi reference you have my appreciation but either way follow my words.

So during my many years of tweeting into the void, I have found that void eventually answered back when my tweets aimed to do one, or several of these 5 things:

As long as you aim to inspire, inform, entertain, give value or incentive then you will eventually see good results. So what do I mean by each?

Read the rest here

Introducing a new Tier with more rewards!

Lee Hall

Are you looking to grow as a creative on social media? Perhaps you want to reach more people or even find yourself a following that grows and invests in you. Maybe you want to sell more books through social media.

Having been around the social media creative scene for nearly 10 years I have the knowhow and experience to show you exactly that. Quite recently I have laid down that experience in the form of audio and text based guides over on my Patreon which now has a brand new tier!

Introducing the Royal Rock Star Patron Tier which offers much more to those who sign up in the form of digital content. Upon signing up for less than $5 a month you’ll receive a free copy of my guide book Consistent Creative Content and then every few months I’ll send you another one of my ebooks!

Either tier are great value and especially so right now because I have a stack of content coming including more episodes of my audio Twitter Coaching Sessions. Sign up today and start your own journey to success!

Let’s Talk About… Twitter Statistics

Lee Hall

Converting any kind of social media traction into sales, follows or anything else is really really hard. It takes a boat-load of dedication, time, patience and the sheer will to move mountains to sometimes feel like you are making any progress – that’s how it feels to me every so often but it is not impossible to turn your social media into some level of success. This post will highlight the difficulty us creatives can face on social media whilst also providing a few solutions to help move the needle.

The inspiration for this post came from my recent ‘break’ from social media, now I say ‘break’ but really I just reduced my efforts for a few weeks for a little self repair. For all the things social media can be, it can be a drain on one’s mental health and can also be addictive so its good to take a break every now and then and focus on the to-do list.

Tip: When it comes to social media, you always come first. So does your mental health. There is no shame in practicing self-care and you can only do what you can do. Take a break if you need to.

For someone who has built their Twitter presence from zero to 30,000+ it took a long time to get to where I am now and so I went forth into this recent break knowing the majority of my numbers across platforms along with sales would drop, and I was right.

So for perspective, let us look at the Twitter numbers for May before I reduced my presence and tweeting whilst cross referencing that with book sales:

Now everyone’s Twitter is different, including numbers but May was an awesome month for me which was mainly driven by the grey bars on this graphic which represents Tweets. In simple terms, the more you Tweet, the more you get back eventually.

For me, any impressions over 20k a day is the sweet spot and means good things should eventually happen such as more followers and even book sales. Anything below that for a period of time and everything slows down. Because everyone’s Twitter is different, you’ll probably have a different sweet s[pt number. Using the Twitter analytics via the browser version should help you dive deeper into your own numbers.

Here are my book sales for that period:

Now these a pretty good numbers, with a little paid advertising thrown in at the mid point but most of my regular day-to-day sales come from Twitter and so I have to keep those numbers up.

Let us now look at what happens if I reduce my Tweeting which I did in June.

The numbers pretty much halved and then after the 60k spike, they dropped below that ‘sweet spot’ and over time the sales dipped.

So the numbers say it all. Less tweeting for me equals way less regular sales. Now by July I decided to do something about this and began upping my Tweeting. It took a few days but I managed to push the numbers back up to that ‘sweet spot’ and even sold a book for my efforts.

I keep a close eye on the Analytics of my Twitter and its pretty good for indicating what is needed to get the numbers up. But what was I Tweeting about?

Tip: As long as it aims to inspire, inform, entertain, give value or incentive then a Tweet with these things should be well-received eventually. Quantity is key.

Now this post is just a slice of the Twitter pie and you can read so much more for free via the resources section of this very blog.

If you want a detailed deep dive at how I have turned my Twitter into a book selling machine then do check out my Twitter Coaching Sessions here. As you can see one of my students A-M is benefitting from it. Thanks for reading!

A Guide to Selling Books on Social Media

Lee Hall 4 Comments

Writing and publishing a book is an incredible achievement and then comes the daunting task of actually selling it to readers. The truth is, that part is really hard sometimes and finding ways to sell online and through social media really is a challenge.

Marketing is often dismissed by authors because they tend to think they are no good at it and that’s okay. For many years I thought I was terrible at cooking until I followed a coherent and simple recipe to realise with some practice and effort, cooking isn’t that hard. The same can be said about book marketing. With some perspective and a little consistency, selling books online is possible and even fun. I’m someone who regularly sells their books through social media and I’m going to share with you my lessons and observations that will hopefully help you.

We will look in detail at using social media as an author and selling books online while also analysing why some authors struggle.

The Misconception

Whether you are self or trad published, you’ll probably appreciate the work that goes into firstly putting a book together and then the wider journey of marketing. Authors are expected to do a lot of that work but there is a slight misconception or at least a lot of advice that is over simplified or out of date.

‘Write a book and share it to your social media audience – Instant Sales‘

This statement although paraphrased is probably why a lot of us fail or at least feel like selling books is a struggle. Oversimplified advice from 2009 is just a Google search away and social media tends to echo stuff like this. On Twitter, authors in their droves share their book links every day and then newer authors see that and do the same and so forth. The truth is, and I realised a while back is this:

Just because your book exists and is published doesn’t mean it will sell a single copy. Take that expectation away and your view on the whole deal will be a lot easier. I know you worked hard and I know you love that story which is okay because the first person who should appreciate a good book is you. But to me, most of the time, dropping that link on social media is in vain. Yes there will always be exceptions and there will even be some that live by dropping their links but from my experience, I sell my books with the link holstered most of the time. Dropping links can still be valid on occasion but it does tend to bury my engagement on twitter at least.

Analogy: Just because there is breathable air doesn’t mean your body will just absorb it. You need to work for it by using your lungs and wider circulatory system to deliver that breathable stuff around your body. I know lungs function mostly without us being conscious of them but you hopefully get my point. And so the same can be said about that book of yours. Social media is an opportunity to make readers firstly aware of you and then your work. I like to say social first and media second.

The Basics: You and Your Book

You

I have over 40,000 Followers now…

Social and media are two separate entities and so are the basics in book selling which are you and your book. Firstly when it comes to social media, conduct takes precedence over anything else. And by this I mean day to day behaviour and general presence. Attitude good or bad sticks out on the platforms and for Twitter where I spend most of the time, it is quite easy to read between the lines of someone’s profile and tweets to gauge their attitude. I often have authors interact with me who say they are struggling with sales and have tried ‘everything’ for me to see their recent interactions were arguments, heavy opinion and generally an attitude that doesn’t help their image. Or their recent activity is just book links over an extended period of time.

While it can be great to share and of course freedom of speech is something I support, social media tends to make you visible and that is both good and bad. Being an author in particular will put you in a glass house sometimes, especially if someone takes offence to what you have said. Now you are published it is time to really really think about what you say online.

Over the years I have conducted my own set of rules when it comes to being an author on social media. These include:

No real heavy opinion on anything that can lead to passionate discussion/arguments. My seat on the fence is comfortable;

Be approachable, supportive and mindful for others and mindful of what I am posting at all times;

Do my best to inspire, inform, entertain or give some level of value;

Be consistent – show up regularly.

If you follow most of these basics, you will eventually find followers which in turn may become readers. And the wonderful thing about social media is the quick results – when you post something you’ll pretty much know if it was good or bad by the end of a day if not sooner. Those with smaller followings may struggle with this to begin with so remember to use relevant hashtags to boost visibility. And because there are so many users on social media, there is always opportunity to reinvent yourself for newer people. This method is long term and takes time along with some patience. If you are looking to sell masses of books quickly then you are in the wrong place.

For more guidance on Twitter check out my Twitter Coaching Sessions over on Patreon

Your Book

So if you conduct yourself in the ways stated above you are set for at least more positive social media interaction and visibility which go hand in hand and also contribute towards selling books eventually. The main problem we all have is spreading awareness to the masses that our books exist. We will look into the finer details of expanding visibility below but in order to sell your media or have a higher chance of it selling then it will need to have a decent anatomy.

The basic anatomy of a book is something I mention in my guide book Consistent Creative Content and if yours has it, then eventually it will sell. These are:

A stand out or unique title that fits the genre well;

A professional attractive cover;

An enticing blurb;

A reasonable price;

Editing/proofreading to the point that is reasonably practicable.

Some of the above can be outsourced for a reasonable price. I have always invested in a professional cover using the services of Design For Writers. They also offer book formatting and even website construction among other wonderful things. For some who might be on a tight budget you can find some wonderful creatives online who might even help you for free – my most recent release was proofread and beta read by some awesome connections I have made online and for free.

The Everyday Things

So you’ve got the basics and now it is time to face the daunting task that is marketing yourself and that book of yours. There are so many ways to get yourself noticed along with that book but I would suggest picking a handful of methods at a time and seeing what works. Over time you’ll find what suits you and this really is a voyage into the unknown for many.

When it comes to social media all you really have to do is stand out to get noticed. Getting noticed will result in visibility and visibility will equal sales or engagement .

Easier said than done right? But how?

I turn up on social media every day. I keep my visibility boosted by using Twitter and have built a following of over 20,000 by putting in the time. The majority of that following trust me and have got used to me being there all the time – I’m not addicted honest…

These Everyday things increase my visibility:

Timing – know and understand when the majority of your following is online – this is huge for visibility;

Visual content such as screenshots of recent reviews, excerpts, book banners and covers, paperback selfies or pictures, memes – variety is key here and don’t over share the same thing;

Well wishing/positivity – reaching out to your following and hoping they have a good day will bring you closer to your followers and increase engagement on your posts. This also proves that you are human and when everyone else is sharing book links a little variety of the pleasant kind can be nice;

Supporting others – being supportive of a fellow follower is a great way to earn trust, get some visibility for you and others while also building some trust. Plus for me it feels good helping others;

Reply back when you can – this became a revelation for me but if someone puts in the effort to comment on your post, do you best to think of a reply, even a simple ‘thank you’ will help boost both parties;

Sharing links in a tactical way – Instead of sharing a link on a post or tweet I either drop it in the comments/replies below or tell my audience that it can be found via my bio/profile – this is huge on Twitter especially;

Use relevant hashtags – there was once a time where I would always include hashtags on all of my posts and they help boost visibility. These include #writingcommunity #author #booktwitter #booktwt #writerscommunity

Book Selling Related Solutions

Having all of the above will eventually and most likely lead to sales but what about specifics? Here are some things you can try to help sales:

Run a price promotion – from a free promo to a price reduction they are usually effective with some advertising and the right terminology (today only);

Share a plethora of content about your book – from cover art and banners to the blurb and even the first page, this stuff makes for some great material to attract readers;

Write a stand alone book – marketing the 3rd or even 2nd book in a series is difficult and attracting new readers is a huge challenge. A stand alone story will eventually attract new readers. This also naturally leads into having more books available will increase the chances they sell.

The Longer Term

Time sits above everything and I firmly believe there are no real quick fixes to selling books on social media unless you have stacks of cash you are willing to throw at it and even then there is no guarantee. Over many years and books I have grown towards regular sales, reviews and social media followers by spending time doing the above. It isn’t easy and there are so many authors like you and me who want the same thing. Even that can help us because our togetherness sometimes makes us stronger.

Social media is an opportunity to succeed but requires work to figure it out. If you really want readers and success then you’ll find a way to get there. Find your crowd, earn their trust and stay visible – these things will eventually help you sell books. Of course there are always exceptions that are good and bad. Try and keep trying because eventually you will succeed. That’s all I have done and here I stand selling books on average every two to three days.

This post is long enough without really dipping into the physical selling side of being an author and I run the risk of repeating already published information which can be read on this site for free. Below you’ll find some links to guides that I have created through the many lessons I have learned over years. Thank you for reading!

The following guides will help with physical book selling:

A Concise List of Book Promotion Sites– mostly good places to advertise online…

Book Release and Pre Order Guide – got a release coming up, this is worth a look…

And these free to read guides will help with social media:

The Twitter Campfire Analogy – conversation turns that twitter machine into potential sales…

10 Ways to Sell a Book without Dropping the Link on Social Media – my most popular guide these days

And for those who want a more detailed view of my journey, this book lays out how I published 8 books in 5 years and how I use social media to sell them regularly. Available now in both paperback and digital.