If there was one thing that I want women business owners to know about how to use social media to market their books, it would be that YOU are in control of the conversation.

I was invited to do a group chat with Dr. Nicole Cutts of Vision Quest Retreats on Facebook on Wednesday evening on the topic of book marketing. The women had lots of thoughtful questions based on their experiences as authors or emerging authors who wanted to write books that promote their businesses.

The common thread throughout most of the questions was around how to sell more books. A legitimate question because, well, authors should be concerned about selling books. The problem with this kind of thinking is that people get caught up in the book sales hustle where they are showing up in social media begging their “friends” to buy a book they don’t want and will never read. So what is the best way to market your book without looking desperate?

Audience Building for Authorpreneurs

The best way for authors to sell books is to create an audience of people who want your book in the first place.

The internet has created an abundance of opportunities for authorpreneurs to control the conversation around their book and their work in general. Whether you support teens in losing weight, write books featuring children who are differently abled, or you are a therapist who is hell bent on getting people to understand that therapy is healthy — there is a way for you to use social media to create your own audience.

The Power of Your Cell Phone

Your cell phone can be used for a lot more than just making phone calls and playing Candy Crush on Facebook. You can record and edit video, create podcasts, do audio interviews, and take great pictures. In essence, YOU have the power to become the media you’ve been waiting for to cover your story. I’ve been able to accomplish this very thing around the topic of black women and uterine fibroids in my book, Loving My Fibroids Away: A 10-Day Detox Plan. I used the power of blogging to create an ebook that essentially launched my freelance writing career. I wrote the book on a laptop at the local library because my own laptop imploded. Then I spent the evenings on my crappy cell phone (at the time) editing my work in Google Docs. No fancy equipment needed. All that hard work paid off because now I get to work as a copywriter and content creator from wherever I want in the world that has a reliable internet connection. I accomplished all of that because I learned how to build my own audience.

If you want to catch up on the whole group chat that inspired this post, then click here to visit the Women Owned Business Wednesdays Facebook page.