Seven Principles

Recently, someone sent me an article from Tech Crunch called The Seven Principles You need to Know to Build a Great Social Product. As you may know, I’m never content to leave anything in context, and so it made me think how these principles can apply to other things, such as writing and building your online platform and presence.

1. Make Your Book Matter in a World of Infinite Supply

Just as the article states, people are inundated with a huge number of products, sites, and in our case, books on a daily basis. Why should they read your book? And how are you getting that across? When someone comes across your site, or your links, they’ll give you only seconds to catch their attention before they move on to the next product.  As this article suggests, the best way to get their attention is to consistently hit on the emotions your book is supposed to create in people. Your blurb, your blog and your site should convey those feelings not only verbally, but visually. Yes, you’re a writer, but despite what they say, the cover does sell the book and the site does sell the content because people have already processed the feelings created by the colors, layouts and element arrangements before they’ve even had time to read the title of the page.  So, if your books are creepy vampire books, then your content should reflect that. Sweet romance?  Then there may be some pink, or “pretty” colors in your future.

2. Be the Best at One Thing

In other words, Author Branding. Stephannie has recently posted on this topic, so I’ll leave the specifics to her, and just say that author branding means you need to have something consistent across all your books. An author who writes horror erotica or violent death scenes might find it hard to then sell a Christian devotional or even a children’s book. Be mindful of your genres and content.

3.  Seek out Uniqueness

This could be what makes your book unique or, as the article suggests, making people feel unique. I do  believe that can carry over into the writing not  by giving your readers extra content, or making them feel as though they have in hand in things. For example several authors post their works in progress in a blog. Ruth Anne Nordin springs instantly to mind, when I think of this. Her readers get to comment and make suggestions, and she listens to them.  This makes her readers feel special and unique and keeps them coming back.  If you can connect to your readers on an emotional level, you’re more likely to keep them.

4. Focus on your Most Important “Interaction”

As a writer your most important “Interaction” is your writing; so, make sure your book is the best it can be. Edit it and then double edit it. Check it for typos and then check it again. Have at least one beta reader look at it for consistency and believability. When it comes to your site, make your homepage count. Have the most important information easily accessible so that your readers don’t have to hunt for it. Remember people have about a three second attention span.

5. Own your story

Sure, they say there’s nothing new under the sun, and that every story has already been told, but it hasn’t been told by YOU. You make your story unique because your perspective is unique. You are like no one else on the planet, and neither is your writing, or your book. Remember that, and exploit it. Weave your experiences and knowledge in with your stories. If you used to be a nurse then make one of your characters a nurse, or set your story in a hospital instead of an expected place.  Use your unique perspective to make your story unique.

6. Keep Down the Clutter

This applies not only to your writing (do you really NEED the scene where your characters discuss minty toothpaste?) but also to your website or blog. Make it all easy to navigate, clean, sharp and tight, and you’ll get repeat visitors. Have a site that is clunky, confusing or too cluttered and you’ll lose visitors.

7. Concentrate on Change

Not changing you, but changing your reader’s lives. How does your book impact them? I don’t mean that it has to be a life changing, inspirational book, but it should leave an impact of some kind. It should give them an idea, or an escape – in essence it should provide a service of some kind. What that service is depends on the kind of book you write.

And so we see that a book and a social website aren’t so very different after all. Kinda scary, huh?