How important is social media to the success of your books?

That's a loaded question.

It's sort of like asking, are you a "glass is half full" or a "glass is half empty" type of person? If you're a "glass is half full" type, you're going to scream, "Damn right! You have to be on social media, because that's where the people are." If you're a "glass is half empty" type, you're going to whine and moan, "What's the point? I sell my books on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iBooks, not on Facebook and Twitter."

You probably see where I'm going with this.

Authors are divided on the need for social media, its uses, and its outcomes. Some writers will tell you they couldn't have gotten where they are without it; others will say, "Why bother?" or, "Hey!,I tried it, and it didn't make any diff. My sales stayed the same."

I'm going to try not to take sides here. My goal is to give you the information you need to implement social media in your writing business should you choose to do so.

My primary focus is going to be on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest because they are the three powerhouses behind social media today. Facebook and Twitter get more of the space because they are the social media sites everybody goes to. Pinterest gets a bigger mention because it is the one most authors say actually works best.

Does that mean you need to use all three? Or that you should focus exclusively on Pinterest because it's what works best for most authors? No. It means you should start out slow. Pick one or two social media platforms, and spend 10 or 15 minutes on them two or three days a week.