Rod Raglin

This blog will touch on the experiences I have as a writer (not to be mistaken for my experience as a writer, i.e. how many books I've written, etc); the pleasure and the pain, the joy and the grief, the satisfaction and the frustration, the magic and the reality - have I left anything out, oh yeah, the rejection, rejection and more rejection,  the humiliation and the embarrassment, the jealousy and the resentment - that pretty much covers it, except for why I do it which perhaps I'll realize along the way. Are you totally confused? Good, let's begin.

The myth that social media sells books

Could something finally be happening?

Was I finally beginning to break through?

Was the digital void finally beginning to listen?

 

This September I wrote an article for BookLikes, in response to their #recommendaway series where members recommend titles or themes of books they’re interested in. My theme was indie authors. Then they invited me to be a guest blogger and I submitted my article on “Rushing to Publish” (see it here in the archives).

 

Booklikes has 3,143 followers on Twitter and 4,605 “likes” on Facebook. I don’t know how many members they have but they claim to be “The number one blogging platform for book lovers and the best way to discover new books”.

 

Then I discovered Promocave http://promocave.com/ “A place for authors to find readers, and for readers to find books”. I posted my books with blurbs free and submitted two articles, both which they published. Promocave says they have16,046 followers on Twitter and 645 “Likes” on Facebook.

 

This blog is getting boring even for me, but hang in there.

 

Partly because of being featured on these two sites (thank you) my Twitter activity was up a bit over 30 percent with an increase of impressions from 3719 to 5393. Visits to my website were up 19 percent from 520 to 642.

 

I was getting excited. Could all this activity mean...?

 

So here’s the punch line – you know it already, right?

 

All this new exposure and all this increased activity I didn’t sell me one book in the past month.

 

That’s nearly 20,000 new people on Twitter and over 5,000 on Facebook who “discovered” me and had the opportunity to turn their interest into sales.

 

This is further evidence to me, like I needed it, social media does not sell books. It also hints at something far more significant. Social media perpetrates the myth of popularity, but when put to the test, nobody out there really “likes” you, “follows” you or supports you as a member of their “tribe” enough to buy your books.

 

So, if you’re and author, the best way to sell your books is, well, I don’t know, but certainly not through social media.

 

However, if you want to continue to be delusional, and I have to admit it often seems more appealing than reality, keep those postings coming.

 

Oh yeah, the answer to those questions at the beginning of this blog?

 

NO – to all three.

 

Stay calm, be brave, watch for the signs.

 

30

 

SPECIAL PRE-0RDER PRICE NOW AVAILABLE

Saving Spirit Bear – 99¢ if ordered before November 8, 2015

Loving the Terrorist – 99¢ Beyond Eagleridge Bluffs

– order before December 6, 2015

After pre-order dates regular price will apply $2.99

To pre-order go to

http://www. amazon.com/author/rodraglin

 

Video book reviews of self-published authors now at

Not Your Family, Not Your Friend Video Book Reviews: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH45n8K4BVmT248LBTpfARQ

 

My new novels, FOREST – Love, Loss, Legend and The BIG PICTURE – A Camera, A Young Woman, An Uncompromising Ethic are available on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003DS6LEU and as e-books at https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/raglin

 

Read Reviews https://readersfavorite.com:book-review:39014

 

Visit my publisher’s website for excerpts from, and a buy link to my Eco-Fi series ECO-WARRIORS Book 3, Not Wonder More – Mad Maggie and the Mystery of the Ancients http://www.devinedestinies.com/?route=product%2Fauthor&author_id=92

ECO-WARRIOR Book 1, Saving Spirit Bear is available at

http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003DS6LEU

ECO-WARRIOR Book 2, Loving the Terrorist - Beyond Eagleridge Bluffs is now available as in paperback at

http://www.amazon.com/author/rodraglin

 

More of my original photographs can be viewed, purchased, and shipped to you as GREETING CARDS; matted, laminated, mounted, framed, or canvas PRINTS; and POSTERS. Go to: http://www.redbubble.com/people/rodraglin

 

View my flickr photostream at https://www.flickr.com/photos/78791029@N04/

 

Or, My YouTube channel if you prefer photo videos accompanied by classical music

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsQVBxJZ7eXkvZmxCm2wRYA