Monday 14 April 2014

Using Instagram to market your books

Monique, our bright-eyed intern was given the task of starting an Instagram account and making it work as something that added value and promoted our books. Here are some of the lessons she learnt:


Instagram for Dummies:
I created an Instagram account based on all things geeky called Geeksmack. I have been struggling with the question of how to make it successful and how to gain followers. So, I made a point of learning how to Instagram and how to do it well. Below are a few tips I have learnt along the way.


·           First of all you have to decide what you want to get out of the Instagram account you are going to create. You have to decide if you want to use the account to market a brand or just for personal use.

·           You need to create an interesting username, interesting short biography and post a picture on your account that depicts what you’re trying to convey to the users of Instagram.

·           The pictures that you post need to be relevant to your profile and its purpose. These pictures are a representation of what you're trying to put out there for other people to see and to essentially gain many followers.

Making Instagram successful and gaining followers:
To start you must post pictures that are of good quality, interesting, original and unique and that attract people to want to follow.

When posting hashtags on pictures, they must be relevant and categorical. If people search that particular hashtag, they will end up finding your posts. Do not over kill it with hashtags and write a short description, so people will be encouraged to comment.
It’s important to like and comment on other people’s posts. This is a good way of interacting and gaining followers through this. 

Ideally, in order to gain followers in Instagram you want to target people that are similar to what you are portraying on your profile. A good way to do this is to search hashtags under the categories you are interested in, for example searching #sci-fi. By doing this you can find people who have similar interests to you and follow them and gain followers in return. 

Follow the followers of the people who you are already following or are following you.


Monique De Nobrega is a 22 year old Journalism Degree graduate from The University of Johannesburg. She has a passion for writing with the hopes of one day fulfilling her dream of becoming the editor of Cosmopolitan magazine. This all started from when she was a young girl and developed a love of books and reading. “I enjoyed reading so much that I never wanted to do my homework after school. Books were my enjoyment and entertainment growing up, so was writing every day in my journal.” Her favorite author out of all the books she has read is Jodie Picoult. “Picoult tells the story how it happens in real life and not the happier, faker version of the story”.  Besides reading and writing, she’s a huge animal lover and hates cruelty to animals.



Tuesday 8 April 2014

Calling all book bloggers!

Here at Wordsmack Publishers we realise the power of book bloggers - we love that the Internet has made it possible for anyone's voice to be heard. So get hold of us and we'll send you ARCs and cover reveals and interviews and all kinds of goodies!

If you're into speculative fiction - fantasy, sci-fi, paranormal - that kind of stuff, then our books are right up your alley. 

Currently, we have two Young Adult books waiting to be reviewed and published, here's more info on them:


The Ripmender by Julianne Alcott:

"In the real world, your idol usually ends up in rehab or, even worse, at a wedding altar in some tacky Vegas chapel. What they don't do is tell you they are from another planet ... Just my luck!"

Cathy Slater dreams of meeting the love of her life ... teen rock
sensation, Nathan Jake.

He's adored by millions, while she has trouble even fitting into her own family! Although he is a tutor at her university, there is no way she can compete with the packs of worshipping fans constantly surrounding him.

But then fate intervenes and her life changes forever when she stumbles onto Nathan's biggest secret ... She wasn't meant to see what he can do ... what he is ... Now there's no going back.

Who are the Ripmenders and what is their purpose here on Earth?

Follow Cathy across the galaxy as she uncovers the truth about the shady organisation behind Nathan's secret. Can she ever truly understand the mystery behind the man she loves? ... Or will an enemy from the past ruin everything?


The Guardian's Wyrd by Nerine Dorman:

Sometimes having a fairytale prince as a best friend can be a real pain.

Jay didn't realise that sticking up for Rowan, the gangly new kid at school, would plunge him into the dangers and politics of the magical realm of Sunthyst. But if anyone is up for the challenge it's Jay September. With his trusty dog, Shadow, at his side, he braves the watcher in the dark that guards the tunnels between the worlds, and undertakes a dangerous quest to rescue the prince.

It's a race against time - can he sneak Prince Rowan away from under King Lessian's nose and bring him safely back home - all before the prince's sixteenth birthday? Or is Rowan's mother, the exiled Queen Persia, secretly trying to hold onto her power by denying her son his birthright?

Jay is ready for anything, except, perhaps, the suffocating darkness
of the tunnels. And those eyes ...


~

Talk to Wordsmack by checking out our details here: www.word-smack.com