When I first ventured into the writing business professionally last year, the advice I heard most often went something like this: get online, build your website, use social media, and develop an online presence. Naturally, I took that advice to heart, and I thought it would be

Guess what?

The story of my life!

Just like I had learned about setting goals and creating my brand, I also learned that fostering an online presence wasn’t so easy. Just like with everything else that is worth doing and doing well, it requires time, effort, and finesse. And if you know me, I like to speed through projects and often do so with the grace of a bull performing the Nutcracker in a China shop.

That’s not quite what I meant

Now that’s a bit more accurate!

Why is an online presence so important for an author?

It’s important because in this fast paced digital world, an online presence can generate word-of-mouth advertising. Naturally, when people really like a product, such as a book,

See how much she loves that book!

they will discuss that book with their friends

You have just GOT to read this book

Their friends may even buy said book on that recommendation, and if your writing is good, all these readers will soon want to

Readers have voracious appetites. They know it, and they freely admit it! 

Well, if an author has an online presence, then more readers are aware when new books by that author are out. If readers are unaware, how are they going to find a book, much less buy it? Sure, they might stumble across the book.

Go ahead. Find your book.

Readers have tons of authors and books to choose from. Just hoping they stumble across it on Amazon or Barnes & Noble isn’t very efficient marketing. Is it?

Before genuine online presence

Take me for example. When I self-published my first book, I had a less-than-zero online presence. Book sales reflected that. Even though the book received some great reviews, people just didn’t know about it. Why? Well, I hadn’t done the advance work of creating an online presence.

After genuine online presence

When I built a better social media presence, the sales for my next book 3 were infinitely better! By the time, my next two books, The Gifted One and Moral Authority, which was a second edition of my self-published book I mentioned earlier, were released, sales were even better because my social presence was that much stronger.

Because of my online presence, more potential readers were aware of my books.

Because of my online presence, more readers were talking about my books after they read them.

Because of readers’ word-of-mouth, other potential readers heard about my books and became aware I existed. In turn, they started buying my books.

See how that works?

It sounds easy. Right? Well, it’s not. There is a catch, and it was a lesson I needed to learn–an author’s online presence must be genuine!

What does a genuine online presence mean?

It’s quite simple really. Authors need to interact with their readers, fans, and other authors in their social media networks, and those interactions must be sincere.

Let me explain

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen authors blast their Facebook, Twitter, Google +, or other social networking site with their self-promotions.

Yeah, it can sometimes feel EXACTLY like that!

While touting our books is part of the profession, it cannot and should not be all the author does with his or her social media.

Self-promotion isn’t genuine at all, and it can be annoying. Think about the constant advertising you see in print or online. How much attention do we pay to those?

That about sums up my reaction too

That’s why authors have to do more than just blast their social media with their latest release, review, or blog stop.

If that’s all, an author gives, they will likely not see much in return.

How does an author establish a genuine online presence?

It really comes down to these five tasks:

• Share tidbits about your life–What’s happening in your life? What movie did you just see and love or hate? What photos would you not mind sharing with the public? What made you laugh today? What did you hear in the news that made you angry? Offer the reader parts of your life that show you are a real person. Readers love that, and they respond to it
• Comment on your readers posts/updates–By doing this, an author involves her/himself in their readers lives. Is a reader upset about something? Offer some words of comfort. If a reader is celebrating some milestone, offer congratulations. If readers say something funny or touch upon a topic you enjoy talking about, join the conversation. This builds rapport and helps readers remember you. Just keep in mind that you can’t only talk to the same five people all the time. You should diversify who you talk to. If you have a huge list of friends, there’s no way you can reach them all, but if you cycle through the list, especially those who post constantly, you can reach a good number of them.
• Join online writers or readers groups–This helps increase your presence substantially. A readers group puts you right with the people who you want to be with. Find a group that loves the genre you write and join. Get involved in the conversations. Explain why you love this book or that book. That will also put you on a reader’s radar, when they are contemplating what book to buy next.
• Promote other authors–When you promote other authors, you show that you are a part of a community. It shows that you are not just looking out for yourself, but that  you genuinely care about the success of your peers. Also, when an author promotes other authors, those same authors will remember you and will promote your latest release, review, or blog tour. This means you will reach all their friends and could garner some new readers.
• Be real–Readers and authors can spot a fake quite easily. They can tell when an author is simply going through the motions instead of taking a real interest. That is why all authors should work to foster sincere relationships online. Be yourself and be polite. Remember, social media is not the place for authors to air their drama or attack other readers/authors/review sites. If you must vent, find a loved one or a good friend. Authors shouldn’t broadcast their discontent for all to see. Doing so has a way of coming back.

How does an author do all this and keep up with his/her writing?

I won’t lie. Fostering a genuine online presence takes time and dedication, but it is a must. Thirty minutes to an hour every other day can do wonders. Yes, it takes time away from writing, but if all an author does is write and doesn’t get involved with her/his social media, then who will read the finished product?

Believe me, I have noticed a difference.

As a relatively new author in the writing business, I’ve discovered I have a lot to learn. When my first book was published in October 2012, I was naturally ecstatic.

Yep, that’s about how broad my smile was

After all, I had achieved a very important goal I set for myself when I decided I wanted to be published. I thought all I had to do to be successful was just keep writing and getting my books out to the readers.

I was

There are so many fantastic authors out there in the m/m genre, and as a new guy, people had no idea who Jacob Z. Flores was. I had no clue that I needed to tell them. Sure, I wrote up an author bio that gave readers some insight to who I was, but I didn’t do anything else. After all, I didn’t see myself as this big corporate entity like Apple or McDonalds.

Why would little old me need to set up a brand?

Well, I needed to let readers know who I was, and that’s what an author brand does. It tells readers what type of books they can expect to read from me. It also gives them something to remember. After all, we associate the golden arches with McDonalds and the bitten apple with, well, Apple. I had given my readers nothing to associate with me.

Luckily, a dear friend and fellow author pointed out what I wasn’t doing. She became my Yoda, and I her willing padawan.

And her first question was a doozy!

Who are you as an author?

She had me take a good, hard look at myself. Not just the person I was at home, but the person I was as an author. I needed to discover what there was about me that set me apart from the other amazing authors out there.

Let me tell you, that was not only difficult but terrifying. I had no clue what set me apart from everyone else. As far as I was concerned, there was nothing unique about me. So, I turned to my friends and asked them how they would describe me.

Talk about opening a can of worms!

I freely admit that I can be pretty stubborn and pissy at times, but did my best friends really have to jump all over those qualities right off the bat? Apparently so! It’s a good thing I love each and every one of them! Once they were done giving me a hard time, I learned some interesting things about myself. I won’t bore you with all the details, but there was consensus on the fact that I could be very sweet but also very spicy.

That was something I could build on!

Like a good padawan, I discussed being sweet and spicy with my Yoda. What did she say?

Yeah, so she didn’t like the sweet and spicy that much. But, hey, it was my first try. Luke Skywalker didn’t lift his space ship the first time he tried on Yoga’s swamp planet. I couldn’t expect to be successful on my first attempt either!

But I was on the right path. And through extensive training in the force, the phrase “sinfully charming” was born, a better combination of sweet and spicy that was neither feminine nor generic.

What does “sinfully charming” mean as my brand?

Well, it tells readers that I’m nice and also naughty, and that they can expect a combination of those qualities in their interactions with me, and in the books that I write. It also gives me an excuse to share all those photos of hot, barely dressed men on my social media sites and on my blog. Not that I needed an excuse, but now, I can say it’s just part of my brand. 🙂

YAY!!!!

But, I wasn’t done yet. As my Yoda explained, I had defined myself but I had more work yet to accomplish.

I hear ya, Homer!

What do I have to do now?

Create the Brand, I Must

But wait? Isn’t that what I just did?

Apparently, not! I had only just begun. You see, I now had to think about the colors that would be associated with the brand, and the image that I wanted people to associate with Jacob Z. Flores, the author. This was pretty important.

Colors are powerful association tools. McDonalds’ colors are red and yellow. Apple’s color is white. We remember that because that’s a part of their brand. Now, I had to decide what colors I wanted readers to associate with me.

At this point, I became overwhelmed and just wanted to rush through the process. My Yoda, however, would have none of that.

Yoda was right. I had to take my time. My author brand would be with me forever. I couldn’t rush the process. This was the career I wanted. After all, writing is what I want to do full-time, and I needed to make sure I got the brand right. Because my brand was going to be with me a very long time.

I took a deep breath and asked myself: what did I envision when I thought of “sinfully charming”?

Well, the image I saw in my head was a hot, barely dressed man in a tuxedo. That meant black and white were definitely in the running. How charming is a man in a tux? Yum! As for the sinful part, well, red was the natural answer.

Finally, I’d done something right!

Not only had I gotten my colors, but I also had my visual. Now, all I needed was a tagline that captured the “sinfully charming” nature of my author persona and my books. Once I had that, Yoda put me in contact with the fabulous A.J. Corza who took the abstract ideas and created this.

Which I think perfectly captures the “sinfully charming” author brand.

So, now I have my brand, and my website now reflects it as well. My readers have an idea of who I am and what they can expect from me and my books, and hopefully, I’ve given them an image they can remember. 😉

By combining that with well-written books, I’m doing my best to carve out a place for Jacob Z. Flores in the world of m/m fiction.

And that is part of the business.

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