Ashish Kumar Singh

What are the top social media platforms available in India and the USA for book promotions?

From my personal experiences, I think Instagram is the place to go as it has the most active and creative readers present as compared to the other platforms. When it comes to promoting a book, the most important thing is visibility, from where one can reach people/audience whose first and basic interest is in reading and Instagram provides that. It gives an author a community which has been there since last decades and is growing continuously. There are some beautiful accounts with more than 50k followers, managed by people who love reading and are willing to share that love with others. Other than Instagram, Twitter, as well as Goodreads, are the next best places to go.

At what stage of my book publishing journey should I consider social media promotions? Pre publishing or post and How?

That depends on what kind of publishing one is going for. If you are being published by a traditional publisher say Penguin or Hachette then, promotion should and usually starts as soon as the cover is revealed. Whereas if you are considering a self-publishing company say Notion Press or Pothi, it’s better to wait till the book is out.

What are the 5 most effective ways to promote books on social media?

1. Make sure you post every news related to your book on your social media whether it’s a cover launch or an interview. 
2. Request your friends to repost and share the news about your book on their platform. It helps in spreading that news.
3. Have a continuous online presence be that Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook. Share stories and post as much as you can. 
4. Once the book is out make sure to approach readers for the review of your book. Try to make a buzz!
5. Make sure reviewers post reviews on Amazon, Blog (if they have any), and Goodreads.

What are the common mistakes made by first-time authors while promoting the book on social media?

Not finding the right audience. Generally what new authors tend to do is push the book to everybody and they forget that they have to target the right audience! Not everybody enjoys the same kind of book and so it’s important that authors, if they are looking to get their books reviewed, should approach readers/reviewers whose reading taste matches with the book. The other thing is that they become overprotective of their book. When they see a negative review which is inevitable because not everybody will have something positive to say, they aggressively try to defend it. Do not do that!

What kind of post engagement is received on social media while promoting books? What is the percentage of clicks, likes, and comments?

That depends on where you are promoting the book. On Instagram, everything depends on the number of followers (hard truth); the more follower you have, the greater your reach. For example, if an author approaches a reviewer who already has more than 5k followers, then it’s very likely that the engagement on the book will be higher as compared to accounts with fewer numbers.

How much money should I spend on social media promotions for my book and some things to keep in mind?

That’s really important. Set a budget before you start promoting a book. If you are opting for ads on the social media platforms, make sure you keep a record of the sales and if they are helping in increasing the sales, repeat it and if not, then dump the whole idea. As for paid reviews which are quite popular on Instagram, make sure you discuss the payment before agreeing. It’s also understandable that reviewers with bigger accounts will charge more as compared to the relatively smaller ones. So navigate carefully.

How to find the perfect hashtags and time to post my book promotions on social media?

On Instagram, hashtags are important as they help in boosting the visibility of your posts. Make sure to use the right hashtags which will go with the concept of your books and try to post as regularly as possible.

What are the things an author should be cautious about before finalizing a social media handle (page) for promoting their book?

Make sure the page is neat and accessible. Share excerpts from your book. Be present, reply to comments and DMs and try to engage as much as possible. Every news, interview, and review should be shared on the page. Use linktree to share links. 

Should an author run paid ads on social media-based interests? Is it effective and what sales can I expect?

Ads on Instagram are quite effective. I have seen authors benefiting from it and I am certainly of the opinion that it helps, if not in sales then at least in creating a chatter online. Famous authors such as Ravinder Singh and Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni have promoted their books through it. 

Please give a bit of a background about your social media handle, its Vision & Mission, Top management, the Kind of books you promote, and your biggest strength as a book influencer, popular authors promoted so far, years of experience, any testimonials, etc.

I have been managing my Instagram account (ashish_the_reader ) for more than 3 years now and one of the reasons why I started it in the first place was to share my love for reading and also because I had no one to discuss the books I read with. After joining bookstagram, I met people with whom I could discuss any book to the point of exhaustion. With my account, I want to inspire people to read and discover books that are underrated or aren’t as well promoted as they should have. 

In my opinion, one of my biggest strengths as a book influencer is that I’m cold-heartedly honest and that’s the reason people trust my reviews and recommendations. 

Previously I have reviewed books by authors old and new, from big and small publishing, and have helped them as much as I possibly could. Whenever I post a review on my Instagram, I make sure to write a review for other platforms as well such as Amazon and Goodreads.

At Sharing Stories, we have an ongoing campaign ‘Let’s Empower Our Kids’. Please suggest some books that you think every child should read before the age of 15 (mostly the character-defining age), teaching them life lessons. Things like empathy, sympathy, relationships, etc.

For children, providing them with good books, books that they can enjoy as well as learn something in the process is absolutely necessary. In my opinion, Matilda by Roald Dahl and nearly all the books by Ruskin Bond especially his The Blue Umbrella should be read by all. Other than these, Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, stories by Premchand and HG Wells are must-reads.

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