O.C. Writers

By Kristy Tate // 

I recently returned from a five week to Europe. I didn’t get much writing or marketing done, but I did discover a few things.

Before my trip, I had posted on my Kristy Tate novelist Instagram page thirty-five times and a post would get a handful of likes and maybe twenty or thirty page views. I had never made reels, but as I began posting videos daily, the page views climbed to the thousands. The most popular had over 5k views.

Here’s a few things I think worked in my favor.

1. I posted every day for several days in a row before my reels started getting a lot of Instagram love.
2. I used all the hashtags I could.
3. When beginning a video, always start with the most interesting shot. That is the ‘cover image’ and is what will show on your page.
4. I happened to post in the afternoons in the lull between sightseeing and dinner. Because England is in a time zone 8 hours ahead of California, this meant my friends at home on the west coast were getting the posts shortly before dawn.

What went wrong:

Midway through our trip, I boarded a cruise ship which had great food, but terribly internet reception. I stopped posting reels and lost whatever momentum I had built. And even though it was great that my author page was getting a lot of attention, I don’t think it was translating into sales.

Now that I’m home with consistent internet service, I’ve given myself a challenge. I’m creating Tik Tok videos and Instagram reels focused on my books (about 7-10 seconds each) every afternoon and posting them as soon as I wake in the morning. (I’m an early riser.)

I started on Monday (it’s Wednesday). My page views are nothing like what I saw while I was traveling, but, remember, Instagram loves consistency. And is it selling books? Maybe? It’s only been two days, so it’s hard to know.

So, here’s the challenge. For the month of September, I’m going to post on my Instagram and Tik Tok accounts six days a week. I am by no means a social media expert, and I’d love to hear from any of you who have more know-how than me. Next month, I’ll share my results.

Here’s where I stand as of today, August 31^st.

kristytatenovelist

Instagram:

59 posts

365 followers

Tik Tok:

kristytatenovelist

Kristine Dickson Tate

1054 Followers

Here are the travel hashtags I use:

#traveling #tourists#travel #igtraveller #travelholic #travellers #travelpic#mytravelgram #traveladdict #travelgram #traveler #exploretocreate #enjoythelittlethings #exploring #explorepage #explore #enjoy #enjoythemoment #travelphotography #traveling #travelgram #life #style #monday #worldtravelpics #aroundtheworld #nature #nature_perfection #amazing #sea #bestofthedaysecret #traveldeeper #welltravelled #travelcouple #instadaily #goodlife #girlthatwander #ladiesgoneglobal #globelletravels #sheexplores #girlsjustwannatraveltagvery

Here are the romance hashtags I use:

#kindle #amazon #books #booklover #ebook #romance #bookworm #kindlebooks #authorsofinstagram #readersofinstagram #goodreads #bookish #book #romancebooks #reading #booksofinstagram #mustread #bookstagrammer #amazonkindle #bookaddict #indieauthor #kindleunlimitedbooks #contemporaryromance #writersofinstagram #newrelease #ebooks #ku #author

#bibliophile #booklovers #bookaholic #booksbooksbooks #amazonbooks #instabook #blackauthors #amreading #love #romancereads #free #comingsoon #bookblogger #kindlebook #kindlereads #readers #bookreview #livros #novel #a #read #bookclub #blacklove #writingcommunity #romancereader

Would you like to join the challenge?

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KRISTY TATE is the Social Media Director for O.C. Writers and a USA Today bestselling author. To date, her newsletter subscriber list is edging toward 15,000. www.KristyTate.com.