{"id":17165,"date":"2017-08-04T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-08-04T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/?p=17165"},"modified":"2017-08-10T21:49:22","modified_gmt":"2017-08-11T04:49:22","slug":"finding-right-wizard-social-media-strategies-authors-catharine-bramkamp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/2017\/08\/04\/finding-right-wizard-social-media-strategies-authors-catharine-bramkamp\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding the Right Wizard: Social Media Strategies for Authors by Catharine Bramkamp"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Don't<\/a>Let\u2019s welcome back monthly columnist\u00a0Catharine Bramkamp<\/a>\u00a0as she shares with us about \u201cFinding the Right Wizard: Social Media Strategies for Authors.\u201d<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

One of the most challenging projects writers face is promotions.<\/strong> How to describe our beautiful books? How to break down the book into effective social media posts? Why didn\u2019t anyone mention this in the creative writing seminar?<\/p>\n

I have a broom and a bucket! Here are some ideas on how to defeat the witch and discover your own happy social media place for your book.<\/p>\n

Here is how Frank L Baum<\/a> may have initially described his first book:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I wrote a book set in Kansas but it doesn\u2019t stay there. A big tornado takes the heroine, Dorothy to the magical land of OZ. No, you can\u2019t find it on a map. There, Dorothy meets a good witch and a bad witch. The good witch is very pretty. From Munchkin land she must travel to the Emerald City, which isn\u2019t really emerald. Everyone just wears green glasses. Anyway, she meets colorful characters along the way — a lion, tin man and scarecrow — and they all have adventures as they travel to Oz where even though they reach Oz, and meet the Wizard of Oz, which is the title of the book, now they learn they must kill the witch. And so they have more adventures in order to kill the witch, so Dorothy can go home.<\/p>\n

Is the killing dramatic?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Oh very, Dorothy throws water on the witch.<\/p>\n

Sound familiar?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

We have spent all our time and energy creating the narrative and following our heroine through one adventure after the next and we have that nailed.<\/p>\n

Now we\u2019re asked to describe our platform to an agent and it\u2019s a totally different mindset.<\/p>\n

Most of us would rather hold our breath while jogging through a\u00a0 field of poison poppies.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s say Frank attended a social media\/platform seminar. Here is what he learned to say:<\/p>\n

The Wizard of Oz<\/a> <\/strong>is about a plucky American girl who adventures through a foreign land. But despite its many temptations and colorful characters, she only wants to go home. This is perfect adventure for Depression-era readers still reeling from the Great War. Dorothy embodies the hopes and dreams that our young people will want to stay home and on our farms but does it without preaching. For the kids, there are flying monkeys and witches.<\/p>\n

Platform Themes<\/h2>\n

Now here are some platform themes that can be used to promote the book and find the likely audience for the book:<\/strong><\/p>\n