I had someone recently ask me in the Marketing & Publicity for the author workshop, “Which social media platform do you think works best for authors?”

I laughed and then replied, “That’s not a fair question! I like Twitter best, but that’s not to say you won’t like Facebook better.”

Every author will have an ideal platform(s). For some it may be blogging, others Twitter or Facebook, and some may do better at traditional marketing. It really has more to do with the author, their comfort level and the time they are willing to invest than it does with the platform itself. On yesterday, I posted video of author Terri Woods, who was successful at selling her novel on the streets of New York.

Will that work for you?

I’ve seen all of these platforms yield great results for authors but what works for one author may not work for another. That’s why it’s really important to be attune to which platform is providing you value.

“So you’re saying it’s a time sink? I basically have to try them all out?” he asked.

“Technically yes, it’s a time sink. And no, you don’t have to try them all out, but the ones you do try….think of it more as an investment of your time.”

Once you’ve created your marketing plan and outlined how you want to market yourself and your title, there may need to be tweaks to your plan. Sometimes its necessary to revamp your marketing plan because you may decide that you are not comfortable with a platform, it requires more time than you’re willing to invest, or its not providing the results you thought it would.

I created my marketing plan two months before my debut novel The Buzz was released. There were many components to my marketing plan and social media was at the forefront, namely Facebook. After a few months of marketing my title I realized that Facebook wasn’t my platform of choice.

I still use Facebook, however it is no longer the FOCUS of my marketing. Now that’s not to say that it doesn’t work, but that it wasn’t the best platform for me. So I had to set out to find a platform in social media that would work better.

One day, I remember logging on to Twitter and seeing all these 140 character messages and going, “I just don’t get it.” Believe me, I wanted to get it because people were just oohing and aahing over it.  I tried to jump in with the tweeting and I didn’t have a clue why the site was so popular because it just didn’t make sense to me. In comparison to Facebook, the conversations seemed random. So I sought out people who were using Twitter successfully. I registered for Twitter webinars and read blogs dedicated to Twitter. I wanted to fully understand how it could be useful to me as a publishing company and an author.

Before long, I saw how Twitter would be more useful in my day to day marketing. From that day forward, my focus shifted.

For those of you who don’t know, I am also a freelance entertainment writer and since 2005 I have ran an entertainment blog in addition to freelancing for a magazine. I understand the dedication and time it takes to run a successful blog, so blogging was NOT a part of my marketing plan because initially I felt that it would require too much of my time.

As strictly an author, maybe that wouldn’t be as big an issue, but I was also launching a publishing company and had another author signed to my company. My day to day was already hectic and now you want me to blog…

Now if you’re reading this, then you know I changed my mind. I later saw the benefit in blogging. I realized that I had  a lot to share. I also find it rather cathartic to write about my journey as an author and since I was providing this information to authors over the phone and in person anyway, well it just made sense…

A marketing plan is not set in stone. As interest in your book grows and book sales increase, so will your focus. What may be a time-sink in the beginning may be a non-issue later. For example, the amount of time you spend in the beginning getting followers on Twitter, won’t be as important once you have thousands who seem to be really tuned in to what you are saying. Finding readers of your blog will be a non-issue once your popularity grows and site statistics soar. You can then focus your time and energy somewhere else.

A marketing plan is really just a work in progress…

As you’ve read, I’ve revamped my marketing plan a few times and will continue to do so as my goals are accomplished and my focus changes. If you’re a new writer, be prepared to tweak your marketing plan as the buzz grows and if you’re an established author it may be time to pull out the old marketing plan, dust it off and come up with a few new ideas to market your book. It’s never too late. There’s someone who hasn’t read it.

If you’re looking for further help with creating a marketing plan, check out my eBook Marketing And Publicity For The Author.  In the eBook I will go into more detail about social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and blogging for authors.

Have you had to revamp your marketing plan? If so, what changes have you made? Please share in the comment section below.