Social Media List Builders
An inefficient method for cultivating true fans
Indie authors are told they need to create a thriving social media presence to draw an engaged audience to their stories.
Actually, told is an massive understatement. Embracing a quest to achieve social media stardom is hammered into an indie author’s head. This unsolicited advice will hound them nonstop from all corners once they declare their existence to world.
Common pro-social media arguments authors face include:
“Agents and traditional publishers will not consider authors unless they have a large number of followers on social media.”
“Readers are more likely to buy books from authors whom they can engage with on social media.”
“Social media offers free advertising for your books and will help you spread the word quickly.”
The logic driving such statements is flawed and only misleads many indie authors into expending time and energy in the wrong direction. It also opens a door for unscrupulous “experts” to prey on desperate indie authors and offer social media list building services for a hefty price.
Are list builders worth the cost?
At first glance, paying someone else to help you collect new followers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Amazon, Goodreads, or BookBub sounds appealing. Gaining even a few dozen followers often takes several weeks or months of regular posting. Building out a list of thousands or tens of thousands of followers can require several years’ worth of effort — assuming it ever happens at all.
Social media list builders appeal to some attention-starved indie authors through what they promise to deliver. They guarantee an author will gain several hundred new followers in only a few weeks in exchange for a one-time fee. Then, the author has an eager audience, ready to bust open their wallets and snap up every new novel, novella, or short story they release.
Sounds like an awesome deal, right?
Reality dictates such a scenario is as fictional as the tales an indie author creates. This may seem harsh but it carries more truth than any list builder’s claims
Scam-artists will build your social media following by flooding countless bots and spam accounts into your list of followers. Thus, you may have a 1,000 to 10,000 new followers in a month, but none are actual fans — or even real people in many cases — and these so-called followers will never engage with any of your social media posts or care that your books exist.
Reputable list builders will add real accounts. But they achieve this goal by staging giveaways on various social media platforms. The prize is usually a free gift card, a free book, or some other desirable swag.
One specific word should sound an alarm inside your head.
FREE
A significant percentage of new followers reaped from legit list builders are not invested in your work. They are not salivating over the chance to read your stories — unless you offer every story for free. Many followers cultivated from legit list builders are freebie seekers. Good luck converting these folks into actual fans. Freebie seekers specialize in chasing giveaways. And once they learn you won’t supply a steady stream of free items, they unfollow or unsubscribe in a heartbeat.
How do you build a following?
Social media gives every author a platform for amplifying their voice — if they can clear the hurdles placed in their path by unseen algorithms. So how do you, as an author, reach your social media audience?
A simple answer is you give them a reason to follow you. Like it or not, that involves investing time in building your social media platform with engaging posts that aren’t exclusively centered around buying your latest novel. Show your target audience a side of your personality you are comfortable sharing with the outside world. Give your followers a peek inside your life. Share your hobbies and interests. Let them learn about the real person behind the name on the book cover. Authentic interaction will draw true fans to you infinitely faster than employing a list-building service to do the job for you.
Creating a thriving social media footprint requires as much time investment and patience for an indie author as crafting a well-written novel. Cutting corners with expensive list-builders will do more harm than good to your author brand. The better strategy is to create a social media engagement plan tailored to fit your own personality and interests. Play to your own strengths. You will be miles ahead of the desperate list builders in the end.
Have a topic related to publishing or marketing for indie authors you’d like to see me cover in a future article? Reach out and let me know.
I can see how such a service would be tempting to try. Social media can be a nightmare, so a shortcut would definitely be welcome. But anything that easy is also probably too good to be true... I'm not on any social media, and I think I'll keep it that way, even if it means my career is doomed (it probably was anyway ;-)