Our social media goddess at eFrog Press is back to share more channels for connecting with your readers. Do you YouTube? Learn why you should.

If you haven’t heard of YouTube, then you’re brand-new to the Web. YouTube is well-known video-sharing network, which hosts billions of videos and is a great place for you to share your book trailers and other related videos with your readers.

How YouTube Can Work for You

YouTube is also a great way to drive traffic to your website and is highly ranked with search engines so your presence on the video monster site can only help you gain exposure. Consider creating a book trailer as a marketing vehicle to share your book with fans.

Check out eFrog Press’s newest book trailer:

But authors can utilize YouTube beyond book trailers. Consider sharing an “about the author” video so readers can get to know you, a testimonial to your writing (from you or a devoted fan), footage of you reading an excerpt of your writing, or a Q&A format short interview. You’ll have broader reach to more readers and create compelling content to draw in new fans.

How to Start

The first step is creating a YouTube account. Second, you’ll want to secure a channel to post all of your videos so they can live in one place. YouTube gives you the option to name your channel and the best practice for authors is to use your name (or pen name) so readers can easily find you (and search engines, too!). Learn more about getting started with YouTube.

Dos and Don’ts of the Video World

A few things to keep in mind so you can utilize best practices:

• Don’t expect to become the next viral video sensation. It’s more important that you’re reaching your target audience than racking up views.
• Keep it short. People have short attention spans so keep that in mind when creating your videos. If you have a long video that you can’t bear to cut, consider splicing it into a series and post the segments instead.
• Use the comments. If a user posts a comment directed toward you or asks a question, respond! YouTube is just another way to engage with your audience.
• Watch what others are doing. Have an author you admire? Check out their video channel to get some inspiration on new videos you can create.
• Get creative! Don’t be afraid to be funny, personable and — most of all — yourself in your videos. That’s what your fans want to see.
• When in doubt, ask around. Don’t know what your fans want to see? Ask them! Post the question on other social media channels (such as Twitter and Facebook) and ask your fans what types of video content they’d like to see from you.

P Please share

Have a book trailer or video to share with us? We’d love to see it! Link up in the comments. Interested in having a book trailer created for your new title? Check out our services for book trailers: http://www.efrogpress.com/services/

Tags: author videos, book trailers, You Tube, YouTube