From the very beginning of my journey to being a published author, I have been involved in some kind of Author Social Media Community. I started out on Twitter (now X) posting #FollowFriday tweets of fellow authors I followed. Through those simple tweets, I gained many followers and connected with many authors, some of whom I've since met in person. Through those simple connections, I learned about the weekly Six Sentence Sunday blog hop and started posting snippets from my own works-in-progress on my blog. Through that blog hop, I connected with many other authors, and learned about calls for submissions at various publishers. That's how I got my first story published, and many more since. Through that publisher, I connected with some local authors, whom I still meet with. I've also been involved in shared world book releases, anthologies, large group sales, group blogs, and so much more because of these connections. 

While I know there are many groups to join on Facebook that can give these same connections, I'm going to discuss some of the other social media events I've participated in.

I've seen follow hashtags on many social media platforms, but they seem to be biggest on X and TikTok. They can be specific to a group of people, a genre, or just a general #follow for those looking for any followers. 

As I mentioned above, I started out participating in #FollowFriday on Twitter, and then used more specific hashtags for follows after that. I don't really use them anymore, but it was great when I was starting as a published author.

These are a lot more fun, and require more work and more thought put into what you post. They can be found on multiple social media platforms, but I mostly see them on X and Instagram. Sometimes they are weekly and other times can be daily posts for a whole month. I've seen them for indie authors, romance authors, and other genre specific prompts. I've seen #FridayKiss, #FantasyIndiesApril, #LesFicFriday, #SaturdaySnippet, #vss365, #SciFiFri. Some of them are no longer giving prompts, but many still are if you look into the hashtags. I still do #FridayKiss, hosted by author Gwynne Jackson. It's very active on Instagram and Facebook. Prompts for Friday are posted on Wednesday in the, and on Thursday evening on Gwynne's Instagram account. Though right now, I'm participating in #AuthorApril24, hosted by Author Mariah Ankenman. You can find the post with all the prompts for the month of April here.

The important thing to remember about these prompts is that you only connect with other authors if you follow the hashtag to like (and maybe comment on) other author's posts.

There are two types of blog hops I've participated in. The first is the weekly blog hop. I started out with Six Sentence Sunday, but when the creator of that one stopped hosting it, I started participating in Weekend Writing Warriors. MFRW has many that they host as well, including Book Hooks. These blog hops are for posting snippets of your work and reading the snippets of other authors. There are rules to what you can post and a central site to sign up on so readers and other participants can find your post. This is another event where it is important to visit the other participants.

The other type of blog hop I've participated in are for single events and usually include freebies and/or a giveaway. The host rounds up authors and readers with blogs to participate. They can be for an author's new release, a publisher's anniversary, group releases, special holidays, and more. Once again, there is a central page with all the participants listed.

I have been a blogger on multiple group blogs over the years. These are blogs that don't belong to any one particular person, but have a consistent group of authors who post on set days with some guests posting, too. I've been part of Romance Eh? Canadian Style, Backward Momentum, SFR Brigade, and Paranormal Romantics. These are great for all the participating authors, as they can bring their readers to the blog for other authors, and gain new readers from other authors. And readers can find a whole bunch more books to read that are usually similar to what they are already reading.

The only problem I've found with participating in these author posts is that none of them last forever. Over time, many authors leave the industry or no longer have time to participate. When participation becomes low, it's best to leave and move on to a new type of post. Many times, you can see what other authors you've connected with are participating in and join that. Except for the group blogs, I've never seen any restrictions to participating, so they're easy to join.

Join me for the Fall In Love - Valentine's Day Event on Facebook on February 14th! I'm there throughout the day with three posts, each with their own giveaway. So, be sure to find my posts and enter to win! Plus, there are many other author posting all day long with more fun stuff and prizes for you!