Hash-Tagging Your Book
When it comes to social media, there’s a lot you can do. I wrote a whole series about it here, but one thing that people don’t talk about a lot? Hashtagging your book.
I don’t remember when I started doing a hashtag on mine, and for a while, I wondered if it was worth it. Given my background in public relations and social media, it seemed like a good idea. And now that my book has been out for two months, I totally agree with it. In fact, I have one for my book that is out, and another one for my book I’m working on.
Today, we’re going to talk about three keys to creating your hashtag, and how to use it.
1. Make It Original
When it came to creating my book’s hashtag #theassassinbook I went with the basics. I wasn’t going to use #theassassin because that’s too vague, but taking “book” at the end of it allows it to be unique, but still tell you what’s going on.
2. Make it Easy to Remember
I think mine is pretty easy to remember, but another one that’s easy to remember is #TATM from Jenny Bravo. Her book is called These Are the Moments, which is obviously too long to be its own hashtag, but #TATM is still easy to remember.
Hash-tagging your book. 5 tips and tricks for creating an epic hashtag. Share on X
3. Make Sure No One Else Uses It
You want to own your hashtag, so make sure that no one else is using it. If there’s a few tweets with a hashtag you’re looking at, you may be able to get away with it, but ideally, you want something no one else has used before.
While you want to make sure no one else is using it already, encourage people to use it when talking about your book.
4. Use it All the Time – To an Extent
Every tweet involving my book features my hashtag. I use the hashtag on Instagram as well. Using it on Instagram allows you to pair it with other popular hashtags (for indie authors, #indiebooksbeseen is a big one) to gain more exposure.
While you can use your hashtag for anything related to your book, don’t use it for everything. On social media, you need to be talking about something besides your book. In fact, most of your tweets should not be related to your book at all. They should be about other people. Sharing and encouraging people.
5. Add It to Your Bio
Both Jenny and I have our hashtag in our bio. This gives people quick access to it, so they can see who else is talking about it.
Now that you have the tools, go out and create some epic book hashtags!