You downloaded a social media content planner from Etsy and you’ve been posting about your book on Instagram for months. Character spotlights on Monday, writing updates on Wednesday, aesthetic flat lays on Friday. You've crafted the perfect bio, curated your feed colours, and hit publish religiously.
The result? A handful of likes from other authors and near-silence from actual readers.
Here's why: you're wasting your time on the wrong activities.
Yesterday I showed you the marketing collaboration framework - your publisher handles discovery (top of funnel) while you focus on engagement and conversion (middle and bottom). But most authors are stuck doing ineffective top-of-funnel activities instead of the middle-of-funnel work that actually moves books.
The Biggest Time Waster: Broadcast Social Media
When we engage in social media as authors, more often than not, we treat it like a broadcast channel. We post content on themed days, obsess about the perfect photo, worry about an 'aesthetically pleasing feed'.1
The broadcast approach is all top-of-funnel noise—designed to reach new people—but it does very little to move the needle on your book sales.
Why? Because if both you and your publisher are mostly focusing on TOFU activities, you're building an over-inflated top of funnel with nothing in the middle. So if the top of the funnel is mostly the publisher’s wheelhouse2, how are you supposed to be using social media effectively to get your readers flowing down the funnel to become book buyers?
Forget the algorithms and focus on what you can control: genuinely connecting and building relationships with readers and fellow authors.
What to Do Instead: Focus on MOFU Activities
Stop using social media as a broadcast channel and start using it for community building and conversation starting. Your job isn't to make your funnel as big as possible—it's to deepen your engagement with the people already there.3
Here's how:
Heart everything you stop to read on Substack. Whether that’s a post or a note. If it caught your attention, as long as you don’t absolutely disagree with it, give it a heart. Hearts are free. Spend a big amount of time commenting on other people’s notes and articles. Restack. Quote. Share. Shine that spotlight on others.
For every post you make, leave ten thoughtful comments on other creators' accounts. This isn't networking - it's relationship building. You're showing up as a real person, not a book-selling machine.
Share other people's work to your stories to amplify their reach. When you lift others up, you're demonstrating the kind of person you are. That builds trust and connection. Please consider prioritising work by BIPOC and LGBTQI+ writers, whose discovery funnels are often smaller due to systemic and societal discrimination.
Make your own posts add something to the community - whether that's genuine conversation or entertainment. Your humanity needs to be on show, not just your book cover.
Behind-the-scenes content that shows your process - Not just "writing today" but actual insights: "I just spent 3 hours researching Victorian mourning jewellery for chapter 12 and fell down the most fascinating rabbit hole..." Makes readers feel invested in your journey (and your book!).
Drive people to your newsletter where you share free, deep content. This is where real relationships happen—in their inbox, not in their feed.
Let’s start right here, practising some MOFU on Substack. Which author on this platform do you think needs more love? Drop their handle or publication link and find some new people to follow.
Why This Actually Works
Your social media job isn't discovery (that's where your publisher excels). Your job is to prove to the people who've already found you that you're worth following, worth trusting, and worth buying from by being yourself4.
When you focus on engagement over reach, you're focusing on the part your publisher can’t do. They bring people to the top of the funnel, you move them through the middle and at the end hopefully you all celebrate when you outsell your advance and get your first royalty statement.
Tomorrow, I'll show you the bottom-of-funnel activities that actually move books—plus the marketing tasks you can cross off your to-do list forever.
Your digital branding does matter but not as much as you being a good online citizen. Author branding touches all parts of the funnel but makes the most difference at the bottom.
If your publisher isn't doing much discovery work—and that does happen—you might need to step into that space. But if you're going to do top-of-funnel activities, invest in paid advertising or focus on specific tools that boost discovery like TikTok, Reels, Threads, Facebook Groups, Pinterest or Substack Notes. Do not rely on the Instagram or Facebook Algorithms to be nice to you.
One reason why content creators with big followings get these big traditional book deals is that they come with a massive built-in top of funnel (TOFU) that is already likely pretty engaged (MOFU). From a publisher’s perspective, that’s a good bet on conversion. Does that make this right? No. It makes it another shitty symptom of capitalism. And it’s why a lot of aspiring authors (myself included) waste time building platforms before finishing their novels. I’ll share with you in the last post why I’m a bit of a moron for doing that and where I actually should be putting the most attention at this stage of my career…
I’m hosting a Webinar next week on the Writes4Women Substack called ‘Building an Author Brand That Emotionally Connects’. It’s $7 AUD a month to join and in addition to lots of fantastic extras, you are supporting one of Australia’s largest writing podcasts. I’m hosting this one for free…which is MOFU in action!
The only thing I would add is that it's important to write about more than writing. Authors tend to be well-rounded people and sharing as much as you are comfortable with sharing with readers, helps to make your fans invested in your works.
And it’s why a lot of aspiring authors (myself included) waste time building platforms before finishing their novels. I’ll share with you in the last post why I’m a bit of a moron for doing that and where I actually should be putting the most attention at this stage of my career…
🙋♀️ it’s me too 😂