Do you want to save time during your workday? Do you wish you had an extra 18 hours to accomplish everything on your to do list? Most people would answer, “Heck yeah!” to those questions because an author’s to do list is never really finished, especially if you don’t have any support staff. Automating certain tasks, like social media, is one way to gain some time back in your day but that task still requires you to interact with your followers.

Social media schedulers, such as Buffer, are convenient and budget friendly. Simply log in, schedule which posts should publish on which platform, and hit the save button. Voila. Done.

Some platforms, like Meet Edgar, are more powerful because they continue to share your evergreen social media posts into the future, thus saving you even more time from creating and scheduling. This all sounds wonderful and who doesn’t want to have more free time but do these platforms eliminate the ‘social’ from social media?

The answer to that is: only if you allow it. Using schedulers is a wonderful thing and is a task that a savvy virtual assistant can take over. But you still need to be aware of what’s happening in your social media world. If followers are asking for your opinion, you need to be there in a timely fashion giving your opinion. If customers are asking specific questions about a character or book or series, you need to be on the ball answering those questions; otherwise, readers will lose interest because they feel neglected.

Also, be active in your social media world in terms of connecting with others online. Yes, it’s wonderful when people in your tribe find you but you should put in equal effort to connect with your ideal reader. Passive marketing (or hope marketing, as I’ve heard it called) puts too much power into the hands of your ideal reader. Don’t wait and hope that they find you; make them want to CHOOSE you. Show them how your stories are worth their investment be sharing teasers, and reviews, and offering samples. To do this successfully, you need to have a personal presence online instead of allowing a third-party scheduler to be in charge.