Author Chrys Fey Shares Litsy Secrets

Using Litsy as an Author 

By Chrys Fey

Litsy is a wonderful app that blends the great features of Instagram and Goodreads into one place. And it’s free! On Litsy, you can post a picture of a book you just read or the book you’re reading as “Blurb.” 

Littens (what Litsy members call themselves) even post pictures of their pets, scenery, and even food. Since you have to tag a book, Littens get creative with these non-book photos by tagging book titles that match what is in the photo. For example: a picture of a cat can be the “blurb” for a book about cats. That’s the Instagram part of Litsy. 

The Goodreads part of Litsy allows you post a review or a quote for any book. You can also create To-Read and Read stacks on your profile. This great app isn’t just for readers, though. Authors can use it and love it, too. 

What can authors do on Litsy? 

1.    Create your profile bio. 

Your bio is at the top of your profile, so it’s highly visible. In your bio, mention you’re an author. You can even include the name of a book or series. In my bio, I mention a couple of genres I write, share my author tagline at the top, and link to my website at the bottom. Other Littens will check out your profile and see your bio, so take advantage of it. Shortly after I joined Litsy, I had someone mention she’d be interested in my books for one of the genres I said I wrote. See? Take full advantage of your bio. 

2.    Follow Littens 

Litsy is different than many other social media platforms, being that Littens are much more likely to follow you back, so follow as many Littens as possible. Check out a Litten you know and see who is following them. Then follow those people. You can also check their most recent post and follow the Littens who liked it. The more followers you have the more people will see your posts. 

3.    Post 

What are you reading? What book did you just finish? Take a picture of it and post it as a Blurb. Post reviews and quotes, too. A profile with posts is better than an empty one. Be a reader and Litten first before you post as an author. 

4.    Join In 

There are so many great gift exchanges on Litsy. If you sign up, you get the name of a fellow Litten to send your book or bookish gifts to. There’s a Secret Santa book exchange (#SecretSantaGoesPostal #WinterSolsticeBookExhange) that opens for sign-ups in November. There are also bookmark exchanges, coffee/tea cup/mug exchanges, and even exchanges for children of Littens. 

These exchanges are a blast. When I joined last year, I got my feet wet by signing up for #SecretSantaGoesPostal and had a ton fun. I followed all the participants I could see who posted under the hashtags and liked many posts participants shared. Now, I can’t wait to do it for 2018! 

5.    Engage 

Like and comment on other Litten’s posts. Engaging with other Littens is what will help you to build connections. These are people who love what you love…reading. Get to know them and they’ll get to know you. That’s key to all social media. 

6.    Quote your books. 

I’m sure you have dialogue or narrative that you love that you wrote in your books. Quote them, tag your book, and add a picture for a bigger impact. A quote, even just a sentence, can be impactful on a reader. These are people who adore words and love clever, funny, suspenseful, and romantic quotes, so share your best. 

7.    Share reviews of your books. 

Take a screenshot of the best reviews you’ve received on Amazon or Goodreads and post them on Litsy as a blurb. If you choose the “Review” option, opt out of rating your book. That would just be silly because you’re not a reviewer for your book, you’re the author. Instead, just say you’re sharing a review you saw that made you especially happy. When I did this the first time, within a few minutes, a Litten told me she was intrigued and bought the first book in my series. 

8.    Book Photos 

What Littens and even bookstagrammers on Instagram do with books they are reading or own and love is exactly what you could with the books you’ve published. Take your book, add a few props, or just find a pretty background, snap a picture, and share it. 

When you do this, don’t be fake and pretend you’re not the author. For the “blurb” part of the post, explain this is your book and tell Littens something about it, such as the blurb, the inspiration behind the story, research, or details about your characters. Make it worthwhile for them. Giving Littens something of value will prevent your posts from being spammy. Posts like that will be ignored, and could even become annoying, resulting in Littens unfollowing you. Not good. So be thoughtful when you post a promo on Litsy.

9.    Post your book’s inspiration.   

Do you have pictures of scenery that inspired or reminds you of your story's setting?

• Do you have a storyboard?
• Do you have images of people/actors that could be your characters?
• Do you have a Pinterest board for your story? Take the individual images  and upload them to Litsy by tagging your book. Explain what those photos meant to you while writing your book.

10.  Create text images. 

Using a photo editing service (I use IrfranView, a free software), take a pretty background or a plain background with a small version of your cover art on it and add text to it. You can use your book’s tagline, a line from your blurb, or a bit of dialogue one of your characters says. Post it on Litsy with a nice little message to Littens. 

Whatever you do on Listy, even if you’re posting something as an author, be a reader…be a Litten. Give them something worthwhile, build connections, and have fun!

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Chrys Fey is the author of Write with Fey: 10 Sparks to Guide You from Idea to Publication. Catch the sparks you need to write, edit, publish, and market your book! From writing your novel to prepping for publication and beyond, you’ll find sparks on every page, including 100 bonus marketing tips. You’ll also discover how to write specific scenes and characters, adding depth to your work. 

Fey is an editor for Dancing Lemur Press and runs the Insecure Writer’s Support Group’s Goodreads book club. She is also the author of the Disaster Crimes series. Check out her website and blog. 

MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER


Howard-Johnson is the author of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. She is also a marketing consultant, editor, and author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers including the award-winning second editions of The Frugal Book Promoter (where she talks more about choosing and the advantages of winning contests and how to use those honors)  and The Frugal Editor. Her latest is in the series is  How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically. Learn more on her Amazon profile page, http://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile. Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers is one of her booklets--perfect for inexpensive gift giving--and, another booklet, The Great First Impression Book Proposal helps writers who want to be traditionally published. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including one she encourages authors to read because it will help them convince retailers to host their workshops, presentations, and signings. It is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. In addition to this blog, she helps writers extend the exposure of their favorite reviews at TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com. She also blogs at all things editing--grammar, formatting and more--at The Frugal, Smart, and Tuned-In Editor (http://TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com )