Social media has been cited as one of the ways that people in any industry can use to improve their businesses. The advice about social media on the web has ballooned to unfathomable proportions. Authors are among the people who are constantly looking to improve their publishing success by leveraging social media. Those who spend countless hours building followings in social media with the hope of selling more books are mistaken. In this article we shall debunk some popular myths that authors have about social media.

Increasing social media following increases an author’s fame

Based on Twitter follower count, how many people in the top 100 list are not independently famous (outside Twitter)? The answer is none. Even in the top 1000 list, there are only a handful of people who have increased their popularity because of Twitter. Authors should learn an important lesson from this – you cannot become famous because of social networking. Fame in social networks is merely a reflection of how famous you are outside social media.

It is true that some people become famous because of social media, but they are extremely rare. In most cases, they have to do something to create a buzz in social media that catapulted them to fame. Many authors would agree that fame on social media grows only when the person becomes famous outside social media. Authors who publish great books notice sudden spikes in their following after their books hit the stores. Authors who focus on growing their fame on social media are focusing on the wrong thing. The best thing an author can do to increase popularity on social media is to focus on his/her obscurity outside social networks. If a person is not popular on social media, the simple answer is that not enough people know him outside social media.

There is a formula for making social media work; you just haven’t figured it out yet

Most people who are struggling to become popular on social media believe that there is something they are not doing right. They frantically go through social media advice they have come across to try to figure out what they missed. However, there is no right or wrong way to do it. People often do things and associate them with their increased popularity. Most of the times, a spike in popularity has a different explanation. For instance, there was something else going on in the real world that a person was not aware of.

If my following is big enough, I will sell more books

This is one of the biggest misconceptions that authors have about social media. Many authors think that creating a big following in social media is the key to increasing sales figures exponentially. Authors might jump through many hoops in an effort to increase followers. Even if they managed to increase followers, there is little to no chance that they will sell more books.

Authors should concentrate on other positive aspects of social media rather than obsess about how it can help them to boost sales figures. For example, social media is a great way to connect with people individually. It is also good to have realistic targets. For instance, it is better to leverage other people’s connections instead of trying to build your own.