On Stephenie Meyer

Over the next several weeks, I’ll look at how some of the best-selling authors in America who have a presence on social media and receive a large portion of traffic to their sites from social media use social media to their advantage.  This week, I’ll look at Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight series.

First, 5.74% of people who go to Stephanie Meyer’s site go there from Facebook.  This may not seem like that much, and it isn’t, but it accounts for the second largest concentration of people who go to her site.

So, what is she doing right?  Well, she’s Stephenie Meyer, so she doesn’t have to do much to get a response. There are dozens of Facebook and Twitter profiles and fan pages about her.  Go to her website.  It’s not exactly the most professional looking website in the world.  She doesn’t need a great site, because she has great fans who spread the word about her via social media.  With almost two dozen pages and profiles, she has a potential audience of almost 2.5 million people watching her or news about her on Facebook.

It’s not that she uses social media to her advantage (or at all).  She has a fan base of people who love her work and use social media to keep people informed.  I’ve seen hints here and there of Ms. Meyer trying to connect with her fans through social media.  If I had to guess her secret, I would say it’s not only that she has a great idea that captured the hearts and minds of millions of people who spread the word for her, but it’s that she tries to remain as genuine as she can.  So, what can we new, aspiring, or yet to be famous authors glean from all this?  For current authors, stay connected with your readers offline.  For everyone, be authentic.  People appreciate authenticity.