By Raewyn Sangari | Creative Director, Women in Publishing

Most social media marketing advice was never written for authors.

It’s written for influencers, extroverts, and big brand businesses. Authors are sold the idea that they have to perform and play the algorithm game. That’s not how most authors work, so that’s why social media marketing for authors feels so hard.

So when a friend offered me her all-access badge to Social Media Marketing World 2026, I said yes immediately. Tickets were almost $2,000 and the conference was built for big-brand marketers. I walked in as the Creative Director of the Women in Publishing Summit with one mission: find what actually serves authors in book marketing and translate it from there.

Because that’s the gap. There’s no shortage of social media marketing advice. There’s a shortage of advice that’s been translated for the way authors actually live and work.

These are the top takeaways I came home with for you, and the foundation of our next Social Media Intensive.

So what’s changing in the social media marketing world? In short, the way people search and discover things online is shifting. AI is eroding trust online, which actually creates an opportunity for authors. Real voices, real stories, and real humans cut through in a way AI-generated content never will. The algorithms are content-driven, not follower-driven; so everyone has a chance at getting their content seen. This is the best moment in years for an indie or hybrid author with a story and a voice to be discovered.

The 5 Takeaways I’m Bringing Back to the Women in Publishing Community

Takeaway 1: Connection is an Algorithm Strategy

It was strangely validating to hear this from global marketing agencies and social media experts. Connection is at the heart of social media and selling books. Your readers want to connect with your book and then with you. But how do they find you?

This is social discovery. 1 in 4 users are searching within the first 30 seconds of opening an app. We have to shift away from the know-like-trust mindset and into what Judi Fox calls the Trust Matrix: find-remember-trust.

Find-remember-trust means: be discoverable, be memorable, and be trusted. The order matters, and connection is what powers all three.

The number one thing we’ve discovered is that social media is always going to be a place focused on the social connection. It’s important to understand how social media marketing works, while holding onto that social mindset.

Translation: Your content on social media needs to be find-able, which we’ll talk more about in the next takeaway. It needs to connect with them, evoking emotions. Behind-the-scenes and process posts will build their trust in you.

Takeaway 2: Your First Frame Is the Whole Game

Oysterly Media talked about Feed Engine Optimization that would stop the scroll. The algorithms are advanced enough that they can read the on-screen text, the audio, the metadata of the graphics and videos.

The formula she gave for Feed Engine Optimization stressed the first-frame of your video or graphic, billboard style text, pattern interruptions, subtitles on videos, and a sharp ending. If that sounds like a lot, here’s what actually matters: have movement in the first frame, large strategically placed text as a title for the first 3 seconds, and on videos, a sharp ending so that the video restarts.

Translation: Your opening line on a video or carousel matters as much as the opening of your book for discoverability.

Takeaway 3: Bring Emotion to Your Posts

The posts that readers watch, share, and comment on the most are the ones that evoke an emotion in them. That’s Advertising 101. Judi Fox shared this Emotional Wheel on her LinkedIn, suggesting we pick one emotion per post to drive the reaction you want. This particular strategy is LinkedIn or Facebook specific, but you still want to lead with emotions for your Instagram and TikTok posts, as that encourages watch time and shares.

Authors literally craft scenes for emotional impact. You already know how to do this. The mistake we make is leaving that skill at the page when we open Instagram. Bring the same emotional intentionality to your captions, your hooks, and your slide-by-slide carousels. You’re not learning a new skill. You’re transferring one you already have.

Translation: This is a natural part of writing as an author, but often one we can forget when we’re sharing our books.

Takeaway 4: Social Media is the Starting Point, Not the Selling Point

Your social media marketing strategy is not your sales strategy. You might get sales from your content by bringing awareness and excitement for your books; but this shouldn’t be your expectation. When you lead with connection, you’re able to bring your audience off of social media to make the sale.

Michelle Gifford, Creative Brand Strategist, introduced her content strategy framework focusing on taking the social media user from viewing your post, commenting, receiving a direct message and converting to a subscriber or purchaser. Her advice was tailored to business owners, including her Bio Roast technique. The good news? Cayce and I have been adapting bio rewrites specifically for authors in our WIP social media sessions for years. We know exactly how to translate this for the way readers actually find books.

Translation: Make sure you have a clear path from social media to nurture or conversation to the sale or newsletter. You need to take your readers on a journey, so they can trust you.

Takeaway 5: You Have to Analyze the Data

Honestly? This is my biggest struggle as a Creative Director. I love chasing trends and infusing content with personality. The data? The conversion tracking? That’s where I have room to grow, and I’m sharing that openly because many of you are in the same boat.

Tracking what we create is SO important, and probably the biggest personal practice I will be implementing from the conference. In fact, Michelle Gifford even had some Analytics Affirmations, that I now have on a sticky note on my laptop.

If you’re running ads of any sort, tracking the data is very important. In addition to tracking the data, spend some time learning WHY it happened. Nick Theriot gave very specific examples of how to track and what to track for Facebook Ads.

Translation: Numbers aren’t always our favorite thing, but it’s information, not a reflection of your efforts. Make sure to look at ad information for 10 minutes (max), and ask yourself what went right, what went wrong, and what can be improved.

What This Means for Our Next Social Media Intensive

Some of these takeaways are the foundation of what we’re tackling in our upcoming Social Media Intensive. I say tackling instead of teaching because the majority of our time together will be real-time application. This is where we do the translation work together.

This intensive is for you if:

You know you should be on social media.

You’ve tried. You’ve stopped. You’ve told yourself you’ll start again Monday.

You feel like an imposter every time you open the app.

The problem isn’t you. Nobody ever showed you how to make it feel like you.

Here’s what you’ll walk away with:

Clarity. The relief of finally knowing exactly what to do, where to do it, and how to sound like yourself doing it. No more guessing. No more guilt. No more starting over every Monday.

Here’s who you get to be after one day with us:

An author who shows up with confidence. A platform that fits. A bio that works. And content that actually sounds like you.

You don’t need to become someone else online. You need a framework that channels who you already are.

You’re not a writer trying to be a marketer. Your story IS your strategy.

Inside the 4-Hour Intensive

The Truth Drop: What social media for authors actually is (and what it isn’t).

Mindset Switches for Relatability: Because the biggest thing blocking you online isn’t time. It’s the story you’re telling yourself about who gets to take up space.

Find Your Platform: Stop trying to be everywhere. We’ll find the one that matches how you naturally communicate AND where your readers actually live.

Bio Optimization Hot Seats: Your bio is your handshake, your hook, and your CTA all in one line. We’re fixing them live.

Content That Sounds Like You: A handful of content buckets that make showing up feel sustainable, not stressful.

Live Profile Audits: Real-time feedback on what’s working and the one change that moves the needle.

Just because advice exists doesn’t mean it’s for you. But when you finally find the advice that fits the way you live, write, and connect? That’s when social media stops feeling like a performance and starts feeling like an extension of your work as an author.