Achievements and collaborations
Networking with authors
Some of my achievements have been possible through networking and using social media effectively, whilst other times I have been approached to organically due to my blog’s visibility, following, and engagement metrics.
I contacted and interviewed international best-selling author A. G. Howard and collaborated with her for the giveaway of signed bookplates and other promotional merchandise, as well as a copy of her latest book. I translated the interview into Spanish so that my target audience would be able to access content that hadn’t been available in their native language before, which the author helped me by retweeting. I gained a lot of traffic and 2x the engagement, and it helped me become more confident in networking and negotiating with external contacts of a higher grade of seniority and popularity.
*Translation: Hi! I’m Andrea Vilariño, author of Dame alas para soñar. First of all, thank you so much for the review.I have to let you know that I’ve loved it, I think it’s the most original one I’ve received, and one of the ones I’ve liked the most (without belittling others I have read and liked, which I’m immensely grateful for). Seriously, I think the gifs were really funny and the review in general as well.
*Translation: Hello, I have just read your review and I’ve really liked it, I think you’ve felt just how I intended it to be. The truth is that I feel really encouraged by your words - at the moment I’m in the middle of writing another book, but if I have some time left this summer maybe I’ll give it a go and continue with that sequel that I had abandoned.
I networked with authors to review their works in exchange of a free copy, and as a result building lasting relationships with them, as there would be authors who also started following my blog. In return, I would make my audience advocates for lesser known authors, and gain a bigger following through backlinks on their sites. As a result, more authors would increasingly approach me to request a review in exchange of their work.
2. Social media and maintaining relationships
I built a loyal following through my personable posts and active interaction with my target audience, which would encourage them to engage more with me. I continued this through my social media networks, as my followers would look me up and follow me there too in order to get to know me better.
As a result, I received emails from followers asking for book recommendations or just to let me know how much they liked my blog and writing style.
“I died laughing with some of your reviews, I love that you use gifs to give more emphasis to what you’re talking about, it matches perfectly with what you say“
Through various social media platforms I would promote my own posts, notifying my followers of when I had published a new entry. I also recruited the rest of my followers to further promote events happening on my site such as giveaways, which gained more diffusion and a higher level of engagement among old and new followers.
Promotional tweets by followers to support the diffusion of a giveaway on my site
The use of social media was very important as it allowed me to personally connect with my target audience and understand better, as communication was essential to provide better content for them. I also networked with other bloggers, expanding my community by building lasting relationships which would help generate backlinks organically.
