You've been scrambling to finish your book and the time is finally here. Now that it's about to go live for sale, have you put your social media plan into place? Many authors think they can handle it all, but why not divide and conquer if you can? Have you considered how you can leverage the talents of your beta reading testers to share the social media love for your book? After all, they understand your characters and content right? Let's take a look at how you can get the team back togther to get the response you're going after from your target. 
The first thing to consider is what your beta testers will get out of this experience. If your testers were interns or students, then it's more career experience they can use for their resumes or you can offer to trade a professional reccommendation for them. For others, you may need to provide something more tangible. Many authors recruit previous fans, other author's fans and friends as beta testers. Take a look at who has been helping and ask how you can add value to their experience while they're helping you. it's important to be clear what you're offering in exchange for their time.
- Tip: most authors decide to offer book copies in exchange for social media help, it's the best asset you've got to leverage right? Instead of simply saying "will exchange free copies for your time and help," get into book marketing mode and try a script like this:
- "it's been such an awesome experience working with you as a beta-tester. I value your time and your ability to provide invaluable feedback. I'd like to offer an exclusive exchange opportunity that benefits us both. Because you understand the audience I'd like to reach with my new book, I'd like to invite you to help with my social media campaign. You're great at (insert Twitter, Instagram stories, FB, etc) and would love if you would consider helping get my book out there. In exchange, I'd love to offer you five complimentary, limited edition, signed copies of my book that you can give as gifts to your friends or keep for yourself."
- "it's been such an awesome experience working with you as a beta-tester. I value your time and your ability to provide invaluable feedback. I'd like to offer an exclusive exchange opportunity that benefits us both. Because you understand the audience I'd like to reach with my new book, I'd like to invite you to help with my social media campaign. You're great at (insert Twitter, Instagram stories, FB, etc) and would love if you would consider helping get my book out there. In exchange, I'd love to offer you five complimentary, limited edition, signed copies of my book that you can give as gifts to your friends or keep for yourself."
- Be sure to assign testers to specific social media platforms so there's not overlap. Assign one person to coordinate the varying media platforms. Slack is a great platform to integrate communications for teams.
If you've been reading and are new to the idea of beta readers and testers altogether, you can head over Wattpad to upload your book and get some feedback. Remember, be clear on what type of feedback you're looking for and, don't let your feelings be hurt, the unbiased feedback can be invaluable!
Ready for more ideas on how to leverage your time? Check out our tips on automating your social media here.
Keep the Faith and May the Force be with You!
