Marketing via Social Media: Challenging or a Snap?

They said it would be simple; that millions of folks use the site 24/7. "Put your book up online and sales will soar", I'd been advised. But you'd better have your head on straight before you jump in because nothing is that simple.

If you're like me, this whole social media thing has you befuddled. Oh, I have a presence on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Linked'n and Google + and have taken webinars on all of them, but I've yet to figure out which media is working for me, or rather, which one best fits my style and warrants my time.

Although I've been traditionally published multiple times, I've also self-published, most recently via Amazon's Create Space. A children's picture book paperback is on the market with an accompanying CD and an Ebook via Kindle. With Kindle comes the opportunity to give your book away for FREE for a short period of time. My consultants say, "Do it. When you give books away you'll create sales down the road." But will it work for my book? One writer friend reported that 10,000 Kindle copies of her Middle Grade novel were downloaded for FREE with little to no results.

Tomorrow, Saturday, December 7th and Sunday December 8th are my FREE Kindle download days for my children's picture book, Arlie the Alligator. We'll see what happens. My fingers and toes are crossed. I'm hopeful that the give-away will generate sales and help to give a shout out about the book and CD to others.

Which social media platform is working for you? What do you like about it?
How did you decide?
How do you divide your time between the various platforms, your writing career and life in general?

I would appreciate any tips you can offer.

Thanks for coming to my blog.