Left Brain Right Brain

Is It Better to Post Videos on YouTube or Facebook?

by Lisa Shea

Videos are an amazing way to connect with an audience. For followers who have trouble reading because of vision or other issues, your video can help them learn and enjoy content without the issues of looking at text letters.

If you’re an author, you absolutely you absolutely should be making videos on a weekly basis if possible. They can be short, done with your cellphone. A reading of your book can be an amazing way to engage new followers. You can talk about the struggles of writing. You can provide background information about your world or characters. You can talk about research projects. People simply love to be involved – and that translates into sales.

For some situations like music or multi-dimensional artwork, a video can be far better than still images to convey the details. Can you really adequately describe a Brahms sonata with mere words? Can you show the subtle texture of a painting?

But once you’ve finished the video file, where is the best place to post it? YouTube? Facebook? Somewhere else?

I know you’re going to be grumpy with me. But you really need to post it EVERYWHERE.

Benefits of a Video on Facebook

Facebook is key for a video because the people who see it are already connected with you. They are your family, friends, and followers. Whether you’re using a personal page or a business (fan) page, those people have actively shown an interest in you. They are going to watch the video. They’re likely to comment and share! So your video will be seen.

A Facebook personal page has a maximum of 5,000 friends. But those friends can share out your video to THEIR friends. You also have emotional leverage there. You can ask them to please share and they’ll perhaps do it.

So in the short term, you’ll tend to get more views of your video on Facebook, because of that built-in emotional connection.

Benefits of a Video on YouTube

YouTube is about the long game. YouTube is primarily about strangers. Sure, you can ask family and friends to follow you on YouTube, but the real power there is with massive volumes of strangers finding you and liking your works. And while in the beginning your YouTube following might be small, over time it can build up to be massive. You have to be patient while you do that building.

There are millions upon millions of people who hate Facebook but who live in YouTube all day long. They aren’t looking for a “friend” (necessarily). They are looking for interesting content. So the more of those people you lure in, the bigger your follower base gets. You need more videos and more followers to then get higher in the search rankings. It doesn’t tend to happen overnight – but when it does build its momentum it’s pretty staggering. You can get views in the hundreds of thousands or millions.

Here’s an origami flower how-to video I made, which now has over a million views.

It’s not that it was that hard to make. It’s just that I marketed it well and was an early entry into this genre.

Now, if I had posted that only on Facebook? Sure I’d get 100 or 200 friends and family watching it. But then it would fade. Facebook is always showing people new and interesting things. I wouldn’t really reach a wider audience. With YouTube, it builds over time. That then helps those new followers see your newer content.

Facebook and YouTube Videos are Just the Start

Remember MySpace? I do. It used to be the bee’s knees :). Now it’s all but dead. Social media systems come and go. It’s the way of things. Your aim should be to avidly use what works well now and also be positioned to be present on what is to come. Different groups of people use different systems. That is healthy. Your aim as a marketer is to use every system to its best ability.

It doesn’t help to be angry or upset at a particular system. They are just systems. Use them as tools. Use them and move on.

So, for example, at the time I’m writing this, Instagram and TikTok are both enormously popular. Both specialize in the short 60-second video. Sure, you can find ways to post longer videos, but the point of these platforms is that users do not WANT longer videos. They prize quick-and-to-the-point.

So find ways to cut a version of your video which is short. If you’re doing an art slideshow, make the full 10-minute version for YouTube/Facebook. Then make 10 one-minute versions, one per artwork, for Instagram and TikTok. Not only does it perfectly suit their expectations but it gives you more posts to build your library. It doesn’t take that much extra time. Point your short version to the longer YouTube version for those who are interested.

If you’re doing an art how-to, post the full long version on Facebook and YouTube. Then post the time-lapse 60-second version on Instagram and TikTok.

For places like LinkedIn and such which aren’t known for video, post a link to YouTube from there. That way it’s a non-logon-necessary link for them.

Always have your own website with your own personal URL as well. Don’t go for a XXXX.wordpress.com or XXXX.godaddy.com which will be dependent on an external site. Always have a www.LisaShea.com type of URL which is owned by you. That way you can point it at whatever hosting company you are currently using. The website URL stays the same no matter where you go.

Promoting Videos – Summary

Videos are enormously useful in our modern era. I admit that I personally hate videos. I actively avoid watching videos. But that doesn’t change my marketing plan. I know that millions of people adore videos, and I need to take advantage of that. I need to use each system to its very best ability.

Make a long version of the video. Make the production as clean and engaging as you can. There’s a lot of competition out there. Post that on YouTube and Facebook. Then make a 60-second version and post it in the quick-video sites like Instagram and TikTok. Post links to this video on Twitter, LinkedIn, your website, and other places where video isn’t their main focus.

You’ll see your overall web presence lift and shine!

Which do you prefer? Let me know in the comments. Ask with any questions. Good luck!

Left Brain Right Brain
Books and Reading

Write Your Book NOW – Before Your Storyline is Pre-Empted by Someone Else

by Lisa Shea

You guys might remember years ago when I had an in-depth plan to produce a series of new takes on fairy tales. There would be a Cinderella, a Snow White, a Beauty and the Beast, and so on. In my cases the heroines would be able to wield a sword, in charge of their own destiny, and a true partner to their hero.

I talked about my progress on social media. I got feedback on cover ideas. I promoted, I planned …

Then, literally TWO WEEKS before my first book, Cinderella, went live, another author with the fake pen name of “Lisa Shea” put out her own Cinderella book. She put it under the name of Lisa Shea so to readers it looked like mine. Hers featured watered-down heroines who were more silly than wise.

I was upset. I wrote Amazon. I wrote the publisher. All of them in essence said, too bad. Any person in the world can put out any book in any name.

If I had just published my book IMMEDIATELY the moment it was done, I would have been all set. By waiting to do promotions, I ran into this issue.

Our modern world has made self-publishing incredibly easy, which is both a boon and a HUGE huge hassle. It means now any person can publish with any title, any author name, and any topic they want. Sometimes it’s deliberate. Sometimes it’s random chance. We now in essence have that “million monkeys” releasing books every second. The chances of your book being unique is dropping exponentially – and the longer you wait, the worse it gets.

Here’s a tamer example of the ‘coincidences are now commonplace’ variety.

I’ve been waiting ten months to get access to the Newgate Prison in East Granby, Connecticut. These began as a copper mine and were converted into an underground, nasty prison. I have a climactic final novella planned there for one of my series, and I always want to do my best to go visit a place in person before I write it up. I want to make sure my scenes breathe with authentic detail. So I waited and waited.

I could have just written it based on internet research. But I was determined to be there in person, to see things fresh for myself.

I finally heard back from the people at the prison that they could bring me in on a tour. I was thrilled! I decided that if I was going to get that special tour, I should write a full-length 400-page book about it too, in addition to the novella that would contain that research. I put a lot of thought into the various options. There were a number of female inmates, but they were from the 1800s when prisoners were kept above ground. I really wanted to write about prisoners stuffed down IN the mines.

So then I did genealogical research on the various early prisoners, and tracked down what became of each one. I considered and discarded option after option. I decided that the perfect prisoner to write about would be William Johnson Crawford, originally of New Hampshire. He was 24 years old and had “black eyes / black hair” which was their code for a person who was Black, Native American, or a mix. Exactly my ideal hero. He tried to escape and was either buried in the rubble or vanished completely. Nobody knows what happened to him. Again, perfect for me, so the Accuracy Police don’t lambaste me for changing history. Since nobody knows what happened to him, I can have anything happen. As I primarily write romantic suspense, that gives me my options.

William Johnson Crawford was sent into the mines / prison on February 24, 1774. He vanished on April 9, 1774.

I was set. I posted my happy news on Facebook.

I immediately heard back from another writer that HE had just published a 200-page book, “The Mine”, set in those exact same prison mines in 1780. His main character is a prisoner.

So he has a character in the exact same very specific historic location only 6 years after mine. His book just came out 3 months ago. A search on Newgate Prison doesn’t find any other fiction book at all set in this location. So it’s not as if this was going on until now.

If I had written my books back when I wanted to, ten months ago, they would be live and set. Now, I’ve already been “pre-empted” in a sense. Readers might view my book as a derivative of his, even though I had no idea he had written his. The books will be compared against each other.

It’s not that I “blame” the other author in any way. He has every right to write about whatever he wishes! It’s just that I’m pointing out that this is happening more and more frequently, now that millions of authors are posting books. And it’s only accelerating. Whatever topic you’re pondering, it’s likely that hundreds of others are pondering it, too. The question is who gets there first.

The lesson here is to not delay. If you have an idea, write it. Get it out there. You want your book to be seen and enjoy. Life is short and unpredictable.

Get it done!

Newgate Prison East Granby CT

Newgate Prison East Granby CT

by Lisa Shea

Hurrah!! I had written the team at Newgate Prison CT to ask when they would be open, because I have a book scene set there.

They just responded and offered a PRIVATE PERSONAL TOUR.

OK, now I feel guilty about it just being one scene. Now I think I’m going to write an entire romantic suspense novel set in 1774, when the mines had their first prisoners dropped into them. This place was called “Hell” and was REALLY nasty.

What are you up to today?

Free Stock Art for Book Covers & Promotions

by Lisa Shea

If you’re an author, you know how important it is to have an eye-catching cover and marketing material. You are competing against hundreds of thousands of other books. If your book isn’t picked up in the first place, its writing will never be read.

Here are some ideas for FREE stock art to use in your promotions and cover. I will caveat that I always recommend paying at least some small price for a cover. Otherwise you’ll end up using a cover image that hundreds of authors are already using – some of them erotic authors. This can cause you no end of trouble and confusion. But with that being said, I understand that sometimes a starving author can’t even afford the $5 for a more unique cover. These free ones will at least get you started.

https://unsplash.com/

https://pixabay.com/

https://www.pexels.com/

https://www.freepik.com/

Make sure you always check the accreditation rules. Some artists want to get credit in your book (usually on the copyright page) that their work was used. Others don’t mind being uncredited. Respect artists’ copyrights. You want people to respect your copyright on what you create.

Finally, please NEVER just grab images off the web. Most images on the web are owned by an artist. It is copyright theft to use those images without consent. Always make sure any image you use is wholly copyright free before you use it for your projects.

Ask with any questions!