Social Media Content Ideas for Authors — May

I’m back for another month of social media ideas for authors! Here’s some quick and simple content ideas for those days when you can’t think of what to post. These can be regular photo posts or made into videos/reels.

Get Caught Reading Month: According to National Today, this event is “all about reading books and raising awareness regarding the advantages of indulging in literature”. Encourage your readers to indulge in your latest book, or even recommend some of your recent fave reads from other authors.

Share a Motivating Quote: Life is kinda rough these days. Share something lovely to brighten your followers’ day. If you’re not keen on being sentimental, share a sassy, sarcastic but nonetheless inspirational meme instead.

Follow Me on Amazon: Since Amazon Author Central now allows authors to actually see how many followers they have, encourage your readers to give your profile a follow. Let them know the benefit of this is they’ll get an email from Amazon every time you have a new release!

Writing Quirks: Are you someone who needs to have something special with you for luck every time you write? Do you have to have your socks on a certain way? Or always wear that same sweatshirt? Maybe you light a very specific candle? Or, like authortuber Katie Wismer, you have a perfume scent for every book. Share your funny little quirks!

Book Quiz: Test your readers’ knowledge of your books by creating a fun quiz and ask them to answer in the comments. Nothing too difficult. You want fun engagement, not stumping folks to the point of no engagement.

Go Live and Cook: Okay okay, I know this is not everyone’s cup of tea. (It’s definitely not mine.) However, going live does create more community with your followers. If you’re not the type bothered by cameras (or anxiety—lucky you! *cries softly*), invite your audience in for a chill night with you. Keep it around 15-30 minutes so your audience stays engaged.

Wordsmith Day: May 3rd celebrates writers! And duh, what are you? 😉 Perhaps make a post mentioning all the things you love about being a writer. There’s also National Creativity Day on May 30th.

Share a Poll: Can’t decide on the name of your next leading character? Or the name for a café in the story? Create a poll and let your readers’ vote in the comments. You could also use this as a way to ask your followers what content they’d like to see most from you. More videos? Photos? More book recommendations? Etc.

Discount or Promotion: Got a book on sale? Wanna pull eyes to a backlist book? Shine some light on it! You never know when you’ll find new readers. Bonus points if you list out some tropes or universal fantasies. Like it or not, this is how a lot of folks find new reads.

World Baking Day: Take a great aesthetic photo of your book with some yummy freshly baked goods and post it on May 21st! Be sure to use the #WorldBakingDay hashtag to possibly reach some new readers.

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BONUS: Other Bookish Events/Days in May

• Latino Books Month: Share some of your fave books by Latino authors. It’s also Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, so share some of your fave AAPI authors and books as well.
• National Comfort Month: While not overtly about books, what says comfort more than curling up in a comfy chair with a new novel? Use that angle to your advantage! Make a post tying the hygge life to reading.
• Children’s Book Week: If you write children’s, middle grade, or YA, here’s a good week for you! Starts May 2nd.
• National Paranormal Day (May 3rd): Again, not necessarily a book event, but anyone who writes anything supernatural could weave this into their marketing with ease.
• National Stationery Week: I know I just heard some of you sigh dreamily 😉 Begins May 15th. Also, National Notebook Day is May 18th. If you like to plot by hand or something similar, give your reader’s a glimpse into your process.
• Virtual Assistants Day (May 19th): If you have a VA, give them a little shoutout and introduce them to your readers.
• Mental Health Awareness Month: Spotlight some books with great mental illness rep.

Be sure to bookmark this blog post for future reference 🔖 More social media ideas for authors can be found in the archive here. And don’t forget to also check out my Canva Templates to help you promote your book during the spring and summer. I have over 200+ ready-made templates that can be used on the Canva free plan to help make your content marketing batching simple and easy. All you have to do is drop your book cover into them.

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