When it comes to growing an audience on social media, every single author faces a time that I refer to as “The Gray Area.”

It’s that time between when you start writing a book and when it is released, and it’s often met with much trepidation from authors. The Gray Area is the time of needing to grow your audience but not knowing how to talk about your book early on in the process without giving too much away.

To see the results you’re looking for on social media, you have to be consistent. If you only post around the time your book comes out, you will probably be disappointed by the response.

If you think about social media as any relationship you have in life, this will make more sense. If you only talked to your friends when you needed something but ignored them the rest of the time, you won’t hear much from them.

Social media wasn’t created for marketing – it was created to build relationships.

And like any relationship, it takes time to establish trust. So as an author, it’s important to start that process as soon as possible. Even before your book is completed.