My 5 Best Tips on Making Memes

by Ane Mulligan @AneMulligan

Let’s face it, pictures are worth ... yeah, yeah, a lot. There are many kinds of memes: funny ones, political ones, life commentaries, inspirational ones, and more. But for this post, I’m focusing on book promotion and author promo.

I love to use memes to promote my books. I’ve learned a lot about them over the last few years. 

Five Tips about Making Memes

1. Software

You don’t have to have high-priced software. If you use a Mac, Swift Publisher 5 is a $40 program. I love this program. I even make the banners we use in our Community Theatre with this program. Other good resources are PicMonkey or Canva. There are free versions and paid versions. There are other online resources as well as other software like Adobe photoshop. If you have a favorite, share it in the comments!

2. Free Photos

Be sure you use photos that are not copyrighted. Some resources are pixabay.com, pexels.com, morguefile.com. There are others. Be sure to check them carefully. I use Pixabay the most. Occasionally, I “buy a cup of coffee” or donate to the site for all the photos I use. If you’re a decent photographer, take your own pics. Be creative. Find an old window in a salvage shop and photograph it. Then slip your book inside that window. 

3. Be creative 

Be creative with the composition and with the photos you choose. Think outside the box of convention. Eva Marie Everson caught me by surprise on this, when I was creating some memes for a book in which we both have stories. I made one for a Fall ad. She came back with a photo of a hot pink chrysanthemum. It suited the book cover’s coloring better than the typical fall colored photo I used at first. Even though it was pink, mums are fall flowers.

4. Links

You want to have a link to the book you’re advertising. That said, most memes don’t allow embedded links, so plan to put the link in the post if your software doesn’t embed. If I’m posting to Twitter, I upload the meme and put the link in the tweet. Same for Facebook, Instagram, etc. 

5. Be succinct. 

Social media demands brevity. If they don’t see something of value to the in the first few seconds, people are on to the next post. The best memes have a great picture and few words. Especially if the meme is an advertisement. Don’t try to put your back-cover copy on the meme. I learned that when my first book came out. I was such a novice at memes. Well, I’ve done my homework, and now mine follow the old adage a picture is worth ... a bunch! 

Now it’s your turn. What are your best tips for making memes?

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Ane Mulligan writes Southern-fried fiction served with a tall, sweet tea.She's an award-winningnovelist and playwright whobelieves chocolate and coffee are two of the four major food groups. She resides in Sugar Hill, GA, where she leads a Community Theatre troupe. You can find Ane at www.anemulligan.comor Amazon author page