Author Takeover - What are your thoughts?

AllieH · Jan 30, 2014

Hi there!

I am considering an offer to "take-over" a book-blog's FB page, even though it's a little bit outside my comfort zone (only because I'm not a "hard" self-promoter). Basically, I would be granted administrative access to their page for a certain amount of time, where I could post giveaways, teasers, photos, and more.

Has anyone done this? Were the results good? What kinds of things did you post during your takeover?

Is it something FB page "followers" have fun with? Do they consider it spam?

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Thanks!

Old Hack · Jan 31, 2014

I wouldn't let anyone else take over my website in this way, nor would I give anyone else my Facebook log-in details--in fact, it might well be against Facebook's terms of service for this to happen.

Having said that, if any one of the people and pages I follow on Facebook suddenly started promoting a new author in this way I'd probably assume they'd been hacked. I don't think it would make me buy their books. Sorry.

Marian Perera · Jan 31, 2014

AllieH said:
I am considering an offer to "take-over" a book-blog's FB page, even though it's a little bit outside my comfort zone (only because I'm not a "hard" self-promoter). Basically, I would be granted administrative access to their page for a certain amount of time, where I could post giveaways, teasers, photos, and more.

I don't quite understand. You'd like to have access to someone else's Facebook page so you could post giveaways and teasers for your book?

What does the owner of that Facebook page get out of this?

AllieH · Jan 31, 2014

Queen of Swords said:
I don't quite understand. You'd like to have access to someone else's Facebook page so you could post giveaways and teasers for your book?

What does the owner of that Facebook page get out of this?

That's a great question. I've seen it done a lot lately...it seems to be the new "thing" to do. It may benefit the author...to reach readers they may not have reached. My guess is the author advertises the "takeover" on their own page...providing exposure to the blogger's FB page in which case the blog's FB page reaches people they would not have necessarily reached. Maybe it's a collaboration of sorts.

I know how passionate book bloggers are about their books and when they find one that they love they like to shout it from the rooftops and get others to read it. Maybe this is one way for them to "work" with authors they want to promote?

AllieH · Jan 31, 2014

Old Hack said:
I wouldn't let anyone else take over my website in this way, nor would I give anyone else my Facebook log-in details--in fact, it might well be against Facebook's terms of service for this to happen.

Agreed. I would not do it either. However, it seems to be a new fad for book bloggers. As far as FB terms...page administrators can grant administrative privileges to anyone they choose. Their mother, their brother, their co-worker...or their favorite authors.

Old Hack said:
Having said that, if any one of the people and pages I follow on Facebook suddenly started promoting a new author in this way I'd probably assume they'd been hacked. I don't think it would make me buy their books. Sorry.

I know, weird right? I was confused the first time I saw one. Which is part of the reason I am hesitant to do it. But it comes across as kind of fun. I wonder if their followers think it's fun and I wonder if it's an effective way to get one's name or book "out there."

I guess, personally, I am new to social networking and I'm doing my best to learn about it, understand it, and use it effectively to reach my target audience. My book is mature YA (sometimes referred to as NA) targeted to young readers (late teens/early 20's) who use social media like crazy.

Thank you for the feedback! I appreciate it!

Marian Perera · Jan 31, 2014

AllieH said:
That's a great question. I've seen it done a lot lately...it seems to be the new "thing" to do. It may benefit the author...to reach readers they may not have reached. My guess is the author advertises the "takeover" on their own page...providing exposure to the blogger's FB page in which case the blog's FB page reaches people they would not have necessarily reached. Maybe it's a collaboration of sorts.

This is the part I don't understand:

If I want Mary Q. Author to post on my blog (because she has a lot of followers or is funny or whatever), why not just invite her for a guest spot on my blog?

What do we gain out of this "takeover" that we couldn't gain from a guest post? Unless a "takeover" means Mary Q. Author can start her post with something like, "Hi everyone! Today I've tied this blog's owner up in her basement so I can play with all her online toys!"

If that works for readers, more power to them, but... I still don't see why I should give Mary Q. Author administrative access to my blog, because surely she could pretend to do the "takeover" without needing my password?

Old Hack · Jan 31, 2014

AllieH said:
I know, weird right? I was confused the first time I saw one. Which is part of the reason I am hesitant to do it. But it comes across as kind of fun. I wonder if their followers think it's fun and I wonder if it's an effective way to get one's name or book "out there."

I guess, personally, I am new to social networking and I'm doing my best to learn about it, understand it, and use it effectively to reach my target audience.

Here's an easy way you can evaluate the effectiveness of such promotions.

How many books have you ever bought because of them?

AllieH · Jan 31, 2014

Queen of Swords said:
This is the part I don't understand:
What do we gain out of this "takeover" that we couldn't gain from a guest post? Unless a "takeover" means Mary Q. Author can start her post with something like, "Hi everyone! Today I've tied this blog's owner up in her basement so I can play with all her online toys!"

Ha! So true. Great visual.

AllieH · Jan 31, 2014

Old Hack said:
Here's an easy way you can evaluate the effectiveness of such promotions.

How many books have you ever bought because of them?

Good point. Thanks!

Kylabelle · Jan 31, 2014

To me this kind of thing always sounds like a whole lot of work for little return. The book blog is getting someone (you) to do the work of keeping the blog refreshed and active, and in return you supposedly receive, what, exposure?

I wouldn't go near it, but then, I am a very lazy beast.

EMaree · Jan 31, 2014

I have no opinion on "takeovers" as self-promo, but I'll put in a notice about the legality/safety of it:

Old Hack said:
I wouldn't let anyone else take over my website in this way, nor would I give anyone else my Facebook log-in details--in fact, it might well be against Facebook's terms of service for this to happen.

Having said that, if any one of the people and pages I follow on Facebook suddenly started promoting a new author in this way I'd probably assume they'd been hacked. I don't think it would make me buy their books. Sorry.

Facebook groups have the ability to give members different access levels, so you could give an author admin access to your page in a similar way a member here can be elevated to mod. It doesn't require handing out your log-in details, it doesn't remove your own access, and it doesn't break the Facebook Ts&Cs.

When set-up this way it also means the posting admin will be clearly named so that fans of the page can tell it's an author guest-posting. That said, it still comes with the usual risks associated with giving anyone admin control over your site.

If you're considering running a takeover, I'd definitely run it from a group. Facebook pages don't seem to have this control (as far as I can see) and I can't think of any safe way to do a takeover on them.

JournoWriter · Jan 31, 2014

FB pages - for an institution, business, or other entity - do indeed have the capability to have multiple administrators. I admin a page for my employer, and we have several people in the agency who can post. As the lead admin, I can add or take away posting rights with a click.

I see about as much a point to this as I do to extended "guest blogger" stints - none at all. I like a certain blog because I want information and perspective from the owner, not Random Person A. If the owner wants a vacation and wants to hand control over to someone else temporarily, that's fine. But if the new person is just pimping their own book/product/service, I'm outta there.

MsLaylaCakes · Feb 1, 2014

I've never tried it myself, but judging from my recent FB feed, Author takeovers of FB pages do seem to be in vogue these days (for the romance genre at least).

I think the way it works is that a FB page (that, let's say, specializes in paranormal romance) grants an author temporary admin rights for an agreed-upon time period. This allows the author direct access to the page's fan-base.

I've observed such an event go well once (judging purely from online activity, not sales data), but it should be noted that the author in question was (a) already relatively well-known, and (b) very good at using social media for promotion. I think the reason (a) is important is that the author's take-over turned into an "event" that was advertised well in advance and that the page's fan-base (who were also fans of the author) was very much looking forward to. Additionally, the take-over was linked to an anticipated new release of the author in question (that the book blogger reviewed and fell in love with). The book was also part of a series, so the author was able to do multiple giveaways of the earlier books during the take over (let's face it, ppl like free stuff).

On a personal note, I fall into neither category (a) nor (b), and the event seemed to take an insane amount of work, so this isn't a form of promotion I'd personally consider. I'd file it under the same category as Twitter parties...

mada · Feb 3, 2014

I did one last week. Essentially, the page admins make you a content creator on their page for a set amount of time. Most of the time, you and the blog owner promote it so fans know it's not a case of hacking or anything else.

I started by posting a quick intro on who I am and what I've written and asked if anyone had read the books. Yeah, I hated doing it because I don't like feeling as if I'm an attention whore, but some of my fans stopped in and got the conversation going.

After that, it was goofy games, posting teasers about my books, etc. I keep things fairly light because I'm not good at hard sales.

In the end, I did see a spike in sales, so that's a good thing. Not HUGE, but better than the past two months have been. For me, I see it more as a way to get my "face" in front of new people than a way to sell books right then and there. I'm a huge believer that people want to see authors as people, not nameless, faceless, untouchables.

AllieH · Feb 4, 2014

Thank you so much for the feedback everyone! I appreciate it!

I've asked some authors who have done it about their experience and they said they have seen it produce a spike in sales, and also feel it has helped to gain exposure. (Just like Mada). The page followers seem to enjoy being involved as shown in the amount of likes, comments, and shares.

I've decided to try it. The takeover will be in a couple of weeks. I'll let you know how it goes!

RickieRi · Feb 12, 2014

AllieH,

I can't wait to hear how the takeover goes!

One suggestion: If you have the ability to ever take over someone else's audience, find a way to convert their users to your users.

One way to do this would be to offer a free chapter of your book to any of the facebook users who will sign up for your email list. Set up a quick website where you can offer that, and then use your email list provider to get the form together and send each person the free chapter.

That way you have their audience for every subsequent promotion!!

Best of luck!

Old Hack · Feb 12, 2014

RickieRi said:
AllieH,

I can't wait to hear how the takeover goes!

One suggestion: If you have the ability to ever take over someone else's audience, find a way to convert their users to your users.

One way to do this would be to offer a free chapter of your book to any of the facebook users who will sign up for your email list. Set up a quick website where you can offer that, and then use your email list provider to get the form together and send each person the free chapter.

That way you have their audience for every subsequent promotion!!

Best of luck!

If you follow this plan, you're going to risk coming across as a spammer. I wouldn't do it: it's likely to lose you more sales than you make from it.

Not only that, but you're not likely to win many hearts by offering a free chapter of your book like this: it's nothing special, and certainly not worth getting onto a spam-list for. If you have any sense at all you'll already be offering the first chapter or so of your book as a sample, on Amazon, your website, and elsewhere, so that your potential readers can read a bit of your work and see if it's to their liking. Why would they have to go and sign up for it like this?

AllieH · Feb 12, 2014

RickieRi said:
AllieH,

I can't wait to hear how the takeover goes!

One suggestion: If you have the ability to ever take over someone else's audience, find a way to convert their users to your users.

Thank you for the support RickiRi! I have some giveaways & activities planned to gain readership & followers. I appreciate the suggestion!

veinglory · Feb 12, 2014

I suspect many places offering take overs have limited engagement with their followers; possibly a lack of "real" followers. Because pages that do this often are full of epic spam, and thus I general unfollow then, or if that would be unpolitic, suppress their appearance in my feeds.

AllieH · Feb 12, 2014

Old Hack said:
If you follow this plan, you're going to risk coming across as a spammer. I wouldn't do it: it's likely to lose you more sales than you make from it.

Not only that, but you're not likely to win many hearts by offering a free chapter of your book like this: it's nothing special, and certainly not worth getting onto a spam-list for. If you have any sense at all you'll already be offering the first chapter or so of your book as a sample, on Amazon, your website, and elsewhere, so that your potential readers can read a bit of your work and see if it's to their liking. Why would they have to go and sign up for it like this?

Thanks for your response, Old Hack, I appreciate your thoughts!

Have you ever seen an author takeover of a blog's FB page? The ones that I have seen have had enormous amounts of interaction between authors and readers. I write Mature YA/NA contemporary romance and the author takeover is something that is gaining more and more popularity in this genre. Readers of this genre love interacting with their authors and seem to genuinely enjoy participating in these takeover events.

I do offer a sample of the first few chapters of my book at all retailers. You are correct in that readers already have that option available.

I agree with RickieRi's thought of taking advantage of this opportunity to reach an entirely new audience. I plan on providing fun, non-spammy incentive for them to follow me at my various social media outlets. I also have some activities planned (character introductions, photo teasers, etc...) that will spark their interest in my book. "Followers" of social media always have a choice. In my experience, they follow the people they want to follow, and ignore the ones they don't.

I also plan on asking the readers questions and having conversations with them to spark a relationship. I think it would be very annoying of me to blast them with nothing but promotional material.

Even if my sales do not increase, a seed will be planted and my name will be "out-there." I have thought about it, have weighed my options, and in my opinion the benefits outweigh the setbacks.

RevanWright · Feb 23, 2014

I've seen this a lot on Twitter in the last year, but never on FB, and I don't follow a lot of blogs. It's called Twitter Takover, and it happens mostly with broadcasters and interviewers that allow a guest to take over their Twitter for an hour or two to answer fan questions or just tweet during an event.

veinglory · Feb 23, 2014

AllieH said:
Thanks for your response, Old Hack, I appreciate your thoughts!

Have you ever seen an author takeover of a blog's FB page? The ones that I have seen have had enormous amounts of interaction between authors and readers..

Do you have any specific examples? because I have not seen good examples and would like to see them.

AllieH · Feb 27, 2014

Well, I've done 2 author takeovers since I was here last and I have to say, I feel like they were a huge success! My main goals were to have fun, interact with potential readers, and gain exposure. Since the first takeover, which was over a week ago, I've gained Facebook page followers, sold more books, and had a great time doing it! The takeovers helped me to leave a positive impact on readers who had not previously heard of me or my book. I would definitely do it again.

AllieH · Feb 27, 2014

veinglory said:
Do you have any specific examples? because I have not seen good examples and would like to see them.

Veinglory - I PM'd you.

Deleted member 42 · Mar 1, 2014

AllieH said:
Well, I've done 2 author takeovers since I was here last and I have to say, I feel like they were a huge success! My main goals were to have fun, interact with potential readers, and gain exposure. Since the first takeover, which was over a week ago, I've gained Facebook page followers, sold more books, and had a great time doing it! The takeovers helped me to leave a positive impact on readers who had not previously heard of me or my book. I would definitely do it again.

That's great. How has it affected your sales?

Author Takeover - What are your thoughts?

AllieH

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman

Marian Perera

starting over

AllieH

AllieH

Marian Perera

starting over

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman

AllieH

AllieH

Kylabelle

unaccounted for

EMaree

a demon for tea

JournoWriter

Just the facts, please

MsLaylaCakes

Playing the waiting game

mada

Getting back in the groove

AllieH

RickieRi

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman

AllieH

veinglory

volitare nequeo

AllieH

RevanWright

inconveniently drunk

veinglory

volitare nequeo

AllieH

AllieH

Deleted member 42