Facebook pages... is there a point anymore?

Status
Not open for further replies.

merrihiatt

Writing! Writing! Writing!
Absolute Sage
Requiescat In Pace
Registered
Joined
Nov 5, 2008
Messages
4,001
Reaction score
477
Location
Pacific Northwest, Washington
Website
merrihiatt.com
AW is a perfectly legitimate place to include in your online presence, but I've found that the best way to promote yourself here is just to be helpful to other writers. A discreet link or two in your signature is then all the promotion you need.

I completely agree. I was referring to coming to AW with the intention of selling books without participating in the community in some way.

Point well taken.
 

MMcDonald64

Banned
Flounced
Joined
Jan 10, 2009
Messages
422
Reaction score
36
I have links in the back of my books and that seems to be where I get the most likes from. Many also ta
end to post on my wall about how they just read my book. I get the most comments when I post random musings about my books and then ask a question.
 

HLWampler

practical experience, FTW
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 10, 2010
Messages
375
Reaction score
73
I'm in the middle about Facebook pages. The one for my blog does very well, my author page...not so much.

I still use it though. The few likes I do have on the page at least get a few people reading my upcoming news, books, posts, and what not.
 

Mark Moore

Banned
Joined
Dec 22, 2011
Messages
1,041
Reaction score
39
Age
47
Location
Florida
I have both a Facebook page and a Twitter account (not linked to each other), and the feeds from both appear on my blog countesy of widgets. I stopped announcing new stories a few stories ago, and it seems to have made no difference; indeed, my "best-seller" is something that I've promoted on neither Facebook nor Twitter.
 

PublishMyself

PublishMyself.net
Registered
Joined
Sep 14, 2012
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Location
Mostly In Cyberspace
Website
publishmyself.net
One thing worth noting is that your reach can exceed your "likes" - posts can go "viral" by appearing in the feeds of friends of people who comment or like a post. The other day I posted some photos from my trip to Hampton Court Palace, and it reached about half of my followers and twice as many non-followers.

This is such good advice.

On the flip side, I notice that posting a silly picture of a pet dog or Internet meme gets a lot more shares than any "meat and potatoes" posts I make - which is reality on the Internet, but sort of frustrating.
 

WeaselFire

Benefactor Member
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 17, 2012
Messages
3,540
Reaction score
429
Location
Floral City, FL
The secret may be simply feeding Facebook, and even Twitter, from your blog. In my experience, most people will like a page/book/whatever if requested, but often don't ever return.

Jeff
 

Kevin Brennan

Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 6, 2013
Messages
63
Reaction score
1
Location
Cool, CA
Website
www.amazon.com
I read a blog post recently that looked at the Facebook pages of five famous writers. The upshot is that not many "famous" writers use FB properly, i.e., they let their publisher/publicist run it. For us "unfamous" writers, FB strikes me as a lot of work for minimal payoff. Then again, most social media falls into that category, eh?
 

Kevin Brennan

Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 6, 2013
Messages
63
Reaction score
1
Location
Cool, CA
Website
www.amazon.com
I know this sounds lame, but then what? It would just be empty. Anybody have any experience on driving traffic to your "fan" FB page without being pushy? Reading around, it seems like I would want my Twitter to link there, if I have a blog...that would link too - anything I'm missing?

I'm wondering the same thing. On Twitter at least you can be "seen" by others when you Tweet, but on FB people either have to be looking for you specifically or you have to solicit them through other media to visit your page and like it.

Maybe I'm just unclear on the concept.
 

Kevin Brennan

Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 6, 2013
Messages
63
Reaction score
1
Location
Cool, CA
Website
www.amazon.com
I've gone ahead and launched a Facebook page in spite of myself. If it's anything like Twitter, I'll obsess over it until my self-esteem takes a powder. ;-)
 

Mclesh

It's too hot
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 18, 2010
Messages
4,527
Reaction score
1,811
Location
Southern California
Website
www.storyrhyme.com
I have mixed feelings about my Facebook page. The different posts seem to be seen by a varying number of people. It seems random to me. That being said, I do sell the occasional book after putting up a link. I'll continue to use it to post updates on my writing projects, but I do so knowing that only a portion of my audience will see them.
 

AKMartin

Registered
Joined
Jun 6, 2013
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Personally i think Facebook has had its day, too many fake accounts and too hit and miss.

Yes you end up having one because you almost feel you have to but really for the time and effort that goes in to getting likes the rewards very rarely match up.

For me twitter is great for getting traffic and getting your work out there, much easier to grow than Facebook combine this with a nice pinterest and you’re on your way

Anthony
 

gingerwoman

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 27, 2007
Messages
2,551
Reaction score
229
The fact that you are discouraged from adding strangers to Facebook is an impediment in terms of using it as a sales tool.
That being said I do nothing to promote my Facebook author page whatsoever, but people I don't know do randomly like it from time to time. I think those must be people who have bought my book already and then maybe googled me. Not sure.
 

JournoWriter

Just the facts, please
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 2, 2012
Messages
591
Reaction score
38
I have mixed feelings about my Facebook page. The different posts seem to be seen by a varying number of people. It seems random to me.

Your reach depends on a variety of factors, including time of day and whether you have an image. I do social media for my employer, and have found that 6 am is a great time to post, while posts with photos get far more views than those without. Posts on weekends (again, early morning) are also popular.

Like any other form of media, content is king. If you have interesting things to say and don't annoy people, you'll find an audience.

I would NOT recommend linking FB to Twitter, or vice versa. That gets really annoying quickly for fans of both platforms.
 

Max Vaehling

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
1,133
Reaction score
75
Location
Bremen, Germany
Website
www.dreadfulgate.de
Your reach depends on a variety of factors, including time of day and whether you have an image. I do social media for my employer, and have found that 6 am is a great time to post, while posts with photos get far more views than those without. Posts on weekends (again, early morning) are also popular.

Like any other form of media, content is king. If you have interesting things to say and don't annoy people, you'll find an audience.

I would NOT recommend linking FB to Twitter, or vice versa. That gets really annoying quickly for fans of both platforms.

If you're like me and thus unlikely to post anything readable at 6AM, other good times seem to be late noon and 6PM. It depends on your audience, too. If they're the kind of people who connect from work, they'll do that after their lunch breaks. If they aren't, they might wait till they're home. If you're a YA writer, though, your best bet is whenever your readers are back from school.

And, yes, totally don't cross-post to Twitter from Facebook. I'll happily follow a link from a tweet, but if it's a link to a Facebook post that only consists of a link itself, I might lose interest quickly. Tweeting to FB can work if you don't automate it and only cross-post tweets without hashtags or links. Hashtags will look awkward in a FB post, and links just won't display the way you want them to show, with a thumbnail image and all.
 

robertbevan

practical experience, FTW
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 16, 2011
Messages
706
Reaction score
70
Location
incheon, south korea.
I love my Facebook author page. It doesn't do me much good as a promotional tool (actually, it kind of does when I have a new release), but it's great for knowing that I actually have fans out there who are hungry for more of my work, and for interacting with those fans. I post links to reviews when I get them, and updates as to how my current WIP is coming along. If I write a particularly funny line that makes sense out of context and doesn't give any of the plot away, I'll post that too. I find it keeps my readers from forgetting about me in the long gulfs between releases.
 

JournoWriter

Just the facts, please
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 2, 2012
Messages
591
Reaction score
38
If you're like me and thus unlikely to post anything readable at 6AM, other good times seem to be late noon and 6PM. It depends on your audience, too.

With the Schedule feature, you don't even have to be conscious to post! I can take an hour or so and take care of several weeks' worth of posts easily, setting them to go live any hour, any day. It's a lifesaver.

Agree it depends on your audience. What works for me - going after an audience of working adults often away from computers during the day - will be horrible for others. Try it out and see what works.
 

Jamesdomus1066

I Aim to Misbehave
Registered
Joined
Jun 13, 2013
Messages
33
Reaction score
0
Location
Somewhere in Ohio
or Gen-Xer.

I resemble that remark. ;)

I use Facebook only very sporadically and have collected only a few "Likes" on my author page. Mostly friends and a few people I have no idea which among them (if any) have even looked at one of my books.

Personally, I think most of the social media are a waste of time. I don't think I've ever sold a book to anyone because of a FB or Twitter post.

It's quite discouraging, since I have almost no $ to spend on publicity and word of mouth isn't really working for me.
 

kyocrisis

Einherjar
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 17, 2013
Messages
235
Reaction score
14
Location
Houston
That reminds me, if you only have one book or one WIP, would you be using an Author FB page, or a Book FB page? I've been wondering this.

As for thoughts, I don't have any experience with this, but I imagine it helps if you already have a decent web presence (FB, Twitter, Blog, w.e).
Then of course you would be sharing this page with your main pages which would reach the people that already follow you.

As for actually helping to sell, it will be hard. Of all of the people that do follow and do see it, few to none may be convinced to buy it. But if you can make your posts interesting enough and not annoying, maybe they will like or share it which will spread it to their friends and eventually you may make some sales!

In theory, of course.
 

williemeikle

The force is strong in this one.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 17, 2005
Messages
3,904
Reaction score
863
Age
68
Location
Canada
Website
www.williammeikle.com
I have over 6000 fans on the Facebook page, and over 70,000 followers on Twitter.

I sell a -lot- of books through these channels and won't hear a bad word said about them :)

The main seller has been a "Featured Book" tab on Facebook that I rotate with a new book appearing there every month that I can advertise across the social media. It works for me.

https://www.facebook.com/williammeikle
 

paulcosca

The Paulest of all Coscas
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 20, 2013
Messages
138
Reaction score
15
Location
Missoula, MT
Website
www.paulcosca.com
I enjoy Facebook because it gives people an opportunity to interact with me, which for me is the whole point. The only thing I advise is please do not open a Facebook or twitter account for just your book. I hate these. I don't want to follow a single book. I want to follow an author.
 

JournoWriter

Just the facts, please
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 2, 2012
Messages
591
Reaction score
38
I use Facebook only very sporadically and have collected only a few "Likes" on my author page.

I can't guarantee you that if you use it more often and post regular content, you'll get more likes.

But I can guarantee that if you use it only sporadically and don't post regular content, you'll only have a few likes.
 

ClarissaWild

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 6, 2013
Messages
70
Reaction score
0
I can't guarantee you that if you use it more often and post regular content, you'll get more likes.

But I can guarantee that if you use it only sporadically and don't post regular content, you'll only have a few likes.


It's not the likes that matter, but the content engagement. If readers don't click on your links, or look at your photo's, or your important message, then it's a waste. If they only like and then never view your stuff again, it's a waste. You should build a fanbase on Facebook, that's what it's for. To connect, engage, etc.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.