I need some info about setting up a separate Facebook author page

Mr. Finnlee

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Hi all!
I want to set up a Facebook author page. I already have a personal page and I've been on Facebook for years. But I am hesitant to use my personal page which is currently viewable only to those I select - friends and family. MY dilemma is that I want a separate Facebook page just for my author persona which would be viewable to the public so I can promote my books and engage with my readers. In a sense I would be two different people who happen to have the same name I suppose.

My instinct tells me to set up a completely separate account for my author page so that there is no crossover to my personal page. My questions are for others on here is how did you go about separating your author persona from your personal and private persona? I publish under my real name, but it is rather generic so I don't see any real issues. Hopefully someone who has some ideas how to handle this can chime in with some advice.

Many thanks in advance!
 

ChaseJxyz

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You're in luck! There is something that already exists for this! It's called a "Page." Your Facebook account you can think of as your Real You, it is the person who PM's friends and shares cat pictures. Maybe you get into arguments in a private group. You are a "real person" and you have the ability to do things as a real person would, like have family members. Real People have friends.

Pages are something "official." It can be a business, it can be a politician, it can be "Like This Page If You Never Broke A Bone." When you post as a page, the name on the comment will be "Like This Page If You Never Broke A Bone," not "[first name] Finlee." Pages have fans/followers, they do not have friends. Multiple people can manage a Page while only you the Real Human run your Real Human Facebook. These are the pages that can run ads, and I only bring this up because, hoo boy, things have changed a lot on Facebook since 2016.

In order to have a "Page," you need to have a "real person" account. They may even ask for a picture of your government ID to make sure you are a Real Human and not a Russian troll or something. They may not immediately ask for this, but at some point they are going to. If you make a separate account just for the page, you're going to be locked out of it because "Like This Page If You Never Broke A Bone" is not a person that exists and you can never produce an ID for that.

This page has more info on it. You can Google around and find stuff, too. Pages are visible to EVERYONE, while your Real Person page will still only be for your family and friends. Of course, some over-zealous fan might find your personal Facebook, but either de-list it or just don't accept friend requests from strangers.

Source: Previous roles were social media management and I'm the Page Admin for my current company