Facebook pages for indie authors...worth the time and effort?

[jonconnington]

For the record, I'm not sure which section a post like this should be put in...let me know if this is the wrong place.

Now to the business at hand....

I started off with a MySpace page before moving onto a regular website. It never really did that much good, publicity wise. But given the promotion is ninety percent of the indie game, has any tried using Facebook to get the word out about their publications? Any success stories, failure? In short, is it worth the time and expense it would require?

[RJ Keller]

My Facebook page is VERY worth the time and effort. I post links to my blog entries, interviews, relevant news articles, and quotes from my novels. It's a great way to stay in touch with readers. (Aside: probably Writers' Cafe would be the place for this thread.)

[williammeikle]

I use a FB "fan" page with tabs for my books, ebooks, anthology appearances etc, all linked through to Amazon. ( http://www.facebook.com/williammeikle )

I can send newsletter-type updates to all my fans at once (over 1100 of them).

I also have a blog that posts automatically to the FB page. (over 700 followers)

And its also linked up to post automatically to Twitter. (over 400 followers )

So what with "retweets", "shares" and "likes" etc every post potentially reaches thousands of people.

Still wondering if its worthwhile? :-)

Willie

[Imogen Rose]

Yes, very worthwhile– a great way to keep in touch with those who enjoy your writing.

Imogen

[L.J. Sellers, novelist]

I have have gained more readers through Facebook than anything else I've done. I have a regular page (w/ 4500 friends) and now a novelist (fan) page too. My Twitter account posts to FB, and I post about my blogs and events there too. It's terrific. Here's where to connect with me.
http://www.facebook.com/ljsellers
http://twitter.com/ljsellers
http://crimespace.ning.com/profile/LJSellers

[bvlarson]

Hmmmm... Maybe I should use facebook, I've got my own website but it's not very interactive.
You guys have me thinking now.

[Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake']

I guess I handled my facebook page wrong. I kept getting requests for hearts and christmas trees and all kinds of stuff. I was spending too much time there ignoring all those things, which only alienated people. I don't post there at all anymore.

[jonfmerz]

There's a huge difference between a "personal" profile Facebook page and a Facebook "fan" page that you use to promote yourself as an author.  Both are necessary to have on Facebook (since you can't actually get a "fan" page unless you first have a profile page.

I happen to think that Facebook is priceless for any author working today as an important component of their social media strategy.  So much so, I even wrote an ebook about using Facebook Fan Pages for authors. 

(link is below in the signature, heh heh)

[Sean Sweeney]

Love the shameless plug, Jon.

Any internet presence is essential. Enough said.

[Vyrl]

I have one.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Fantasy-Series-Called-Luthiels-Song/13532573386

IMO, it's certainly worthwhile if you're willing to take the time.

[Gabriela Popa]

I have one.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Fantasy-Series-Called-Luthiels-Song/13532573386

IMO, it's certainly worthwhile if you're willing to take the time.

Vyrl, how much time (appx-ly) have you spent to set it up and how much time does it take you to maintain?  I have posted some questions related to time allocation as another thread - but perhaps my questions would fit better under this thread.
Gabriela

[David Derrico]

I think there are some FB fan page success stories, but they do take a lot of time and effort to do well. I've found it very useful for getting in touch with those few golden fans who will take the time to contact you, give you positive feedback, write reviews, look for your next work, and generally support you. But I don't think it's done all that much in the way of driving sales.

(Mine is here, if anyone wants to take a look or get some ideas or become a fan. )

[G.L. Douglas]

jon, thanks so much for starting this thread, and to all those who shared their thoughts and ideas.

I've spent the better portion of the day setting up a Facebook page for my novel Alpha Rising, but my skill at such ventures falls short of raging success.

I'm not sure of what I see, versus what others will see, and that's my most confusing aspect.

If anyone here might have the time and interest, I'd be most grateful for a critique (I can handle brutal...thick skinned).  Hopefully, it will open the page I created (I'm that unsure of my effort).

I tried to post a link to that page, but it doesn't hotlink.  Any advice on that other than a search for Alpha Rising?

Many thanks
G.L. Douglas

[Daniel Arenson]

What are your thoughts on facebook personal pages vs. fan pages?  Which do you put more effort into?

About fan pages -- are they fan pages for YOU?  Or for your book?  If the latter, do you maintain multiple fan pages, one per book?

Do you spam people with invites to become your fans?  Or just let them join themselves, one by one?

What about facebook groups?  Do any of you manage facebook groups?

[jonconnington]

Love the shameless plug, Jon.

Any internet presence is essential. Enough said.

Thanks, I do try. After all, any publicity of good publicity, no matter how shameless...

Given the responses here, looks like a facebook page is the next step...

[Vyrl]

Vyrl, how much time (appx-ly) have you spent to set it up and how much time does it take you to maintain?  I have posted some questions related to time allocation as another thread - but perhaps my questions would fit better under this thread.
Gabriela

I've been building it up for the past two ever since it became obvious MySpace was a goner. In general, I probably spend about 15-30 minutes on it each day. Social networking, in general, does take a decent amount of time to keep up (probably about 2 hours each day for me). So any writer will have to take this time debt into account when considering their marketing plan.

[P.A. Woodburn]

I have started dabbling with facebook. I bought Jon's book, but have not had time to read it yet. I too get annoying requests to play games and so on. I'm getting requests from a teenager with a brain tumor, and I just have no time to play games. Any ideas? I know she really has a brain tumor because I know her mother. I just don't have time.

Ann

[Author Eyes]

I have a regular page which is private for friends and family, plus a fan page for everyone else. I think of it as just one more way to reach readers and let them know what's happenin'!

[jonconnington]

I have started dabbling with facebook. I bought Jon's book, but have not had time to read it yet. I too get annoying requests to play games and so on. I'm getting requests from a teenager with a brain tumor, and I just have no time to play games. Any ideas? I know she really has a brain tumor because I know her mother. I just don't have time.

Ann

First...thanks for buying the book! Always nice to meet a fan. Let me know what you think....

Can't help you with the teen with the tumor, though. You're on your own there.... 

[Genaro Zamora]

In this time, I would deffinitely think that a facebook page would be necessary.

[jonfmerz]

With a personal page, you max out at 5,000 friends.  With a fan page, you can have millions of fans.  I know that for most, this will not be a problem, but why set yourself up with limits with only a personal profile page?

A fan page can either be for yourself or a book, yes, but I think you'll do better if you  set it up for yourself.  That way, you don't have to keep inviting people to "like" a new page for the next book you write.  And if you send too many requests to your friends, you'll end up losing them potentially, since most people don't like an abundance of requests.

As for differences: on my personal profile page, I'll post all sorts of stuff unrelated to my writing.  But my fan page is expressly for my personal brand, which includes my writing and TV work.

I used to run several groups on Facebook, but they don't offer nearly the range of customization that pages do.  As such, I don't recommend them at all.

[jonconnington]

Well...I've got the Facebook fan page up and running...more painless than I'd thought.

One question though...has anyone ever used Facebook Ads to promote their book? Is it worth the effort and expense?

[jonfmerz]

Not to promote any of my books, but I spend about $7 per week promoting the TV series I'm involved with.  I've been very pleased with the results; you can target demographics very finely and I've definitely seen results.  Again, two different beasts: TV and books, but overall, I've had a great experience with the ads.

[MachineTrooper]

  How often do you all post to your fan pages and what kind of info do you share? 

[Author Eyes]

How often do you all post to your fan pages and what kind of info do you share? 

I usually have something to post once or twice a week. I post reviews, upcoming events, past events, special "thank yous" to people who have helped me.