Facebook Strategy for Authors: In-Depth Discussion

Facebook strategy

If you’re like most authors I know, you’ve wondered about how to best use Facebook. Should you stick to your personal page, should you create a fan page, how do you promote a fan page, and what exactly does a marketing strategy look like on Facebook?

I’ve written several posts addressing the basics, as well as my personal strategy:

Writer Sarah Bartlett read these posts, and had further questions about Facebook strategy, which I was happy to answer. Our discussion is now available at her blog. Here’s a snippet:

First and foremost, realize that no matter what Facebook does with your profile page, or how the Timeline evolves, most people are interacting with your posts in their own newsfeed. Very few people visit your profile unless they have a reason to research you or be curious based on something you’ve posted. That means: Don’t sweat your Timeline too much. Yes, do fill out as much information on the about page that you’re comfortable sharing (especially for the public view), but beyond being clear about who you are, I don’t think the Timeline/profile format is meaningful from a marketing standpoint.
 
Here are three keys to behavior on Facebook that you need to understand, based on best business practices as well as what I’ve observed and experienced …

Click here to find out about those 3 keys to behavior, and read the full Q&A.

Side note about interview requests

For many years, I accepted all interview requests that landed in my inbox. Recently, I’ve had to become more selective due to the volume of requests, and also because responding to any Q&A is a signficant time commitment. Unfortunately, many people ask questions that I’ve already answered thoroughly at this blog and elsewhere, or they ask such broad or vague questions that a good answer would easily constitute a book! (E.g., “What do you think about the future of publishing?”)

Sarah’s request was easy to say yes to. She had already read material from me on a specific topic, and had very focused questions on that topic.

Keep that in mind whenever asking anyone to commit to a Q&A that offers you valuable content for your website or blog. Demonstrate knowledge of what that person has said in the past, and explore new or focused territory. That keeps it interesting and worthwhile for everyone.

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Sarah W. Bartlett

Thank you, Jane, for your very kind words. Such helpful advice on the etiquette of interviewing; not to mention excellent modeling of the professional way to follow up. This has been a fabulous experience all around.

Jane Friedman

🙂

Olga

 I have a slightly more convoluted question…how do you run a page when you write AND model? Two completely different things…separate pages? Same page?? Panicccc. 🙁

Jane Friedman

I’m not sure those things could be successfully combined in one profile. I would have separate pages.

Ed_Cyzewski

One of the things that has me thinking about launching a page and restricting my personal profile a bit more is that I sometimes discuss topics related to religion that elicit strong opinions. It’s usually fine among my friends and colleagues, but I’ve also friended some friends of friends who have taken some conversations down. In addition, now that we’re expecting a child this summer, I’m beginning to wonder if my use of my personal Facebook profile will shift to more family and friends related pictures, etc.

Jane Friedman

Excellent reasons to have a separate author page.

If you still like the idea of maintaining only one page, you might consider using Facebook lists to keep posts about religion viewable only by the community of people who are interested. Ditto for the family/baby photos—you might share only with a close friends or family list.

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[…] ones so she doesn’t have to repeat content. Not a bad idea at all. Today’s post, Facebook Strategy for Authors: In-Depth Discussion does that and also links to a Q&A she did with Sarah Bartlett, Jane Friedman: Authors on […]

Ashen

Thanks Jane. I don’t often respond, being engrossed in writing a sequel to my novel, but I’d like you to know that I appreciate the clear advice you offer  to writers who struggle for signpost in the information jungle.

Jane Friedman

Much appreciate the note. 🙂

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[…] Sarah W. Bartlett interviews Jane Friedman about Facebook Strategy for Authors, which prompted Friedman to put together a post linking to all her previous advice for authors using facebook. […]

Demis

Some great articles linked here. Are you still feeling the same way about, for instance, the Facebook Fan Pages tips, seven months on? This stuff moves and changes so fast…

I’m in the process of broadening my platform (up to the pre-query edit phase of a novel I’m hoping to get out there via the traditional route) and am finding the changing (or for that matter, the ill-defined) goal posts the biggest challenge. I’m totally sorted with Twitter (I *get* it, having amassed, over the years, a great bunch of followers numbering in the mid-teen-K’s…) but Facebook is still a bit of a mystery. I think your tip about remaining as “personal me” until I get the novel into print seems to fit my strategy the best, but at the same time, am left wondering how holding off developing my Facebook brand will impact perception of my platform-potential once I’m chatting with agents (and in turn, publishers)…

Regardless, thanks for the great articles – easily the best advice I’ve seen so far on a topic very cluttered by rubbish. 🙂

Jane Friedman

Thank you!

Around the time this interview went live, Facebook started to filter the posts that appear in people’s newsfeeds—primarily the posts from Pages and accounts by public figures (those who have followers, such as myself). Some businesses have reported drop-offs in their site traffic as a result.

There’s not much you can do about this. It reflects the importance of not relying on any specific outlet to reach your readership.

Keep a close eye on Google Plus. Given the launch of Google Authorship, it may eventually play a bigger role in bringing traffic to your site or blog.

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