I finally got around to creating a Facebook fan page this weekend. As far as social-media-sites-I-would-use-even-if-I-weren’t-an-author go, Facebook isn’t anywhere on the list (I don’t find the interface particularly intuitive, and the layout always strikes me as clusterf–, er, mess).
That said, a lot of people do use Facebook, so it’s probably worth putting a little time into creating an author presence there. If you like Facebook, this could even become a major way of promoting your books (I’ve heard of indie authors who have done quite well with it).
What you’ll want to do is create a Facebook Fan Page.
This is different from your personal profile where you post pictures of the kids and chat with relatives. This is your official author presence on Facebook. People don’t have to friend you to see what you’re up to, and (if you’re doing it right) they don’t have to wade through clutter about your life to find the tidbits that are interesting to them (these tidbits don’t need to be solely about your books, but you probably want to only post things that will appeal to your target audience).
How to Create a Facebook Fan Page
It’s pretty easy. Just head over to the Create a Page Wizard, and Facebook will walk you through the process. You’ll probably want to fill out a profile, upload an author picture, and perhaps some of the cover art for your books.
A lot of authors stop there, but I recommend creating a Welcome page as well.
Creating a “Welcome” Page
This replaces your “wall” as the first thing surfers see when they land on your page. It’s an opportunity to let a new visitor know about your books, about what you write, or maybe how to browse around the fan page (though it’s called a page, you can add multiple tabs, so, in essence, multiple pages). You can also integrate a form to encourage folks to sign up for your newsletter (you do have a newsletter, right?).
This may sound complicated, but I actually knocked a welcome page out in about five minutes using PageModo. While you can pay for more complicated Facebook Fan Page setups, there’s a free one-page option. Sure, it puts a “PageModo” logo on your welcome screen, but it’s not too obtrusive, and it’s a way to get started without learning how to install Facebook apps or write code.
I admit, mine’s not particularly inspiring (I mean it when I say I only spent five minutes on it), but I’m planning to see how much I get into promoting my books via Facebook first. If I end up sticking with it and get something out of it, I’ll hire someone to make a cool custom page.
If you have a Facebook fan page for folks to check out (I always like to snoop!), leave the address in the comments below.
Also, don’t forget to “like” mine if you stop in. Thanks!
Hi Lindsay,
First off, your site’s been a really valuable resource for me as I get into writing. Thank you!
I agree that a facebook fan page is worthwhile, and, as you’ve said, isn’t too complicated to create.
Mine is here
http://facebook.com/ervampires
I also thought two other notes might be helpful for others:
1. At present, you can’t pick a nice URL for your fan page until you have 35 fans.
2. Once you’ve created a fan page, if you have another website, you might want to put a facebook “Like Box” on it:
http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/plugins/like-box/
You can see the one I have on my website:
http://ervampires.com
You have to be able to add code to your website, but using Facebook’s wizard and then selecting the “iFrame” code, makes the process pretty doable.
Great tips, Steve! I added the Facebook box just now. 🙂
I had a book-related page, but I never remembered to post anything on it.
Possibly, I should go author-related as you suggest.
But one thing I do know is that I don’t Fan other’s pages. Makes me feel like a teenage groupie or something. Maybe that’s just me.
The other thing is that if I DO create an author page and nobody Fans me, I’ll just feel like a #Fail.
By the way, picked up Hunted to read soon.
Thanks for grabbing, Hunted!
I’ll do another post down the road and talk about how the fan page is doing for me. I’ve already had a reader find it out of the blue and leave a nice comment. The other likes so far are from arm-twisting on Twitter, hah. That’s always an option. 🙂
I did not know you could make a welcome page. Shows you how much time I spend on my facebook author page. lol
Thanks for the tip on using PageModo to make a welcome page. I’ve been wanting to make a welcome page and wasn’t sure how. I liked your page.
I liked your page. I have one as well, though I haven’t made a static landing spot yet. I need to do that.
I’ve toyed with this idea for a while, as I have a personal Facebook profile on which I’m pretty active. I chose to do my author stuff on Twitter, but I hate that pretty soundly. But I am personally unconvinced about social media as it is. We’ll see, but I think your page is pretty well made and a good example for others.
Thanks, Brondt. I’ll let folks here know how it goes. From what I’ve read, Facebook is about five times bigger than Twitter, and I have a feeling it may be the best way to reach the Baby Boomer generation.
Most of my friends’ parents have e-readers and are on Facebook playing FarmVille (which cracks me up since those are the same parents who told us we were too old for computer games when we were teens), whereas none of them are on Twitter unless they’re trying it to promote their business (or to sell their books, ahem!).
Ha!Ha! I laugh at the irony of parents on Facebook all the time. I do think that it is probably a better medium for marketing, as your wall posts have a longer shelf life.
Well, I know it took you awhile to create your fan page, but you’ve gotten off to a great start. The Welcome page is beautiful. I didn’t use PageModo myself because I hadn’t heard of it, but I’m definitely going to check them out!
Your welcome page is fantastic, Scott.
Scott, your Facebook page and your site are great! I love the way you keep the same theme on both. It looks very professional. 🙂
Well, count me in to the group that didn’t know how to make a FaceBook welcome page. I am pretty computer literate, but for some reason the intricacies of Facebook always escape me. I know it can be very useful, but the layout just drives me bonkers.
This is my page, though I’ve just put it up. I’m not sure really if I should make the page about myself, as an author, or about the book I just released. Hmm…
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Genevieve-Pearson/121993834561236
Hi Lindsey,
I liked your fan page, and will check it out often!
My page is: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorJenniferMcFadden
I am going to have to look more at my Facebook fan page. I love Facebook for keeping in touch with all my friends and favorite things, but my fan page is dull. Thanks for the PageModo thing, I’ll have to investigate.
So far I just have a regular FB. I’m not so enamored w/ FB. So, will hold off on the fan page thing. For now. But I can see how it’s another useful tool.
I like the look of that pagemodo… Now I might need to build a new welcome page!
I have a Facebook Page where I give quick tips for authors. Our page includes a Welcome Page and a Blog Page. My blog is fed to the page. It looks like our website. http://www.facebook.com/jfriesler.
I have just started a new series on my blog about Facebook Fan Pages for authors. If you read it, please leave a comment to let me know what you think.. http://www.assistingauthors.com
This is a very nice blog for authors. I am glad I found it,
I’m way late to this thread, but in case anyone sees it, the BookBaby blog has some great posts on using Facebook to promote your books, such as:
http://blog.bookbaby.com/2012/03/how-to-promote-your-book-using-the-new-facebook-timeline-features/
http://blog.bookbaby.com/2012/03/how-to-set-up-facebook-timeline-for-authors/
http://blog.bookbaby.com/2012/03/12-ways-to-increase-your-readership-using-facebook-timeline/
This is a great article! I didn’t know about the FB welcome page and am going to create one soon! Thank you!!
Here is my fan page: http://www.facebook.com/courtneygtalent