Facebook Pages can be a daunting project to start for anyone, let alone a new author, but having your own space on the interwebs without having to pay domain fees or hire a web developer is undoubtedly one of the most important factors for building and reaching an audience. As with most things, there are Pro’s and Con’s to having a Facebook Author’s page and were going to cover them all while I give you a quick and dirty tip on how to manage your page once you get it started.
🌟PRO: Billions of people use Facebook every day!
You know your little addiction to Facebook you try not to tell your therapist about because you don’t want him to put you on Aderol? Well, there are tons of other people with the same addiction! Three cheers for insanity! This means that so long as you’re producing content these people want to connect with, getting YOUR content in front of people is extremely easy.
❌CON: Facebook limits your content, on purpose!
Facebook operates on an algorithm called EdgeRank. EdgeRank scans all the content on the site and limits and boosts posts based on similar content, the likes of the target audience and what they’ve liked and shared before. Say that if you already have an Author’s Fan Page and seven hundred people like your page. Not all seven hundred likers may see your posts every single time. Couple that with the fact that they probably like a ton of other pages, this means even less of an opportunity for them to see that shiny new cover reveal.
❗️What We Can Do:
⚡️Create your own content!
Facebook Page ranks aren’t based on the number of people who like the page or even a specific post, but instead on the engagement the post garners. The more comments and shares your content receives, the more important and well received Facebook will believe it is. What does this mean? Build your own high-quality content and post it for the world to see. When you see a funny meme someone else posted and you share it to your page and all your followers like and comment on it, you’re only building the engagement of the original poster. This engagement does nothing to affect the rank of your page which means fewer people will see your posts in their Newsfeed. Focus on finding, posting, or even creating those memes yourself and posting them to your page.
⚡️Post that content when the most people can see it!
There has been tons of research done on the optimal times to post on Facebook and other social media networks, but it all boils down to your page and your fans. Generally, study says the best time to post is between you the hours of one and three PM during the week but I’ve found my followers to be most active on Sunday’s after six PM. Pay attention to your page insights and find out what works best for your fans.
⚡️Share it yourself!
You’re already probably part of numerous author and marketing groups on Facebook and if you’re not what are you doing with your life? Join as many of these groups as you can, so long as you follow their criteria and the group is relevant. I highly recommend staying away from a group about My Little Pony if you’re a hardcore erotica writer. Those things usually don’t mix. Now, when you create specific posts that may fit the criteria and posting guidelines of some of these posts, share away! Not only are you helping the reach of your post and possibly the engagement, you’re sharing content that this specific group of people wants to see. For example, you’re in a group about paranormal romance and you see a meme about Edward Cullen. The Twilight fans in that group would go absolutely insane being reminded of the books they adore. Now they’re sharing YOUR meme to THEIR page where their friends who are also Twilight fans see it and share it to THEIR pages. Now you’ve got your very first viral post.
Remember: In the world of Social Media content is KING 👑.
Author A.C. Greenlee is an award-winning creator of Paranormal Romance, High Fantasy and adventure novels. In 2012, Greenlee’s debut novel, Guardian of the Hellmouth, was released via Lillium…
Fiction for the Masses 