# Facebook?



## Amanita (Jul 22, 2012)

Hello everyone,

I've seen that Mythic Scribes like many other websites links to Facebook. 
I'm not registered there because I didn't see many advantages that would outweigh their way of dealing with users' private data. 
Now that I don't have much university work to do for the next weeks I've been wondering if I should give it a try after all. Is any of you there? Do you like it and do you think it's worth it for you? Are you using your real names or user names like you do in forums like these? Or do you have some special author pages already?


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## Sheilawisz (Jul 22, 2012)

Hello Amanita, just like you I also do not see any advantages in that Facebook thing... and I do not understand why so many people love it so much!!

I run Princess Joan's Facebook (so, not my name or even my Sheilawisz forum name) I think that nobody should use their real names in Facebook, I mean, it's just a game on the internet but many people are taking it as seriously as it was an official government institution or something.

Facebook is boring and dull in my opinion- if you want to open an account it's better to invent some other name and do not share your personal pictures, at least not many of them. I should delete many of mine from Joan's Facebook...


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## Steerpike (Jul 22, 2012)

I like Google+ better, but Facebook is probably more advantageous for the author. If you're going to use it, use the same name you write under.


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## T.Allen.Smith (Jul 22, 2012)

On a personal level FB is great to keep in contact with friends and distant family. I have lots of friends spread across the country & internationally that would be difficult to keep up with if not for FB.

Lots of writers use FB pages for the same reason.... it's a way to spread word and get your work out there. Most authors I know have 2 separate accounts to handle the two differing aspects (1 for personal & then an author's page).

I see little down side to the use of social media. Anymore I feel it's becoming an essential element of promotion.


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## Steerpike (Jul 22, 2012)

T.Allen.Smith said:


> I see little down side to the use of social media. Anymore I feel it's becoming an essential element of promotion.



Yes. Social media takes a broad approach, in my view. I use Facebook, Google+, and I even created a Twitter account solely for marketing. I don't use that for anything else.


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## Benjamin Clayborne (Jul 22, 2012)

The only reason I'm on Facebook (with my real identity) is because all my friends are, too. I found myself constantly in the position of being surrounded by people saying, "Hey, did you see what Soandso said on Facebook? OMG..." and being the only one in the group left out of the loop. (It's not like I was missing out on anything spectacularly interesting, but when everyone in a peer group is communicating with each other and you're left out, it doesn't _matter_ what it's about.)

I don't put any personal info into my account at all; all that's there is my name and birthday and gender (as those cannot be omitted). No relationship status, no hobbies, no school, no work history, no family connections. And if I'd thought about it, I would have used a fake name when I created the account. (By the time it occurred to me to do that, I already had everything set up, and I don't feel like going to the trouble of recreating a new fake account and getting all my friends re-added.)


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## Ankari (Jul 22, 2012)

I created a Facebook PAGE (instead of personal account) for my universe.  You can click on the link in my signature.  The benefit is that your personal information is never seen by anyone.


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## The Blue Lotus (Jul 22, 2012)

I'm on FB  I made an authors page with my pen name so I did not need to make a new acnt, and like someone else pointed out it keeps your persoanl things from being related to the writer stuff. 
However I mostly use FB as a place to make sure my friends are still breathing, and connect with family that is spread out all over the country.


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## Butterfly (Jul 23, 2012)

Benjamin Clayborne said:


> And if I'd thought about it, I would have used a fake name when I created the account. (By the time it occurred to me to do that, I already had everything set up, and I don't feel like going to the trouble of recreating a new fake account and getting all my friends re-added.)




You can still edit your name and change it to whatever you want. It's on the drop down and account settings.


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## Benjamin Clayborne (Jul 23, 2012)

Butterfly said:


> You can still edit your name and change it to whatever you want. It's on the drop down and account settings.



Yes, but as I understand it they try to confirm name changes. I've had friends who tried to change it (for the same reason) and were rejected.


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## Black Dragon (Jul 23, 2012)

If you're trying to raise your profile as an author, Facebook is definitely worth it.  

We have a Mythic Scribes fan page, and a lot of people discover us that way.  In fact, it's our second largest source of referral traffic next to Google, with Twitter coming in as no. 3.


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## Ankari (Jul 23, 2012)

Black Dragon said:


> If you're trying to raise your profile as an author, Facebook is definitely worth it.
> 
> We have a Mythic Scribes fan page, and a lot of people discover us that way.  In fact, it's our second largest source of referral traffic next to Google, with Twitter coming in as no. 3.



It is worth it, but only if you are proactive with it.  Authors need to put on their marketing hat with Facebook.  They also need to get a couple hundred dollars together to start an ad campaign.  I'v managed to double my Facebook "likes" with just over $100 with Facebook Ads.  Even though the number of likes I have may be small (78) it exposes each of my posts to over 10,000 people.  So I've paid $0.01 per impression.  THAT is a bargain.  

And this is without having a novel to share yet!  I'll be turning up the heat when the novel is in its final stages.


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## The Blue Lotus (Jul 23, 2012)

Benjamin Clayborne said:


> Yes, but as I understand it they try to confirm name changes. I've had friends who tried to change it (for the same reason) and were rejected.




Yeah after I got married they would not let me change my last name, I could use a hyphen between the two but not a total change... :furious:


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## ALB2012 (Jul 23, 2012)

I have a private page for speaking to people I know( or at least thats the theory.) Quite a lot of my friends aren't interested in reading or writing. I did set up an author page. It is useful to have. I also set up a recommendations page.  I joined a few groups but they are really only worth it if you have the time to participate.

I made a few sales directly from facebook contacts but I guess it doesnt work for everyone.

I would say keep a different page from your "real" page unless you want to get spammed into oblivion.  You can invite people or not. I have asked my friends to like or share and I have way more contacts on the author page than my own page. It is handy to see what other people are doing and get a wider range of advice.  I dont see any downsides, you get some publicity. I have bought a few book from things I have seen on FB.

Dark Fantasy-Beyond the Storm | Facebook is mine


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## Rikilamaro (Jul 24, 2012)

Glad someone else asked this first.

I use Facebook for my personal stuff, and have only added one MS member to my friend's list there. Recently I was considering creating an author's page to get some interest started on my novel. I was sitting here saying, "Hmm. I wonder if anyone else on MS is thinking the same thing I am..." and here's this lovely thread with great info.  Thanks, ya'll.


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## robertbevan (Aug 2, 2012)

Ankari said:


> Even though the number of likes I have may be small (63) it exposes each of my posts to over 10,000 people.  So I've paid $0.01 per impression.  THAT is a bargain.



i'm not doubting you, but i don't understand how that works. if you've got 63 likes, how are you exposing your posts to over 10,000 people, instead of... say... 63?


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## JCFarnham (Aug 2, 2012)

robertbevan said:


> i'm not doubting you, but i don't understand how that works. if you've got 63 likes, how are you exposing your posts to over 10,000 people, instead of... say... 63?



I assume 10,000 is the number of accounts that Facebook say they show your ad to, however that's worked out. But only 63 of those people visited and liked.

It's still pretty significant from a marketing stand point mind you, because without the campaign would there have been ANY increase in followers?


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## robertbevan (Aug 2, 2012)

JCFarnham said:


> I assume 10,000 is the number of accounts that Facebook say they show your ad to, however that's worked out. But only 63 of those people visited and liked.
> 
> It's still pretty significant from a marketing stand point mind you, because without the campaign would there have been ANY increase in followers?



okay... i think i understand now. i think i was interpreting that completely backwards before.


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## Ankari (Aug 2, 2012)

Actually, it''s the amount of people who saw your article.  When someone "likes" your page everyone that "likes" them sees that update on their wall.  Some of the people who have "liked" my page have over 3,000 friends.  That one like generated 3,000 impressions.  

Here are my stats so far:  


268,601 people have seen my FB ad.
102,871 have seen my FB page in some manner.  Most do so with the FB mobile platform.
I've spent $176.18
My ad has been clicked 1,600 times.
Cost per click is $0.11
Cost per impression isn't even a penny
And I have 78 likes (an increase of 15 since 9 days ago).


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## Addison (Aug 2, 2012)

I've tried facebook. It failed. People were more interested in posting their advertisements and such on my wall. The entire site is one great big web of billboards.


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## Steerpike (Aug 2, 2012)

I don't get any advertisements on my Facebook wall.

That said, I had a better response to comments about my book in Google+, simply because of the way Google+ works. Instead of simply having friends and family and people who have some connection with as part of your circle of contacts, with Google+ you generate circles based on common interests. So I have a number of people interested in publishing and promotion, as well as a number of writer, editors, readers, and so on in my circles. Seems like a more targeted approach.


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## Benjamin Clayborne (Aug 2, 2012)

I'll probably bite the bullet and set up a Google+ page for THE QUEEN OF MAGES. Can't really hurt, I suppose, although I'm wary of spending even more time curating various online presences.


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## The Blue Lotus (Aug 7, 2012)

Addison said:


> I've tried facebook. It failed. People were more interested in posting their advertisements and such on my wall. The entire site is one great big web of billboards.



Really? that is strange, but then again most of the people who hit up my page are people I know. 
I have a few random people who follow the page that I don't know that seem interested in the book, and more people on twitter who mail me asking about its release etc. But, I like to think that since I linked my FB page with my twitter acnt that it helps build the audiance a little.


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## @nbcauthor (Aug 9, 2012)

I've used facebook advertising.  It increased likes if they land on page, but not sales so far.

Time will tell.


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## Sieryn (Aug 9, 2012)

I agree. I ran a three month facebook campaign, didn't see any increase in sales...waste of money as far as I'm concerned.

Frankly I got more sales out of a woot.com deal post than facebook.


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## Ankari (Aug 9, 2012)

You can't use Facebook as an advertising medium.  You have to think it as finding and developing your potential customer base.  This requires more than just coughing up a few hundred bucks for an ad campaign.  You need to engage with your followers, give them reason to invest into your artist creation.


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## @nbcauthor (Aug 10, 2012)

*But how?*



Ankari said:


> You can't use Facebook as an advertising medium.  You have to think it as finding and developing your potential customer base.  This requires more than just coughing up a few hundred bucks for an ad campaign.  You need to engage with your followers, give them reason to invest into your artist creation.



Not sure how to engage...

?


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## BWFoster78 (Aug 10, 2012)

@nbcauthor said:


> Not sure how to engage...
> 
> ?



Agreed.  I'd love to see a series of posts from Ankari regarding his advice on marketing...  Not that I'm hinting or anything.


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## Ankari (Aug 11, 2012)

I'll try my best.  

Marketing isn't about selling something so much as it is about generating interest in a product.  Those are two different concepts.  You would consider the used car salesman as selling you something and the hype that Apple creates for its Iphone line as marketing.  The problem with most authors is that they've never worked in retail.  Even if you haven't, you _are_ a consumer and you have to reflect on what works to get you to buy a product and what doesn't.  Since this thread is about Facebook, I'll try to limit the concept of marketing as it applies through facebook.

*Why Should Someone Follow You?*

You have to give regular content to be consumed by your potential customer base (consumers).  What are you offering your fans that isn't a sales pitch?  "Hey, buy my book.  It's great!"  Doesn't cut it.  We don't need another commercial in our lives.  You can see from the amount of DVRs being sold that people are willing to pay money to avoid commercials.  Don't turn your facebook page into a commerical.

*Content Suggestions*

Pictures:  I know that everyone is able to afford an artist, but if you can, get one.  People love pictures.  Look at your phone and find out how many megapixels the camera has in it.  We are extremely visual, as it gives the _consumer_ immediate gratification.  Pictures are like gateway drugs: once they like what they see, they'll want to know more about where it came from.

You've seen the drawings I've posted in the World Building Forum.  Each one has received a few hundred views.  Well, in facebook my racial album has received over a thousand.  

Snippets:  We are writers, which makes this an easy item to offer.  Snippets should be short, clear enough to convey the proper emotion but vague enough to keep the _consumer_ guessing.  It doesn't matter if the snippet is from your book or if it's from the lore of your world.  I've posted two snippets that are directly from my book but I am going to post a others that give further insight to the world building I've done.

Milestones: People like to see that they are part of a thriving relationship.  Milestones allow you to convey a level of success that your fans can share in.  I'm currently at 91 likes.  When I hit 100 I will turn that into a milestone.  Customers want to be the reason why you've succeeded.  How many times have you suggested to someone an author that they didn't know?  Didn't it feel good that you enlightened them?  Didn't it feel good to know that you found another fan for the author you love?  That is a milestone.

*Engage Your Fans*

A lot of celebrities ascend into a legend solely based on their ability to keep their fandom growing.  Ashton Kutcher did this when he entered a challenge with CNN on who can reach one million followers on Twitter.  He won.  He did this because he was better at engaging his fans.  He gave them updates, randomly read his fan's tweets, and responded to them.  As a budding author, you need to engage your audience.  Make them more than just fans, make them your followers.  If someone posts a comment on a status update, respond back to it.  Simple, but a very important habit to adopt.

*The Earlier the Better*

Some are afraid to enter into marketing before their book is finished.  Their reasoning is that it will distract them from writing or that fear of offering something when the product isn't completed.  I understand the first point, because I feel that way now.  I don't understand the second point.  If you follow my reasoning, you're not offering them a product to buy, your interaction with your fans  *is* what they are _consuming._ 

I've said this before, but it's an important lesson I learned.  I attended a seminar about this very subject during my SuperCon visit.  The author told us that she started a facebook page after she completed her first chapter of her first draft!  She would start off by sharing snippets of her writing.  She gained 1,500 fans by the time she finished her book!  

Moral of the story?  It's never too early but it can be too late.

*Facebook Ads*

You can pay facebook to advertise your facebook page or an external website.  Here are a few points I've picked up.

Visual is Better

I advertise my racial album.  Remember, visual products give the _consumer_ immediate emotional gratification.  That little thumbnail of an ad needs to be as attractive as possible.  If you have the money to create a facebook ad, I'd suggest you hire an artist to create a few pictures.  

Filter Your Exposure

You can tell facebook what countries you want your ad to run in.  I picked all the English speaking ones that I could remember.  You want to get the best bang for your buck.  You can also tell facebook to advertise your page to people that like certain pages.  For instance, you can tell facebook to only display your ad for people that like Lord of The Rings, Dragon Age, Skyrim, Wheel of Time, etc.

Be careful which page you tell facebook to filter to.  There are many unofficial fan pages for popular intellectual properties.  

Set Your Bid

Facebook allows you to set your bid (the cost per unit for your ad).  It suggests a certain amount (mine was $0.30) but I decreased it by 50% ($0.15).  I average about $0.12 a click.  Also, you can select if you want to pay per click or for exposure frequency (1000 views increments).  I chose the per click method.

I think I've covered everything I can concerning facebook.  If you have any questions, post them and I'll do my best to answer them.


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## BWFoster78 (Aug 14, 2012)

Ankari,

These are good suggestions.  You've given me a lot to think about.

Thanks!


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## Devor (Aug 14, 2012)

Maven.  The strategy I would recommend for doing well on Facebook is called being a _Maven_, which means being the go-to place for consolidating the best material of interest to a particular group - that is, people who are interested in the same things you are.

Chances are slim that you can create enough content on your own, but if you can consolidate and share the right bundle of the content available everywhere, and mix it with your own related content, then your facebook page can become a go-to resource instead of an obnoxious advertiser.

This also works well with twitter, but there's a lot of other strategies that work well with Twitter, too.


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## Benjamin Clayborne (Aug 14, 2012)

Short of already being famous, I gather that the best Twitter strategy is to write things that are funny so that people retweet you, which is likely to gain you followers. That's what I'm trying to do, anyway.


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## Devor (Aug 14, 2012)

Benjamin Clayborne said:


> Short of already being famous, I gather that the best Twitter strategy is to write things that are funny so that people retweet you, which is likely to gain you followers. That's what I'm trying to do, anyway.



Yes.  The other strategy is to follow a lot of people and chat with them, since anything they say to you will mean a link to you on their feed, and vica versa.  Mixing the three is probably best, but chatting can get spammy if you aren't careful.


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## Benjamin Clayborne (Aug 14, 2012)

Devor said:


> Yes.  The other strategy is to follow a lot of people and chat with them, since anything they say to you will mean a link to you on their feed, and vica versa.  Mixing the three is probably best, but chatting can get spammy if you aren't careful.



I sort of tried that at first when I started on Twitter, but it was really time-consuming. I also don't want to be someone who has 5,000 followers and also follows 5,000 people. My metric for success is that I have way more followers than follow-ees.


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## Devor (Aug 14, 2012)

Benjamin Clayborne said:


> I sort of tried that at first when I started on Twitter, but it was really time-consuming. I also don't want to be someone who has 5,000 followers and also follows 5,000 people. My metric for success is that I have way more followers than follow-ees.



That's going to be hard, but I suppose it's less time consuming.  It's simple enough to create 140 interesting characters each day, and it's easy enough to latch onto a trend.  Can you find something funny and fantasy related to say when you log in and see that today, what's trending is #MentionADateYouWillNeverForget?

Your followers build more slowly at first because you need a slew of tweets before people will follow you, but then pick up.

I would still suggest doing some of the Maven thing.  There are people that your audience is already following.  Swapping tweets with those people, and consolidating some of their content, is the fastest way to reach them.


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## Benjamin Clayborne (Aug 14, 2012)

Yeah... I just don't have time. Actual writing and directly related tasks already chew up most of my available free time each day. I can barely spare enough time to squeeze out occasional blog posts and tweets; actually organizing those efforts into something is probably beyond my capacity.

Or maybe I'll slowly get better at it, and it'll seem less overwhelming, as times goes on...


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## ALB2012 (Aug 15, 2012)

I am not eager enough to set up twitter, I have facebook, google+, pinterest and also a couple of forums.

With writing and work I need some time away from the computer


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## Zero Angel (Aug 15, 2012)

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned or not, but pages are definitely the way to go for creating a public entity (which any published author is). I have a Google+ page for my book +The Throne of Ao, and I have a Facebook page for my author-self, facebook.com/zawota

The analytics feature of Facebook's pages is also quite nice for seeing how many people you are reaching. 

Chatting with people is an interesting thing to do on twitter that for some reason I had not considered -_-

When I started I went the route of following people that were interested in Tolkien and fantasy type things, but I ended up with too many follows and Twitter suspended me temporarily until I explained myself. They said I was "aggressively following people" and that I needed more followers before adding more people (this was over a year ago). Now that I am actually getting interested in twitter, I have been going through and deleting any person that's not a publisher, writer, someone I know in real life or someone I am interested in following. 

My goal is to get it down to a number of people that I am actually interested in hearing about! But it's slow going. I've only deleted about 100 so far. Once I get down to a good number I will start actually using Twitter for more.


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