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Facebook?

Amanita

Maester
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?
 

Sheilawisz

Queen of Titania
Moderator
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...
 

Steerpike

Felis amatus
Moderator
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.
 

T.Allen.Smith

Staff
Moderator
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.
 

Steerpike

Felis amatus
Moderator
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.
 
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.)
 

Ankari

Hero Breaker
Moderator
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.
 
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.
 

Butterfly

Auror
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.
 

Black Dragon

Staff
Administrator
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.
 

Ankari

Hero Breaker
Moderator
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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ALB2012

Maester
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
 

Rikilamaro

Inkling
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.
 

robertbevan

Troubadour
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?
 

JCFarnham

Auror
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?
 

robertbevan

Troubadour
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.
 

Ankari

Hero Breaker
Moderator
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).
 

Addison

Auror
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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