Writers! Question!

[naomi_jay]

Do any of you actually find Facebook useful as far as your writing goes? I mean in terms of promotion?

Comments

[jongibbs.livejournal.com]

I promote my weekly links list on it, and the occasional other post. I think it's gotten me some RSS readers (I've had about 200 add me in the last couple of months), but I can't be sure that's where they came from.

Every now and then I post a link to the Fur-Face trailer and/or the Amazon page. Again, I've no way of knowing how many sales came from Facebook.

What I don't do, is pimp my work on other people's Facebook walls. I can't understand why some folks think that's a good way to promote themselves and their work. If anything, I'd say it pees people off - I know it bugs me :)

[naomi-jay.livejournal.com]

Lol, yeah, that's just rude!

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

Strangely enough I find that Facebook is the place where my male readers comment on my blog posts (which means that that's where they're seeing my news about book releases etc), while LJ is the place where female ones do. So I feel I need both. Twitter, however, I could do without.

[naomi-jay.livejournal.com]

See, I prefer Twitter to Facebook. I find it much more engaging (although I could live without the people who follow me to offer me designer trainers or gym memberships). I don't really do much with FB writing-wise, but I'm wondering if it's worth me setting up a fan page or "writer" profile separate from my personal page.

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

I can't keep up with Twitter. It's far too real-time for me, almost as bad as instant messaging and the telephone. Facebook-wise, though, I wouldn't bother with a fan-page. I don't ever add anyone who suggests that I should be their fan, and as far as I know, nobody has ever looked at my fan page, but I tend to get three or four friends requests for my Alex Beecroft page a day. So I'd say go for the writer profile if you're going to.

I've certainly got over 1000 friends on FB - which is over 1000 people who get notified whenever I have book-related news. Not that I know how many of them actually read their wall, mind you. I know I don't!

[naomi-jay.livejournal.com]

So is there a difference, do you know, between setting up a "writer profile" page and just having a regular FB page?

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

I don't think so. I think it's just a regular page set up under your writerly name. You can have two! :)

[blythe025.livejournal.com]

There's not much of a difference, except that a "writer profile"/fan page is automatically thought of as commercial orientated in my mind. Whereas a regular facebook page I tend to think of as more personal. But that's me.

I would feel more comfortable about self promotion via a fan page than a regular profile page, because it's kind of understood that that's what the fan pages are there for. But again, that's just me.

The one major plus of doing the fan page, is that you don't have to log out of your regular profile page to update information on the fan page (I don't think).

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

That's exactly it, the fan page is designed a bit more with commercial/fan product in mind. My fiancee set mine up, but I feel a bit like a fake whenever I post on it ... still, it has to stay active until/unless others are attracted to it independently!

[naomi-jay.livejournal.com]

I get the fake thing - I feel like a bit of a fake whenever I do any "professional writerly" stuff. I'm not sure how long it takes to shake that off!

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

I don't know, but even after 20 years of writing my column I think it's going to take more than one published book for me to stop feeling that way!

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

I try to read both my wall and follow Twitter, but I just can't keep up, either. I only have 96 followers on Twitter and follow about 140, mostly related to writing -- and yet if I sit down once a day to check it, I don't have time to get through 24 hours of Tweets. As writers we have to transition from everyone on FB and Twitter being friends that we want to catch up with, to fans ... and if we're successful, there's just no way we can keep up with everything they post.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I don't like Facebook much. Twitter is friendlier, more open, and more fun.

[naomi-jay.livejournal.com]

It's such a time drain, that's my only complaint! I lose hours every day on Twitter.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I only use it on my iPhone, so unless I have that switched on, it's not such a temptation during the day. Evenings can sucked into it, though.

[tezmillertm.livejournal.com]

I'd like you to have a Facebook Page, updated with all your short story sale announcements, etc. In other words, I like to be in the loop when it comes to news :-)

[naomi-jay.livejournal.com]

Lol, but what if I did it and it turns out I don't actually have any fans?!

[blythe025.livejournal.com]

Oh, I don't think you have to worry about that. :)

[naomi-jay.livejournal.com]

^_^

By the way, on a slightly-related note, were you still interested in reading Blood Hunt?

[blythe025.livejournal.com]

Yes, please. :D

[naomi-jay.livejournal.com]

Yay! Thanks :) What's your email address?

[blythe025.livejournal.com]

:D
andreablythe at hotmail dot com

[tezmillertm.livejournal.com]

Then I'd be your only fan ;-)

[naomi-jay.livejournal.com]

Okay, but that means you have to be a rabid fan.

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure I'm going to be able to answer that until my book actually comes out! I started my FB with the idea of promoting my writing, and there's even a fanpage for me now, but until the book's on sale and I get an idea of how many people were guided to it that way, I won't know if it's worth the time I put into it.

Maybe not even then -- publicity can be intangible.