Thursday, September 6, 2012

Facebook

Okay, I finally broke down and did what I had once hoped I would never have to do--join Facebook. I did it mainly because everyone says authors need to have a Facebook presence. I think it will be a while before I figure out how to use it properly for showcasing the books I eventually publish. I'd especially appreciate any tricks and tips other writers have for using Facebook for this specific purpose!

14 comments:

  1. Yeah, I am finding that it is distracting me from the studying that I absolutely must get done this week.

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  2. By everyone says, we all know you mean "Nathan Bransford." You know, the guy may be a social media mogul with a Stanford education, but he's not exactly a best selling author. Just sayin'.

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  3. Okay, I'm a diehard Facebook fan. I like it because you can be social in small doses (unlike blogs) and can come back and check in again on the conversation several hours later and not miss anything (unlike Twitter). I am part of a few groups you may enjoy and the groups are nice for smaller level interaction. There are several ABNA groups that are pretty good. And then two I administer: Writing Sprints R Us us a group to do timed writing in company (for encouragement) and BuNoWriMo is the Burrow's June WriMo, but we are there all year around. If you are interested in ANY of them, give me a shout and I will make sure you get an invite (I think you can request invitations directly, but the former is probably easier for a newbie)

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  4. Thanks, Hart! I think I'm going to have to feel my way around for a bit before I plunge into anything, especially since I have to study like crazy right now (I should have held off on FB until AFTER the big test!).

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  5. I rarely log onto FB. I'll post a link once in a while, or check on family; but my blog still remains my primary online presence as a writer.

    I haven't figured out much either. Seems everything changes each time I log on.

    .......dhole

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  6. My blog is my presence. Too much Admin in having several social options. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

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  7. I'm on FB, but I don't really care for it. I visit once a day but some people live on there.

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  8. I can see that, at least at first, it is a real time drain. I keep thinking of new things that I'd like to put up. For example, I'm tired of paying annual fees to Flickr just to keep photos there. I don't know if there is a limit to the number of photos I can put on FB, but at least it seems to be free.

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    Replies
    1. You use blogger, why not move to Picasa? The two are integrated. Or if you don't want any more Google tools, Photobucket is old but still going. I still have a number of pics there.

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  9. I'm the same as Susan; I'm on FB for bloggy purposes, but I don't really use it that much. At the moment it's so I don't miss any interesting bits of bloggy news.

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  10. Facebook personal accounts are not what you need. You need a page. Personal accounts have limits on the total number that can be linked to the account ("friends") and requires your approval on each of those links. A page is just that. People like you and you show up in their feed. You can set limitations on whether only you can post or whether they and you can post. There are no limits to how many people can like your page and it segregates your personal social media life from your professional. I use my personal account for family and real-life friends. I use my page facebook.com/josephlselby for my writing

    This explains in greater detail.

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  11. Joseph has a point, but I would argue that you should go even further. This is what I do:

    I have a personal ACCOUNT/PROFILE. This is for my family, my friends, my co-workers, and a very select few online writing pals.

    I have a professional ACCOUNT/PROFILE. This is for connecting to literary agents, editors, authors, and other aspiring writers. I do have to be "friends" with these people in order to communicate.

    I haven't set one up yet, but one day I will have a professional author PAGE. This is for connecting with readers (and in the long run, that's the most important thing). Otherwise, everything Joseph points out about pages is true (I admin a page from my personal account, it's for a record label I'm involved with).

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