Category Archives: Social Media

Social Media

Basic Tips for Setting up an Author Website

Why Do You Need a Website?

In the twenty-first century, it’s almost impossible to succeed as an author without a website. You probably won’t sell many books there, but that’s not why people will come. Readers will come to your website because they’re curious about you as a person after reading your book.

It’s true. Even if you’re sitting there thinking “Oh, no one will ever care about my website,” think of the last time you looked up the author of a book.

Maybe it was a book you just finished and you wanted to know when the next one would be out. Maybe it was because it was really good, and you wanted to know more. Or maybe because the author said something in his or her book to drive you to that website.

Web Sites Work

Web sites give your readers a place to congregate, to get in touch with you, and to get news about you and your books direct from the source. Even if you pay someone to manage a site for you, there are some basic things you should pay attention to.

Learn what some of those things are in the post-Basic Tips for Setting Up an Author Website from Archway Publishing.

Archway Publishing is always looking for content for its blog. If you’re an Archway Publishing author and would like to share an idea for a guest blog post, please tweet the Archway Publishing Twitter account @ArchwayPub or send us a message at the Archway Publishing Facebook page.

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Social Media

Best Practices for Authors on Facebook

 

If you have already published your book or are getting ready to publish your first one, it is never too late to start a Facebook page for yourself or  your book. Your Facebook page is an essential part of your marketing took kit.

Getting Started:

  1. Create a Facebook Page by going to facebook.com/pages/create
  2. Select “Create Page”
  3. Choose a category (Author or Book) under Entertainment
  4. Name your page facebook.com/username
  5. Publish your page

It’s that simple! Lets move on to customizing your page.

Basic steps:

  1. Add a profile photo of you or your book
  2. Complete the “about” section—tell your readers who you are!
  3. Upload a cover photo

Now that that’s done, lets think of what we can post on the page.

Posting on Facebook

  • Be Authentic- Share your story with everyone, you are an author after all.  Post book trailers, excerpts and teaser quotes from your book to garner attention.
  • Mix It Up- Post a mix of content from photos and videos to quotes and even related articles.
  • Engage Your Audience – Do a little Q&A with your readers. We’ve included directions on how to do a Facebook Q&A below. If you really want to get involved, see if there are some readers who want to start a book club and send them a short reading guide with discussion questions about the book.
  • Optimize and Measure- Facebook allows you to see how your posts are doing with the pages insights tool. See how many people your post reached, how many clicked on a link, and so much more! This way, you can concentrate on posting content more people are interested in.
  • Ask for Reviews –  Facebook allows readers to leave reviews of your book on your page for others to read. Suggest to your readers to leave a review of your book. Remember to tell them not to reveal any spoilers!

If you want to do a Facebook Q&A with your audience, here is a helpful guide to get you started.

Facebook Q&As

  1. Post a status update (preferably with a photo of you) a day or two in advance saying, “I will be hosting a Facebook Q&A on X day at X time” (remember to specify time zone)
  2. On the day of the Q&A, post a picture of yourself that you are ready to answer questions with a picture of yourself at your laptop, signing books, etc.
  3. It is a live, threaded, ranked comments feature. If you like (or an admin of your page “likes”) a question before you answer it it will pop to the top.
  4. You can delete any spammy or irrelevant comments
  5. Answer as many/as few/whichever questions you want from the comfort of your home or office (or while you’re on a book tour)

We hope this Facebook page start-up guide has been helpful for you. If you have questions, let us know and we will try to help you out!

-AWP-

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