Tuesday Two-Minute Writing (Promo) Tip – Making Facebook Work for You

Got two minutes? Then check out this week’s quick tip ~ A few suggestions on how to utilize Facebook as an author

Hello and welcome…I am a freelance editor and an editor for The Wild Rose Press, as well as an author. I often struggle with my own writing, and I have found that sometimes, a little reminder of ways to improve the process can be helpful, so, I like to share these moments of brilliance with others :). But, in this busy world of ours, who has time for pages and pages of writing tips? That’s why I’ve condensed mine down to quick flashes you can read in (approximately) two minutes. Enjoy…

Disclaimer: All of my tips are suggestions, and are only my opinion. And, for the most part, there are exceptions when going against my advice will make your story read better. Take what works, leave the rest.

Some marketing experts feel it’s better to use your Facebook profile for author promo, mainly because you already have a built-in audience of followers. However, not all of your profile followers are necessarily readers, and, it is easy enough to migrate them to your Facebook author ‘fan’ page by asking for likes, and sharing some of your FB author page posts on your profile page. A couple of advantages to your Fan Page–other than just that, it is a FAN page, and it’s where you can really interact and connect with fans–are that you can pin a post to the top of the page so that it’s the first thing people see when they visit. Also, you can schedule posts. So, if you wanted to send out a daily post, you can schedule it all at once, for an entire week, etc. And, lastly, you can utilize your Call to Action button to lead people to your website, your blog, your Amazon book page, etc.

I am just now starting to focus on my author page, and I recently created a new one. SO, my advice is more about suggestions I’m going to try and things that SEEM to work, rather than tried and true. But hey, it’s worth a shot, plus, it might be fun.

Here are some quick tips and suggestions for the various ways to use your FB page and what kind of posts to share…

• First of all, try to always share applicable images with your posts. Those with images are noticed much more than those without.
• Run a contest – I sponsor a ‘Guess the Line’ contest, that I previously shared on my profile page but have now moved to my fan page. Guess the Line  (I also sponsor a fun, Fiction Fanatics Feud contest in a separate group: Fiction Fanatics Feud
• Share your good news. Your followers will enjoy receiving updates on the good things that happen to you, career wise, and your accomplishments, as long as you don’t sound braggy. 🙂 
• Let them into your writing world. Share little tidbits about your progress, or lack thereof, or how you came up with an idea, or interesting things you discovered in research, etc. 
• Share pictures of the inspirations for your stories and setting.
• Share for author friends. Post about books or blog posts or contests or sales, new releases, etc, for fellow authors.
• Perhaps have a daily question, just a fun thing to get people to interact. Something like, ‘if you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?’ And, answer your question yourself. Or, ‘if you were stranded on a desert island, what three books would you want with you?’
• Be upbeat and inspiring. Perhaps share inspirational quotes, or share acts of kindness you witness or read about (not ones you do yourself, you don’t want to seem like you are boasting).

I’m sure there are plenty more, but this should be enough to get you started, right?

While we’re on the topic, I would be ever so grateful if you’d pop in and like my page. 🙂 Thank you!

Alicia Dean Author Page

When you do create an author page, be sure to invite your friends to like you. You can also go here and gain likes: Like for Like

Do you have ideas for entertaining and engaging readers through Facebook?

Until next time…happy writing (and marketing)!

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NEW RELEASE – Now Available – Only a few more days at 99¢!

(Click on the cover to be taken to the Amazon Buy Page)

I have released an e-book with a collection of Two-Minute Tips I have shared on my blog. Now, you can have them in one convenient place for easy reference. sale price is 99¢ – Regular price will be $2.99.

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*** If you would like to send me a few sample pages (around 7500 words or so, even though I will not edit that many on the blog. It just gives me more to choose from) for me to edit and share on an upcoming blog post, please do so in the body of an email to AliciaMDean@aol.com. Please use the subject line: “Blog Submission” This is for published or unpublished authors. In the email, please include whether you would like me to use your name or keep it anonymous, and whether or not you would like me to include any contact info or buy info for your books. Also, you can let me know if you would like for me to run my edits by you before posting on the blog. Please keep in mind, this is for samples to use for blog posts. I will not edit or use samples from all the submissions I receive, but I will use as many as possible. 

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*** Find the Magic is FREE through Tomorrow, April 6th!! Click HERE 

How to write a novel? That is the question. There are probably as many answers to that question as there are people who ask it.

Wanting to write and actually doing it are two very different things. I am well acquainted with the sometimes grueling process of churning out a story. Over the years, I have tried many methods for creating and completing manuscripts, and have tweaked and honed it down to a workable (for me) process.

Using specific examples from one of my own novels, Without Mercy, I share my method in this mini how to book. The first eight steps actually deal with plotting while the last two are designed to help expand your outline into a well-developed draft. There is no one, perfect way to create a story, but there will be a method, or methods that work for you. I’m not sure if this is the one, but it works for me. Only you can decide if it also works for you. Fingers crossed that it does!

*** Warning – Please do not purchase without reading a sample. (This is solid advice for any book, fiction or non. If you are not intrigued in the sample, you will likely not enjoy the book)

Amazon: Click Here