to facebook or not?

[max2011]

I've come to understand that a blog or website can get an author more readers, but I can't see how facebook and twitter do. Could someone explain why there is a need to belong to these types of social media since their inception into our writing world?

[Laycrew]

I don't have a Facbook author page but several people on here do.

This author, Nathan Bransford, just did a blogpost about Facebook and on the side bar he has one for Twitter.

http://blog.nathanbransford.com/

It kind of sums it up nicely and he has a great blog with great info. Check out the left hand column, if you scroll down to popular posts, you have to click on The Publishing Process in GIF. It is THE best. But totally off topic. The Twitter post is just below that.

[stscam]

Nathan Bransford's blog is really helpful. It's cleanly laid out, easy to navigate, and full of useful stuff for writers. Well worth bookmarking.

[allz28]

For me, facebook and twitter are more useful as ways to alert your close family and friends of your writing endeavors rather than as ways to attract new readership.

[max2011]

Thank you. I'll take a look at his blog. I've been putting off starting a blog myself, but I really don't see a need to be on Facebook or twitter to build a readership. It is also very annoying to hear the news station say "friend us on Facebook" or "more info scan be found on Facebook". I don't have time to do that. They should just give the whole news story. But I digress....

[b.sherman]

Good question, one I have also wondered about. I do have a personal facebook. In real life I am an RN, and have a very large circle of friends, both professional and personal, and I think that if I posted author updates to my personal page, it would generate a lot of sales. Just yesterday at work, I mentioned to one of my close friends that my book was for sale, and a few other people overheard us talking(who I am not facebook friends with), and it appears I sold 15 books last night. I can't say if those were random web sales, or from my work contacts, but I think every little bit helps.

That said, however, I did make an author page, just because at this point I am not quite comfortable yet with putting myself out there. I do not want to feel like I am spamming people on my personal page, if you know what I mean? (Of course, my new page feels lonely right now, hopefully it will grow haha)

So I think FB is worthwhile. Good luck, and make sure to post a link to your page so I can "like" it.

[Ultimate Cheapskate]

Despite my initial reluctance, I've found Facebook to be useful in connecting with my readers as well as attracting new readers. While I've had a website since I started writing full time and I'm paid to blog on a number of other websites, Facebook is where I have the most interaction with readers and I've grown to find it quite enjoyable and rewarding. Now that I'm active on Facebook (I usual post something there at least once a day), my publisher has agreed that my website can be fairly "static," just providing information on my books, my bio, etc. and not attempting to provide timely content or reader interaction.

Of course I write nonfiction, so there's quite a bit of service content that I can provide on my Facebook page, as well as directing people's attention to my recent blog posts, articles, books, etc. I try to post only a couple of items per week about my writing or career-related stuff, and otherwise I post humorous and personal items or topics for discussion. In fact for many of us nonfiction writers, our social media networks have become fairly important in terms of landing freelance gigs (both blogging and writing articles); the contracts for most of my freelance assignments now specify that I will promote the blog/article via my Facebook and Twitter accounts to attract readers, so in that way having a robust social media network is an asset in securing assignments.

Here's the link to my primary Facebook page if anyone is interested in seeing the type of stuff I post: http://www.facebook.com/JeffYeagerUltim ... Cheapskate

[Starchaser3000]

I have a facebook account and all I have done is find all the self publishing groups to blog about my book and provide the links to my personal blog as well as my Amazon and Barnes & Noble page. Other than just interacting with my immediate friends and family I don't do much with it. I think this facebook/twitter stuff is best useful for an author if they have already accumulated a niche following to make it grow. It does not seem to be that useful for an author, a self published one at that, if they are just starting out IMO.

[j t hall]

I use Facebook to keep up to date with friends and family, but it can be useful to post notices of stories accepted or possible sales, just to keep them informed.