When you’re just starting out as an author, a normal Facebook profile might work…
All of your closest friends that you’ve accumulated over the years will be your #1 supporters, liking and sharing every update.
But as you grow as an author, there are several limitations to this type of Facebook account that do not make them optimal for authors trying to build a large following and engage with their fans.
These limitations include, but are not limited to:
- 5,000 friend limit
- Inability to run Facebook Ads
- Less analytics
- Lack of privacy
- And more!
Because of this, Facebook created the entity “Pages.”
Facebook Pages are the best way for businesses, organizations, and most importantly authors, to connect and share with their following.
If you’d like to learn how to set up and grow an optimal Facebook Author we’ve teamed up with Shawn Inmon, from the Middle Falls Time Travel Series to share his best tips with you all!
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How to Grow Your Facebook Author Page
Gain Likes and Followers
The main way to grow your Facebook Author page is by gaining likes and followers.
Generally speaking, somebody that likes your page will also be following it.
Someone who’s following a page will be much more likely to come across content updates and receive notifications from that page.
When first creating your page, you’ll want to invite friends from your personal account to get it going. But don’t count on this as your only growth strategy.
Fans should find you organically via content discovery or searching for you directly.
Post Content Updates
The main content that drives Facebook Author pages are status updates.
Think about what type of content would be interesting for you to see from some of your favorite authors, and post that.
This can be anything from personal details and stories, content around your books, or pitching a sale.
However, if your Facebook Author page is only sales content, you may have difficulty building a following.
Below, we’ll share some examples of different types of status updates Shawn used to build rapport with his fans.
Text Updates
The simplest form of content Facebook has to offer is the status update. These are purely text based and have a very large character limit.
Image Updates
Images typically come alongside a text based update, giving the picture more context.
Here’s an example of Shawn showing his dream kitchen, and getting really good engagement.
Video Updates
Videos are the next type of content authors can share on their page. In this example, Shawn attached a video of a squirrel having a stroke in his backyard. It got OK engagement, but helps Shawn build a connection with his fans by sharing his day with them.
Facebook Live
Facebook Live is Facebook’s live streaming service, where you can speak in real-time in front of your audience.
Facebook Live is available for pages, groups, and profiles to use.
Shawn goes live every couple of months, reading one of his short stories with his fanbase. The Facebook algorithm really pushes Facebook live on readers’ feeds.
Within 30 seconds of going live, he’ll have 20 people on with him, reaching a few hundred at a time.
Livestreams are a much more intimate way for authors to engage with their fans. Fans have the ability to engage with the live stream via a live chat, emotes, or even joining live for a Q&A!
Other Facebook Author page content types include:
- Location updates
- Life events
- Charity donations
And more.
Facebook Author Pages are Best at Nurturing Existing Fans
As you can see, a majority of the content Shawn posts has NOTHING to do with his books or even making sales.
His content is posted with the intent of nurturing an audience and building relationships.
Most of the impressions on his page come from people who like and follow him, so they are most likely aware of him or already own his book.
Shawn has 36 books out currently, so if a fan reads one of his series, seeing repeating Facebook posts from Shawn can help guide them to all the other series, increasing the lifetime value of a fan.
You will gain new fans from a well-run page, but primarily it’s about maintaining relationships with your fan base. Facebook Ads, on the other hand, are better at reaching new audiences.
Run Facebook Ads
As we stated above, Facebook Ads are only able to be run from a page level, not a profile level.
So creating a Facebook Author profile will allow you to start reaching a much larger audience in the form of Facebook Ads.
We’ll be releasing our ultimate guide to Facebook Ads for Authors shortly, so stay tuned for that!
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Shawn’s Tips and Tricks for Growing Your Page
Before we jump into any tips or tricks for growing your page, the most important message Shawn wanted to get across, is that your Facebook Page is part of your brand, and your brand, should be whoever you authentically are.
This is why Shawn shares stories about his day, pictures of his family, home, and most importantly, many bad jokes.
The way he is in real life is who he is on his Facebook page.
If you try to be someone that you’re not, it’s not going to work.
Posting Frequency
Posting frequency is one of the most important things when it comes to growing your Facebook Author page.
Not only will readers and fans enjoy your content more, but the Facebook algorithm is going to boost you as well.
During this most recent December holiday season, Shawn posted at least every single day, responding to all comments.
Scheduling tools such as Buffer can help with consistency, but Shawn personally chooses not to use them as he loses his “spark of the moment” feel to his posts.
At the end of the day, this all comes down to your personal style.
Creating content to post every single day can get difficult. In order to combat this, Shawn has a few different post formulas he likes to recycle.
For example, he has the Speaker of the Dead Series, in which he writes a biography on recent deaths, and how the person affected his life.
Shawn also keeps a file of memes and jokes handy to post.
He doesn’t just post the meme itself, but a long-form piece of content to go along with it.
In the example below, his post got several hundred likes, and thousands of free impressions. All for a simple meme.
Hopefully, these two examples give you some ideas of the type of content that works on a Facebook Author Page on a consistent basis.
We would not recommend copying this exact strategy but putting your own twist on it.
Interacting With Other Facebook Pages
Another tip Shawn gave for growing your Facebook page is to identify similar authors in your genre and start authentically participating with their page.
Most authors will engage back with you, giving you some more visibility, but most importantly, the Facebook Algorithm will now start showing your page and posts to their fans.
This is one of the best ways to reach new audiences with your Facebook Author page.
How to Create a Facebook Author Page
Creating a Facebook Author page requires you to be a Facebook user. If you’re not, create an account first.
Once signed into your Facebook account already, you can find the spot to create a page in the section shown below.
The first fields Facebook would like you to enter are your Facebook Page name, the category of your page, and a short bio.
For the Page Name, we’d recommend simply putting your name + Author.
In the category section, pick author as the page category.
Lastly, the bio section should just be a few sentences, explaining who you are and what you write.
Next up, Facebook is going to ask for some more information like:
- Website link
- Phone number
- Email address
- Physical address and hour
If you have a personal website, this would be the place to link it.
We’d recommend leaving the phone number blank unless you have one dedicated to your fanbase. Facebook Messenger works just fine to communicate with fans.
As an author, an address or hours aren’t relevant to you, so leave these blank.
Next, Facebook will ask you to add some images, in the form of a profile photo and cover photo.
Profile Photos
The dimensions for the profile photo are 170×170. A profile picture should generally be a professional portrait that will easily identify you. Bonus points if this picture is used across all social media platforms.
Cover Photos
A cover photo will be one of the first things a potential reader’s eye will be drawn to upon landing on the page. Think of this as your headline, making it a great place to promote what you do.
Shawn changes his cover photo fairly regularly, depending on what series or book he’s releasing at the time.
Dimensions for a cover photo on Facebook are 820×312.
Action Buttons
Another feature of a Facebook page is the “Action Button.” This allows you to send readers who click the button to a desired destination.
Considering the contrasting blue color, it will have one of the highest click-through rates anywhere on your page.
In Shawns’ case, he has the button lead to join his email list.
The most common things authors place here are links to their personal websites or a store to buy their products. This would be a great place to insert a Booklinker link!
Now that we have all the pieces of our author page in place, it’s time to start talking about how to best grow the page.
Facebook Messenger Bot
There’s also a messenger bot on Facebook Author pages, that Shawn says his readers get tons of use out of.
It’s a great way to have personal conversations with your favorite authors.
Readers will message Shawn about his series, asking if he meant to include certain details.
It’s a really incredible experience to connect this way.
You’ll get a lot of unsolicited advice and offers here, but there are still a lot of great interactions to be had.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you Transfer a Personal Page Into a Professional Page?
Should Authors Create Their Page as a Personal Brand or a Business?
This question is asked a lot, considering that authors can technically be considered as both. Most people prefer to follow people over businesses.
If you’re on any other social media networks, check your following list. There’s a good chance it’s a majority of people, over businesses. That being said, we highly recommend creating it as a personal brand.
Conclusion
Facebook Author pages are a great way to give your audience a place to hear from you directly, similar to a Twitter profile, Instagram Page, or email list.
It’s one of the many pieces authors should have as part of their book marketing strategy.
If you have any questions about creating your professional Facebook author page, or want some help with a content strategy for it, feel free to ask us in the comment section below.
Lastly, we’ve attached Shawn Inmon’s talk at 20Books Vegas on his Facebook Author page strategy.
Introducing:
Booklinker Collections
One landing page for all your books. 100% free.
One link for easy sharing of your books across your backmatter, websites, emails, and social media.
