Elyse Salpeter's Blog, page 15

Why Book Signings Should be a Part of Your Marketing Plan

At The Dolphin Bookshop

I thought every author wanted to do a book signing, but I’ve found this is not the case. Actually, it seems to be a contentious subject, with pros and cons of why authors do, or don’t, do live events.

I recently had the opportunity to put together a multi-authored signing at The Dolphin Bookshop in Port Washington, NY. When I put this event together, I asked a few local authors if they wanted to participate with me. I thought their answers would immediately be an emphatic “YES.” I was shocked at some of the responses. One person told me that doing a signing wasn’t “worth their time” because “they can make more money and reach more people online.” Another person told me that “the time and investment to do a signing, to make no money, is a waste of time.” Another author told me he no longer does any live events because he can reach more people other ways and “why does he want to actually speak to people?”

I have to vehemently disagree here. Yes, you can reach more people with online efforts, but a book signing is NOT for sales. It’s for exposure, for respectability, and for practice. While authors live in their minds and type stories into their computers, they need to be able to verbally discuss their novels. You have to be able to talk to people to pitch it to them, to explain it, to paint a picture as to why they should buy your book. What if you’re one day in a room with a top editor and you’ve never actually had the chance to publicly discuss your book? A signing allows you the opportunity to engage active readers in a whole different capacity. Sometimes you get a chance to do a reading, like we did, and if you pick the right segment, you can influence potential readers on a whole new level. This practice is a wonderful learning experience and one you should consider doing a few times a year.

I also believe book signings offer authors a “perception of success.” Meaning, you take photos of you and your readers and you post them to social media. You do the reading and tape it and post it to your author or Pinterest page. You get press to cover you. All of these together will show people in the industry that you are capable of successfully being in front of an audience. That you’re “a player, professional, and capable.” If an agent, publisher or producer ever wants to contact you, they will see all this “success” and exposure you’ve built up.

Maybe authors are afraid if they do a signing no one will come? That could happen. I did a signing with 18 other authors at a four hour Book Fair a few weeks ago and it would be safe to say 15 of us didn’t have any sales. ZERO. I had candy out and the people visiting my table were mostly other authors during this very long event who came over to snack on my Dove Chocolates (yes, get the good stuff). So, even though I had no sales, what did I get out of it? The experience of putting my table together, some great photos, a few sign ups for my newsletter and I got to pitch my book and network with other authors.

I once had an author talk at a library and only three teenagers came. I ended up moving all the chairs into a circle and the four of us, with the coordinator, sat down and we had a real heart-to-heart about publishing. It was casual and intimate and I’ll tell you something – even though I didn’t sell any books, I got a lot out of it. I got the experience to chat about my novels, educate the kids on publishing and possibly influence a young mind.

I leave you with this: GET OUT IN THE FIELD. Do a signing, do a library chat. Get that poster made, get in front of people. Talk. Don’t just write. Tell readers about your wonderful ideas. I promise you that you will get more out of this versus an online ad that will give you just a few extra book sales.

I’ve been told by a well known author in the industry that this is my “hazing” time. Well, folks, consider me duly hazed.

So, You’ve Been Asked to Do a Reading From Your Book…

Getting ready for my signing

I am so excited to participate at a Book Signing at the illustrious Dolphin Bookshop on June 7th from 2-4 in Port Washington, NY. I’m part of a multi-authored event where I will be promoting my adult thriller, THE HUNT FOR XANADU.

I’ve been asked to prepare a 90 second reading. Now, I’ve been to author readings before. I won’t lie. I don’t usually like them. In fact, at two library talks I did, the coordinators suggested that I don’t do a reading because they felt that they weren’t interesting enough for attendees. Hmmm. You see, there are some books, when read aloud, just don’t sound good – especially the ones riddled with sentences that end with “he said, she said, they said, Karen said, said Mark…” you get the picture. I was at one recently, and there was so much of it, that it completely broke up the entire flow.

So the question is, what to read that will be exciting, won’t give away any crucial parts of the book, but will sound great read aloud? Pick something action-oriented, something that will grab your audience in their clutches…

I decided to go with the beginning of chapter one of THE HUNT FOR XANADU, not the epilogue, but right into the beginning of the book that starts with this action scene:

……………………………………………………………………………….

Hidden in the security camera’s blind spot, she sucked in her gut, closed her eyes and listened intently. “Come on, already,” she thought, drumming her fingertips rapidly against the brick wall. She heard the dogs panting now. This sound had replaced the earlier frenzy of them tearing into the drugged raw hamburger she had thrown over the fence just twenty minutes before. She’d crushed thirty-six Acepromozin tablets into the ground meat, reckoning it would enough to knock out the four guard dogs, if not kill them outright.

She glanced at her watch and waited. This is taking so long. Five more minutes passed, with nothing sounding except the soft, rotating click of the camera. Abruptly, she yanked down the protective goggles resting on her head and placed them over her eyes. The clicking now echoed loudly, indicating the camera was once more faced in her direction. Brazenly she stood, aimed her laser gun and pointed it directly into the lens. The high tech, silicon-based CCD camera had an impressive wavelength sensitivity. The laser’s high-powered emitter instantly saturated the pixels of the camera’s CCD sensor and burned the chip out instantly.

Ricardo Perez thought he protected himself with the best of everything. He’d under-estimated meeting an assassin so invested in seeing him dead.

Hooking the laser into her belt loop, she flung her knapsack over her shoulders and scaled the wall in a practiced leap. She balanced delicately on the edge to prevent being punctured by the barbed wire and slipped on a pair of leather gloves, grabbed the wire cutters hanging from her backpack and snipped her way through. In less than twenty seconds, she was inside the backyard of the compound. Three of the dogs lay unconscious in the grass nearby, but their twitching feet told her they were still alive. Where is the other one?

A deep, menacing growl came from behind her and she whirled to face the remaining Doberman. She had just enough time to register the bits of bloody hamburger still clinging to its snout before it lunged. Her instincts kicked in and she did the only thing she could remember. She punched the animal savagely in its throat like she’d been taught, and it fell to the ground, dead.

Breathing hard, she turned back to the house where Ricardo had hoped to escape from her. Her body shook and she took a deep breath, trying to keep her anger in check. This man couldn’t expect to destroy her family and get away with it. He was going to pay.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

I might add on (since it’s all of 45-60 seconds), or not. But here’s the kicker… I DON’T HAVE TO READ EVERY SINGLE WORD! That’s right. In the above reading, I might remove the last sentence in the first paragraph entirely and simply move on… this is your reading, your time to shine in the spotlight – heck, you can make everything up if you’d like – it’s like doing a presentation for work. Your audience doesn’t know what you’ve prepared or what you’re presenting, so there’s no reason to ever be worried about making a mistake. Even if you stumble over your words. Just own it and move on. Remember, the attendees don’t want an embarrassing situation either – they want you to do well – that’s why they are AT your signing.

If you can’t make the event but would like to grab your copy of THE HUNT FOR XANADU, please feel free to do so here: http://amzn.to/1jHcYZX I have little postcards that I can sign and mail to you if you’d like. Come to my contact page and join my newsletter – give me your address, let me know you’ve purchased a kindle copy and I’ll mail you a personalized note: http://www.elysesalpeter.com/contact.html

Want to come get a signed copy of the book? Here are the details!

June 7th 2:00 – 4:00

The Dolphin Bookshop

299 Main St, Port Washington, NY 11050

(516) 767-2650

And, I’ll have Dove Chocolates and Asian treats! Come on down, love to see you. :)

The Fun of Friday Phrases… #FP

I will admit it, I’m hooked on the Friday Phrases Twitter game. Every week I eagerly wait for this micro-fiction party. The concept is, you write a story in a simple tweet and end it with the hashtag #FP. You can come up with your own ideas, or they’ll even offer you a prompt to use. I can spend hours just perusing the hashtag, watching the incredible entries pour in.

“How hard is this to do” you might ask? Think about it. A story in one or two lines, complete with emotion and depth? It isn’t easy and it’s amazing to see the stories people have come up with. It’s also a thrill to see how many people favorite, retweet, or comment on the ones you do. This way you have a gauge on how well the “story” was received.

Some of my highest ranked ones that I’ve written (under @elysesalpeter) were these:

The vows done, the kiss sealed. Rose petals flung in celebration. Did anyone care how I felt? I touched the swell of my stomach & cried. #FP

“You’ll sleep when you’re dead,” the old adage goes. The problem is, I’m not tired anymore…The lid clanged shut. #FP

I washed my hands until they bled, but no amount of soap could rid the stain. Like a mark on my soul, it was destined to remain forever. #FP

My macabre selection of show and tell items always made my teachers nervous. Being the child of a serial killer did have its advantages. #FP

“Weird.” The plumber caulked the pipe & watched the tap drip again. The tornado had been fierce. Only the sink stood in the open field. #FP

“Trick or Treat, mommy,” the girl raised the white sheet over her head. The woman sobbed at the nothingness underneath. Every Halloween.#FP

…………………………………..

Some tweeps have blown me away with their creativity and they were gracious enough to let me list theirs here. I’ve included their twitter handles, so feel free to follow them to see more of their work in the future.

From @chibiella: A certain type of darkness is needed to trap the light without killing it. You opened the doors and watched me dance in the twilight. #FP

From @jabe842: “We only have #sixwords,” she said sadly. “How can we -” “It’s okay,” he told her, and took her hand. “We’ll only ever need three each.” #FP

From: @cedrixclarke: He realized between the top of the bridge and the chill of the water that his worries were not that desperate after all. #FP

From @ImMCarvalho: Scientists were stunned when Jupiter’s Great Red Spot transformed into a black sphere. Then it rose up, headed to destroy Earth. #FP

Tell me these entries above weren’t great?!

Want to learn more about Friday Phrases @fridayphrases? Click here: http://fridayphrases.com/ and JOIN THE FUN!

Twitter Analytic Insights – Yes, These Are Your Followers…

Gratuitous Cute Kitty Photo

Did you know you can find out analytics on who is following you on Twitter? You can see gender, interests, where they are from… It’s really interesting to learn. I have some author friends who’ve been blown away by the types of people following them. For me, it’s sort of what I expected. I am reaching a dual gender audience, who likes books, predominantly from the US, though there is a nice 14% following from the UK. They are interested mostly in books, mystery and crime and my top locations are NY, LA, UK and PA.

I guess the idea is that if I wish to do a small twitter campaign, I could segment this audience to reach only those people that fit into the top criteria of my most segmented demographic. The question is… will that help me sell books? I’m not sure, but I do intend to find out.

So, want to see your Twitter Analytics? Go to Twitter and then go to your “home page.” Find that little wheel looking “thingie.” On the new layout it should be on the very top right hand side and to the right of the “search” box. Then scroll down to Twitter ads, from there you look at the top of the page – the black bar and you’ll see Analytics. Click on that, and then click on followers. It will tell you all your follower stats.

I’ve also started playing around – it’s interesting to click on the analytics option, too, and see how effective your tweets have been – scroll through all of this – there’s a wealth of information they are providing right at your fingertips. I can gauge who is interacting with the tweet and which tweet actually generated a clickthru! I plan on watching this a lot and trying to see if there is a way I can use my followers more effectively with this information. I have even started adding photos to my tweets and this stat will also show you if people click on the photo. All of this is information you can use to help your tweets be their most effective.

If any of you have done a twitter ad against analytics, I’d LOVE to hear how it went or how you’ve used this information effectively for promotions.

And hoped you liked the gratuitous kitty picture – apparently this is something that helps stats – LOL – I’ll let you know.

NOTE: as of 5/19!!! I just found out that not everyone has this feature yet and it’s a ROLL-OUT! You see, I’m just learning these things too – so if it’s not working and you can’t find some of the things I’m listing, I apologize and… they coming!

Does Your Book Have a Hook? Find it!

Millneck Manor Talk

You’ve written this great book, told all your friends, family, promoted on FB, Twitter, Google+. Maybe you’ve done a little ad here and there, a goodreads event. Is it selling? Could you sell more?

Here is where the hook comes in. Think about your novel and think about where else you could sell this book and who would be interested. I wrote a buddhist based thriller called THE HUNT FOR XANADU. I’ve actually gone onto different buddhist sites and promoted the book there, did a signing at a tea shop and contacted buddhist bookstores to see if they’d like to carry it. The book is really just a thriller but the over-riding element is a buddhism theme.

I’ve also done a YA novel with a young deaf boy called FLYING TO THE LIGHT. This has been a much easier book to find a hook for. I’ve contacted every single deaf school in the country – with an email to their librarian and principal, discussing the novel. I’ve locally done two “talks” at deaf schools and while I know some ASL, they had an interpreter for me. I’ve gone onto a lot of different deaf sites on FB and promoted the book, and the book trailers there. I’ve also gone online to various deaf websites to see if they would like to give the novel a write-up as well. Nothing is a bad idea. What’s the worst thing that can happen? They say no? We’re authors, I think we’ve heard the word “no” enough times to be able to handle it.

My newest angle is specialized book fairs. On May 18th, I’ve been selected to join a Book Fair at Mill Neck Manor’s School for the Deaf in Millneck, New York. The program is from 12-4, is free to everyone and is to help support their Literacy Program. If you live on Long Island and want to come, please check out the information included. There will be raffles and activities for children.

The trick is to find the hook in your novel and run with it. Maybe your character loves cookies – try to do a signing in a bakery, maybe they are a fantastic runner – contact the local running groups and make some friends there, maybe they like to fish, are a veteran, etc… you get the idea. Find out some distinguishing factors about your characters and how you can find that little “in” to promote it someplace else versus the standard fare.

Any cool ideas you’ve done? Can’t wait to hear them!

A New Writing Tips Book for Authors

You know that saying “You can never stop learning?” It’s true. I always feel like I have something to improve upon. I love writing, but I’m privy to committing a lot of cardinal sins. It’s one of the reasons I desperately need an editor (and she points out every single one of those little buggers to me, too!)

I’ll be honest here – I’ve never been one to read long books about the craft of writing. Maybe it’s my attention span, maybe it’s my fantastical imagination, but I can never get into them. For me, the best way to learn the craft is in pieces at a time. That’s where author Bob Nailor comes in. He has been writing a special blog, featuring author writing tips, every week for over a year. He tackles one subject at a time, in small, manageable segments that are filled with examples and easy, understandable solutions to the problem he is discussing. It’s been an absolute perfect fit for me.

So, when I heard he was putting all of them together (a year’s worth of tips) into an “author tip book,” I was very excited. In this new book “52 Weeks of Writing Tips,” there are quick chapters dedicated to a host of topics ranging from character development and plotting, to building a press kit to dialog.

This tip book is all of 99 cents. Even if you just occasionally take a peek at it, the information and ideas you’ll gain will be well worth it. I would say I learned something from most of the articles – something that I could actionably take away with me to help me with my writing. Here’s the link to purchase on Amazon:

US: http://amzn.to/1pIanrD

UK: http://amzn.to/1fRtaap

I thought it would be fun to do a little interview with the author to get some insight…

SO BOB: Why did you decide to take your writing tips and make them into a book?

BOB: To be quite honest, I was minding my own business, doing my weekly writing tip when a very dear friend suggested I put them together into a book. My first thought was ‘Why?’ then quickly realized that I would love to have some of these tips at my fingertips as a quick reference. I attempted to decide which was the most viable tips but couldn’t decide which was more important. It was then I decided to just do 52 tips – like a year’s collection – and offer it to the public for a very nominal price with the lowest price available at Amazon being $0.99. I want to share what I’ve learned, to give back to the community. Why charge? We all know that if it is free, some won’t consider it worth anything. Why so cheap – uh, inexpensive? So everyone can afford a copy. I really do believe in these tips and feel they are a great tool for any writer – both novice and the well-published.

SO BOB: Do you follow your own advice?

BOB: I’ve always been a firm believer in “Do what I say, not what I do.” Especially with my children when they were growing up. BUT, I really do attempt to follow my own advice regarding these writing tips. I truly feel these tips have improved my writing skills and writing quality over the years.

SO BOB: Where do you find your insight to write these tips?

BOB: Some are just that – insights. Most of them are tidbits picked up via different writing conferences, writing groups, friends, and even agents. Of course, some tips I’ve been lucky enough to glean out of rejects from editors, agents and publishers. My editor has brought several writing errors to my attention. She attempts to point out the repetitive errors and correct them early so I don’t become so entrenched in doing it incorrectly. My current agent has also shown me tricks to make my writing and stories better.

SO BOB: Which tip spoke to you most personally?

BOB: You want me to pick just one!? How about two? I’m a notoriously passive writer. “By Zombies” was probably the best lesson I ever learned. It helped me to quickly define whether or not the sentence was Active or Passive and allowed me to correct it, when wrong. When I mentioned it to my local writing group, at first, they just laughed, but as I showed them how it worked, even the non-fiction newspaper reporter saw how it could improve her articles. Of course, “That As●Ing●Ly – Editing Tricks” is another favorite that I use constantly when I finish a work. I immediately review my raw product to see where I can fix those four issues. In doing so, I decrease bad writing, increase word count AND make my writing better and tighter. Is it too late to add more favorite tips? I really like them all!

Thanks so much for letting me promote this Bob – I really believe in so many of these and I’ve found them incredibly helpful. Again, here is the link… just 99 cents!

US: http://amzn.to/1pIanrD

UK: http://amzn.to/1fRtaap

Happy Reading!

Should You Ever Change Your Book’s Cover?

This is a very difficult question for authors, and for me specifically. I have no design eye. It’s why every wall in my house is painted “cream” or “off white” and our style of decoration is a touch above IKEA. To put some color in the house, I simply chose to add artwork, knick knacks and area rugs from the “fall hue family.” Meaning, if it’s an autumn gold, a deep green, a navy, a rustic red, or a mustard I’ve used it and hoped it all sort of meshed together.

So, when I am posed with creating a cover for my books, I’m clueless. My first published novel, FLYING TO THE LIGHT, was published by Cool Well Press. This was the cover they made for my novel about a young deaf boy who knows about the afterlife and now people are after him for the answer. It was dark, really just a few muted colors, but we loved the image of the little boy looking towards the light and the wonderful birds in the background.

When that publishing company closed, I was given the book back. It was agented, but he couldn’t sell it. He suggested I change the cover and self publish it to get it back out to market. I sought out LLPix Photography and here’s what we came up with. We wanted something brighter… and to scream thriller, to show the relationship in the book between the two brothers and not just have it be about the little boy. And, to show that this book is still dark. I think the mood she created was really nice and spoke to that.

I had polled a lot of readers on Facebook as to which cover they liked better. It was a very mixed review. Some folks who have already read book #1 liked that first cover, though they did feel it may have been too “religious looking.” Many new readers felt Cover #2 had a much better vibe.

My problem is that I always want too much in a cover – the entire kitchen sink, so it’s important, for me, to seek out a professional who can scale me back. But, the going consensus in the industry is that your cover is EXTREMELY important. It is the first thing a potential reader sees and if you can’t grab them immediately, you’ve already lost them. If the book isn’t selling, and you are certain it’s a good book, it doesn’t hurt to try a new cover.

So, which cover do you like? Would you pick up the blue cover or the dark cover if you saw both sitting on the shelf?

And for those interested in purchasing the novel, here is the link: http://amzn.to/1h3u6ZB

Book #2 in the series is going to be called FLYING TO THE FIRE and it’s with beta readers right now. Then back to an editor, a proofer and it will be in your hands. If you would like to get on my mailing list for announcements about new releases, please do so here (fyi – I will never give out my list to anyone or sell your name to anyone). http://www.elysesalpeter.com/contact.html

Of course, before I do anything for book #2, I first have to make the cover! Don’t get me started on what I want in THIS one!

Tired of Giving Your Books Away for Free? Then Stop.

Indie Authors: Are you struggling with how to get your books in front of readers? Do you feel like you’ve done everything you possibly can and it still is not enough? Do you resort to giving your hard earned work, after paying for edits, covers, trailers, away for FREE? Or, just 99 cents in the hope someone will pick it up? Does that dream of writing for a living just seem to drift away in a sea of 33 cent royalties?

Maybe it’s time we started asking for the same respect as the authors in the Big Six. We are doing the same work, and even more. We are learning the craft of social media, we are the ones blogging, tweeting, posting and trying every single promotion under the sun. But maybe it’s time we sat back and said, “You know what? My book is worth more than free.”

My good friend Denise Vitola has a blog this week that resonated with me and she’s allowed me to post some of her content here and offer her link to folks that would like to read more.

http://thomas-talks-to-me.com/blog/blog.html – Denise’s Blog (you should follow her – she’s also a phenomenal editor and edited six of my books)

Denise has a few rules in the publishing industry. “The most important rule? Act like the professionals you are. Write a great book. Have it professionally edited. Hire an artist to create a cover that will attract attention. Market your books like your pants are on fire.

The second most important rule? Charge what your books are worth—what your time and talent is worth. Do not listen to the bleating of Old World propagandists, for they open their mouths to spit out bull twinkies. They want to see you fail. They want to see our Indie Publishing Industry go belly up.”

She’s got a point. Another one is this:

“Personally, I buy Indie books all the time and most of those e-books are in the $6.99 to $8.99 range. I feel like I’m getting a good book when I pay more for it, and I’ll bet I’m not alone. Mr. Joe Reading Public looks at the value of things the same way I do. Sometimes, cheap is not better. Sometimes, cheap is just cheap.”

While I’m not going to go and bring all my books up to $6.99, I did move my full length novel THE WORLD OF KAROV from $0.99 to $2.99. It’s Book #1 in a series and it has 27 reviews. That’s nothing to sneeze at. I paid hundreds of dollars editing this baby, money to make a professional cover and a book trailer, too. It’s really enjoyable if you like dark fantasy tales and is definitely worth more than $0.99. And the fact is, at 99 cents it wasn’t even selling, so what’s the point? I’ll use that price point as a special promotion, rather than keep it there permanently. The only thing I will ever do for a freebie any longer is a short story. That will give my fans the chance to read something of mine and get a taste of my writing. As a result, I’m going to put up more short stories (professionally edited, of course) on Amazon and only use those as my freebies.

I’d love to know what other indies think? I have read all of your efforts and celebrated with you when your freebies generated thousands of “sales.” I won’t tell you the pain I actually had for you, knowing that had you been able to get the value of your worth, you could have actually made some money on this — money that you earned for all your hard work. Honestly, because of what we’ve all done I’ve had many people tell me “Oh, you wrote a new book? Tell me when it’s free and I’ll “buy” it.” Did you hear what I just said? Tell me when “it’s free” and they’ll consider reading it. That’s pretty horrifying and I know I’m not the only one who has heard that. We need to change reader’s perceptions. It starts with us.

Trust me, the Big Six aren’t giving anything away for free.

So I leave you with this… your work is valuable… but first you have to believe in it yourself before anyone else will.

Food for thought.

Facebook – Some Additional Ideas to Improve Your Experience Part 2

Last week’s blog post about Getting Around Facebook’s Algorithms really seemed to help people. The most important thing to take away from that conversation was “engagement.” Like, comment, interact with people on Facebook. Don’t just smile and move on. If you see something you like, engage with it and you’ll pop up more on algorithms and start seeing more of the things you want to see.

Now, some other ways to help:

Problem: Why does it take hours for me to see my good friend’s post?

Solution: This could be because you’ve selected Top Stories versus Most Recent on your news feed. In the top left of your screen (on a PC) You will see a running list of options: Under your profile/name, it will say News Feed. To the right of that you will see a little arrow. Click on the downward arrow and see if you’ve selected either Top Stories, or Most Recent. Top stories will mean you will get served more posts that OTHER people have liked and commented on. FB thinks these are “top/important” stories and will give you those. If you wish to see things a little closer to live time, hit recent stories.

Issue, some friends say that they do hit recent stories, yet their friends and family still don’t see their posts often. Well guess what? Per my “inside friends who work with Facebook” it could be two things. A) Your friends also need to click recent stories as well as a selection. b) If you are not signed on, and occasionally sign in and out, that affects the algorithm timing as when things will pop up. It won’t just automatically do it – you’re in a queue (line) so to speak.

One note of caution, sometimes FB will switch your selection from Most Recent back to Top Stories. I don’t know why, and it’s happened to a few people I know, and myself, so every now and then just check.

Problem: Why do some Author Posts get more hits than others?

Solution: Well, that depends. Last week we discussed why only a small % of our fans see our pages. That they must engage with our content in order to get served our posts more, and thus, why we need to boost our posts occasionally. I have another solution. Authors, go to your Fan page. On the top are bars and click on “See Insights.” Then scroll down and look at your last 5 posts. You can see the type of engagement you had for specific posts. Did you put in a link? Did you put in a picture? You can see the TYPE of activity your fans did. Did they like it? Did they comment? Did they share it? See below for an example. As you can see, when I boosted my post (in this case I targeted just my fans and their friends), you can see how many more people engaged and commented and the reach.

I would suggest you try a few things… Don’t inundate your fans and space this up since you don’t want to be spammy, but how about post 2 covers and ask your fans which ones they like better? Another post, put in a blurb and link to your book, another post just do a regular post with no links or photos. Then do another one with just information about the book BUT now put the link in the comments section. Then, finally, boost a post. Then go back and look at this analysis page and see what worked and what got the most engagement. You’ll be surprised. I’ve found that most people will respond better to a photo and a question, then to a book link.

Not to mention, Facebook seems to despise links to our books. For some reason I get much less awareness by FB to my fans when I do a link, versus do a photo. Facebook really doesn’t want authors to post links and drive people AWAY from the Facebook experience (hence, I suggest putting the link in the comments section).

So, try these two tips out and see if they work! Love to hear some other ideas from everyone as well.

Facebook – Getting Around the Darn Algorithm…

Facebook – people seem to have either a love or hate relationship with it. They’re upset about the new layout changes, they’re upset at not seeing photos of loved ones, they’re disappointed their FB Fan pages are not being viewed by their fans.

All of these disappointments are completely valid. Now let me help you get around them.

Problem: You’re not seeing posts of your friends and family that you think you should be seeing.

Solution: Facebook has built a model around “engagement.” They have decided that if you like or comment on people’s posts, you obviously are engaged with them. They also believe that certain friends on your friends list, who get a lot of comments, are people you would want to see more of because OTHER’s engage with them. As a result, they might show you these periphery friends because they think you might find them engaging as well.

If you are not seeing some of your friend’s posts, your relative’s posts, there is a reason. You have not engaged them enough. Do you smile at their photos and posts and simply move on, without liking or commenting? Do these same people do the same thing to your posts? You’ll get a phone call later that “Oh yeah, I saw that but I didn’t respond.” My suggestion is to like every single thing they do and COMMENT on it. Yes, it’s a game and it sounds silly, annoying and time-consuming, but play it. Go to some friend’s/family pages right now and start liking and commenting. Facebook’s algorithm will ascertain these people are important to you. Not just because you’ve listed that they’re a close friend or relative (which does help when you click those options of delineation), but because they want to make sure, for certain, you like these people before they serve them to you time and again.

Problem: Facebook Layout. It’s confusing. It’s busy. I liked the old way.

Solution: Deal with it. They’re simply playing around with the experience to figure out how to honestly, get more ads in there in a way that’s not too intrusive, while still giving the user what they need. (remember, FB IS a business) Just note, the experience is also very different on Mobile, Tablet and PC. On the phone I see hardly anything, on the IPad it’s a bit better, and my best experience is on my laptop. Don’t expect the bells and whistles of FB if you’re just on your phone. Maybe you should check onto it on a computer now and again to get the full experience. It’s like your webpages – they look very different on a phone versus on a computer.

Problem: People say you post too much.

Solution: There’s a very good reason I try to post a lot. How will I ever know what will make people respond? Is it a photo? A link? A review of my book? Is it a great, goodwill video? A recipe I found? A person’s thoughts I’d like to share? We must continue to post often. If we don’t spam our readers with the same topic over and over, and continue to switch things up and be witty or informative, then folks shouldn’t have a problem. The important thing is to keep getting your name out there because the more people that respond, the more engagement and exposure we will have, and the more you will make it to the top of that algorithm.

Problem: Facebook Fan Pages. Fans not seeing my posts. This is in my own craw, to be sure. How is it I have 1282 fans, yet only 4% of the people will see my post? Easy. Maybe my fans have not responded in the past. Maybe they’ve seen some of my posts, but because they have NOT engaged, they do not get served my posts as much, or as often, as other fans.

Solution: Pay to Play. This is FB’s new model of business, because yes, it is a business. I suggest you boost a post and target it only to your fans and your fans friends. I do this for $5 and I jump up to 1200 views. Why is this important? Because now your fans will get served the post and if any of them like it or comment, guess what? You just got bumped up as being engaged with them. And if they like and comment, their friends will see it on their stream as well. I just boosted a post the other day after I saw only 2% of my fans had seen my post. Suddenly I saw fans like my post that I haven’t seen in months and months.

You see, it’s not enough that someone is a fan, a close friend, a brother or sister. Facebook has no idea, nor cares, about anything but your interaction with these people. And you have the option for people you are not seeing, at any given moment, to go to their page and like and comment. In fact, every single fan, friend, and relative has the option at any moment to GO to your page to see your own posts whenever they wish as well. But most people won’t take the time and prefer to get “served.” By actually and forcibly engaging them, you become automatically top dog, front and center, where you wish to be.

So I leave you with this: “Engagement is key.” You must play the game if you want the most out of your facebook experience. But one thing to note, folks. Please remember… Facebook is FREE. Authors, ever notice how mean people can be when you offer a FREE book? Ever think how opinionated someone is with a free book and they might start it and not even finish it? It’s like Facebook – it’s there, it’s free, but to get the most experience, you need to use it properly – just like a book – for the most experience, you need to finish the darn thing before you judge.

If you found this helpful, how about we engage a little bit? Would you go to my author page and like and comment on a few posts if you’ve not done it before? It would be most appreciated. I will do the same and engage you back. http://www.facebook.com/elysesalpeterauthor