Edie Melson's Blog, page 373

Calendar Days—July’s Crazy Holidays & Special Occasions—Idea Starters for Writers

by Edie Melson @EdieMelson

It’s time again for Calendar Days. These are just fun to read. They’re also a great way to jumpstart our creativity when looking for ideas for articles and blog posts. They’re also a fun writing prompt idea. 
In addition, calendar days are great conversation starters for social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, especially when two contrasting holidays fall on the same date. Here are some that tickled my funny bone this month:
July 7 is Tell the Truth Day and Global Forgiveness Day, I guess we can ask forgiveness for the telling the truth on the same day.  July 11 is World Population Day and Cheer Up the Lonely Day – have anyone looked at how many people are on this earth? July 20 is Get out of the Doghouse Day is the same day as Ugly Truck Day, hmmm I think I see the connection.July isIndependent Retailer MonthPicnic MonthNational Anti-boredom MonthHorseradish MonthNational Cell Phone Courtesy MonthNational Hot Dog MonthNational Ice Cream Month
July 1Zip Code DayPostal Worker DayInternational Joke DaySecond Half of the Year DayCreative Ice Cream Flavors Day
July 2I forgot DayWorld UFO Day
July 3Stay out of the Sun DayDisobedience DayInternational Plastic Bag Free DayCompliment Your Mirror Day
July 4 is Independence Day!July 4Sidewalk Egg Frying DayIndependence from Meat DayHop a Park DayBuild a Scarecrow DayNational Country Music DayIndependence Day
July 5Work-a-holics DayBikini Day
July 6National Fried Chicken DayUmbrella Cover DayInternational Kissing DayTake Your Webmaster to Lunch Day
July 7National Strawberry Sundae DayChocolate DayGlobal Forgiveness DayTell the Truth Day
July 8Video Games DayScud Day (Savor the Comic, Unplug the Drama Day)
July 9National Sugar Cookie Day
July 10 is Teddy Bear Picnic DayJuly10Teddy Bear Picnic DayDon’t Step on a Bee Day
July 11World Population DayCheer up the Lonely Day
July 12Pecan Pie DayEtch a Sketch DayDifferent Colored Eyes Day
July 13Fool’s Paradise DayFrench Fries DayInternational Town Criers DayEmbrace Your Geekness DayBarbershop Music Appreciation Day
July 14Pandemonium DayShark Awareness DayCow Appreciation DayBastille Day
July 15Tapioca Pudding DayGummi worm DayPet Fire Safety Day
July 16Corn Fritters DayFresh Spinach Day
July 17Yellow Pig DayPeach Ice Cream Day
July 18National Caviar Day
July 19National Raspberry Cake DayNational Ice Cream Day (Third Sunday of July)
July 20 is Moon DayJuly 20Moon DaySpace Exploration DayGet Out of the Doghouse DayUgly Truck DayWorld Jump DayNational Lollipop Day
July 21National Junk Food Day
July 22Hammock Day
July 23Vanilla Ice Cream DayGorgeous Grandma DayNational Hot Dog Day
July 24Cousins DayTell an Old Joke DaiDrive-thru DayAmelia Earhart Day
July 25Threading the Needle DayCulinarians Day
July 26Aunt and Uncle DayOne Voice DayParents Day (Fourth Sunday in July)All or Nothing Day
July 27 is Walk on Stilts Day.July 27Take Your Houseplant for a Walk DayWalk on Stilts Day
July 28National Milk Chocolate Day
July 29Rain DayLipstick DayNational Lasagna DayInternational Tiger Day
July 30Paperback Book DayFather-in-law DayChili Dog DayNational Cheesecake DayInternational Day of Friendship
July 31World Ranger DayUncommon Instrument Awareness DayTalk in an Elevator DaySystem Administrator Appreciation Day
Now let's do a little brainstorming for July. What are some of your favorite days from the list and how do you propose using them?
Don't forget to join the conversation,Blessings,Edie
TWEETABLESUse July's crazy holidays to get the #socialmedia conversation started & spark #writing ideas - @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)
Don't get caught without an idea, use the calendar to #write #blog posts & articles - @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

While My Soldier Serves—Book Signing and a Chance to Win

I rarely use this blog for any kind of direct promotion. I want to make sure that almost all the things I post fall under the heading of information. 

But today I'm breaking my rule and asking for your help. This Friday, July 3, I'm having a big book signing at our local Barnes and Noble. I'll be signing copies of While My Soldier Serves.

What I need your help with is sharing the information on social media. Below is a graphic you can share on Facebook.


If you're in the Greenville, South Carolina area, I'd love for you to join me! But if you're not, don't despair, I'm including you in the fun. To all those who comment, telling me they shared this on social media, I'll add you to a drawing. 

I'm giving away a $15 Barnes and Noble e-giftcard, and 2 Patriotic reusable shopping bags. So there will be 3 winners in all.

Be sure to share this info through your social media and leave a comment saying you did. You don't have to leave a link or anything, we work on the honor system here!

Thanks & Blessings,
Edie

TWEETABLE
Honor those who serve by supporting their families - Share & be entered to win (Click to Tweet)

Social Media Basics for Writers, Part V—Dealing with Facebook Spam

by Edie Melson @EdieMelson

This past week the unthinkable happened. I was tagged in a horribly, sexually explicit Facebook post. I wasn’t the one who discovered the post, either. It was my good friend, Angie Arndt. She saw the post, with my name attached, and was a good enough friend to contact me and let me know.
Let me say right now, bringing a post like that to someone’s attention is difficulty and the most loving thing you can do. Please do not ever hesitate to let someone know if they’ve been tagged in an inappropriate post.  After Angie contacted me, even as social media savvy as I am, I did the same thing most of you would have done, I panicked.
I immediately did the wrong things, in the wrong order, and then spent the next hour undoing them, and doing the right things.
Before I help you react better than me, I want to share the links from previous weeks posts in this series, Social Media Basics for Writers.

Part I—Know Where You are and Where You’re GoingPart II—When Should a Writer Start Building a Social Media NetworkPart III—Targeting Millennials: Snapchat’s 3 Most Dominant Brands & Their Tactics   PartIV—Facebook Basics for Writers
When we’re active on social media, we’re occasionally going to get caught up in spam. There are things we can do to minimize that (and I’m going to share those today). But it probably is going to happen. But there are two things to remember.People who know you and have followed you will see it for what it is—a lie.Don’t panic because the order in which you do things does make a difference.First Things FirstTo get to your settings on Facebook, click on the small arrow you’ll find in the upper right of the blue menu bar at the top of your screen. This will bring up a drop-down menu where you’ll find SETTINGS. You can see what I'm referring to in screen shot #1 below.
Screen shot #1.
Click on Settings and then click on Timeline and Tagging. The two things you want to make sure are in place are that only your friends can post on your profile. NOTE: if you have your profile set up for public, you still only want friends to initiate a post on your timeline. Those who follow you (the public part of your FB community) can comment on a post already up there, but they can’t post something new on your profile. This is a safeguard that FB has in place and can’t be changed.
Review posts, the other thing you want in place is that you review posts where you are tagged before they appear on your timeline. So that setting needs to read, ON.
NOTE: reviewing tagging only means you’re notified before it shows up on your timeline. You can still be tagged in posts and that post, with our name on it, show up other places. That same nasty post I was tagged in cause about 45 other Christian publishing professionals.
Review Tags added to your own posts also need to be set to ON. All of these settings are shown in screen shot #2 below.
Screen shot #2 What To Do When Spam HappensDon’t Panic. As I said before, do as I say, not as I did. When I saw that awful post, the only thing I could think was to block it from my timeline. So that was the first thing I did. Unfortunately, all that did was hide it from me. Everyone else could still see it and still see that it had my name associated with it. Here’s what you need to do and the order in which you need to do it.
First, click on the small arrow in the upper right-hand corner of the post. This brings up a drop-down menu with several options. Begin by clicking remove tag. This takes your name off the post. See what I'm referring to in screen shot #3 below.
Screen shot #3

Now another menu will appear and Facebook will take you through a series of questions about why you removed your tag. Answer the questions as honestly as possible. If it’s an offensive post, be sure to ask that FB remove it.
Unfriend or Block? For me, the post that went up was bad enough for me to unfriend that account and block them. For a less extreme instance, I might just unfriend them. I use blocking carefully because FB takes that as a serious offense by the account that’s been blocked. There are times when it’s justified, but don’t utilize it in anger.
What's Next?After I got my name disassociated with the post, I realized that mine had not been the only name I recognized. At that point, Angie and I made a list of those caught in the spam and contacted them through FB messaging. It was embarrassing to bring a post like that to someone else’s attention, but it was the right thing to do.
Now that I’ve had a few days to recover, I’m able to look at what happened with a more objective eye. I can see that this type of thing doesn’t reflect on me personally, but is a situation born out of the time in which we live. And as I said at the beginning of the post, my reputation has stood me in good stead. Those who know me and are familiar with the things I stand for, know that I would never knowingly be involved with anything even remotely related to that post.
I’d like to hear from you. Have you ever been caught up in a spam post?  What questions do you have about security settings for FB? Be sure to leave your comments below.
Don’t forget to join the conversation!Blessings,Edie
TWEETABLESWhat to do when spam hits hard on Facebook – tips from #socialmedia expert @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)
On Facebook, spam happens. #SocialMedia expert @EdieMelson shares how to cope (Click to Tweet) 

We’re Lamenting the Wrong Things & Asking the Wrong Questions

by Edie Melson @EdieMelson

Everywhere I turn I see believers crying out against recent legislature. And while I do have personal opinions about events of these days—what I’m truly mourning is the fact that we’re no longer looking to God for morality, but to man.
I don’t believe it’s possible to legislate morality.
Don’t misunderstand me, we need to have laws and penalties for lawbreakers. But those fall under the headings of consequences and deterrents.
Each of us carries a foundational idea of right and wrong. It’s something that God has instilled within us.
You see, our conscience comes from God. It was created within us when we were formed in the womb. If we were just products of Darwin’s theory, then our conscience would be weighted with a foundation of kill or be killed—survival of the fittest. Instead, we have a different foundation.
Don’t believe me? Take a look at our laws. Take a look at our day-to-day interactions. We don’t reward bullies and those who look out only for themselves. Our belief system reflects something more than that. It reflects God.
We can stifle our conscience by ignoring it, and trying to re-educate it. But it’s still there, and when we once again turn our ear to that pure voice, it will spring back to life.
In these days, we each need to turn back—to look to God to dictate what is right and what is wrong. First as individuals, then as a country. When we make God our priority, then the other things will fall into place. We’ll interact with one another in love.
No, I’m not suggesting some type of hippy nirvana filled with a false sense of anything goes. Or that God-is-Love, watered down message.
I mean real love.
The hard kind.
The kind that calls forLoving our enemies.Forgiving those who wrong us.Holding one another accountable.Turning the other cheek.Standing up for what is right, whether it’s the law or not.
When we look to God for the answers, we’ll find unity.
Not uniformity, never that. God created each of us unique and special. But He gave us traits in common—with Him—and with each other.
So today, I’m praying for our country. And I’m not praying small. I’m not focusing on individual sins. I’m first praying about my own short comings and asking for forgiveness and a renewed sense of right and wrong. I want God to clean out the junk and put me back on a track to be more like Him. Then I’m asking God to reclaim this country as His—with His definition of right and wrong.
Can one person make a difference?
Maybe not at first.
But for a difference to be made, we must all begin alone, in a one-on-one conversation with God. Then, when all those individuals come together and return to God, absolutely.
Will you join me?
If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. II Chronicles 7:14

Strength in the Storm

One thing I've learned over the years is this. The greatest growth of my faith takes place during the darkest storms. How about you?

"If we desire our faith to be strengthened, we should not shrink from opportunities
where our faith may be tried and strengthened." -George Mueller




Share your thoughts in the comment section below. 

I also invite you to use this image any way you like online. Post it to your blog, share it on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, anywhere you'd like. All I ask is that you keep it intact, with my website watermark visible.

Don't forget to join the conversation!Blessings,Edie

Butt In Chair (BIC) Might NOT be the Best Advice for Writers

by Lori Hatcher @lorihatcher2

If I asked you to describe a writer, you might use adjectives such as introspective, sensitive, creative, and introverted. Would you also choose the words hunchbacked, overweight, diabetic, and more likely to die a premature death?

Recent articles in The Huffington Post and The Washington Post have raised awareness about how dangerous a sedentary lifestyle is. When I think sedentary, I usually think of little old ladies sitting on their couches watching soap operas all day long or pimple-faced teens playing hours of video games, but, sadly, hard-working writers can also fall into the category of sedentary if we’re not careful.
In the article from the Washington Post, Bonnie Berkowitz and Patterson Clark graphically describe the potential health hazards from sitting for 8 hours or more a day: 
organ damage such as heart disease, over-productive pancreas, and colon cancer muscle degeneration such as mushy abs, tight hips, and limp gluts leg disorders such as poor circulation and soft bonesupper body issues like a foggy brain, strained neck, and sore shoulders and backEven more frightening is this statistic: “People who watched the most TV in an 8.5-year study had a 61 percent greater risk of dying than those who watched less than one hour per day.” Most of my writer friends aren’t sitting around watching TV, but we are sitting around typing on a keyboard. I don’t think our bodies know the difference.

The Huffington Post article has some great suggestions for how to counteract the negative effects of sitting. Because most of us can’t just stop sitting, the article suggests we alter our workspaces and build motion into our days.

What to Do?
A simple first step is to stand for part of our workday. Because prolonged standing also has health risks, experts suggest we shoot for a 50/50 sit/stand ratio. Because I have a laptop, I often carry my computer from my desk to my kitchen counter and work there. If you want to get fancy, you can purchase a commercially made standing or treadmill desk. Fancy or not, be sure to wear comfortable shoes and stand on a cushioned mat.

Other ways to incorporate movement into your day include stretching at your desk, sitting on an exercise ball (a great way to develop core strength and a strong back), and periodically walking a few laps around the house or office.

In light of this information, I’ve implemented a new protocol for my writing days. At least every 90 minutes I get up and move around. I throw a load of laundry in the washer, sweep or vacuum, or do a few stretches. Once during the day I do a series of lower back and shoulder strengthening exercises. Most mornings I begin with a 25-minute walk with my rescue dog, Winston.

At first glance, sitting at a computer all day doesn’t seem very physically demanding. Look closer, however, and we realize the inherent risks associated with our sedentary occupation. Don’t be a casualty. A few simple changes can keep you writing happily and in good health for a long, long time. And that’s a good thing.

Now it’s your turn. What steps do you take to counteract the negative effects of the writing lifestyle? Leave a comment below and join the conversation.
TWEETABLESButt in Chair (BIC) Might NOT be the Best Advice for Writers - @LoriHatcher2 on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)
#Writing may take a harder toll on your body than you realize - @LoriHatcher2 on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Lori Hatcher is the editor of Reach Out, Columbia magazine and the author of two devotional books. Her second, Hungry for God…Starving for Time, 5-Minute Devotions for Busy Women released in December. A blogger, writing instructor, and women’s ministry speaker, her goal is to help women connect with God in the craziness of life. You’ll find her pondering the marvelous and the mundane on her blog, Hungry for God…Starving for Time. Connect with her on Facebook, Twitter (@LoriHatcher2), or Pinterest (Hungry for God).

Are You Being Tossed About by Every Writing Wind?

by Henry McLaughlin @RiverBendSagas
Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Ephesians 4:14 NLT
In my small group recently, we were discussing critiques. One member had submitted to the same national contest two years in a row. After the first year, she took the judges’ comments to heart and revised her manuscript. The second year, the judges’ comments were the exact opposite of the first year. It’s amazing sometimes how two people can read our work and give us contradictory advice.Another of our members is an experienced writer, but new to writing fiction. A critiquer told her the first chapter had too much dialogue. Our member voiced she needed to rewrite the chapter. Turned out the critiquer didn’t write fiction or read very much fiction.
This paraphrase of Ephesians 4:14 came to mind. As writers, we will no longer be immature and insecure. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of critique. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us into writing their way as the only way with rationalizations so clever they sound like rules and doctrine from on high.
We need faith in two things when we write.
One is faith in ourselves, in our writing, in knowing we are answering God’s call to write. Like spiritual faith, our writing faith is developed over time as we study the craft through attending workshops and conferences, through reading books on the craft, and through applying our faith by sitting down and writing. And rewriting. And rewriting.
The other area of faith is in discernment. We need to believe God gives wisdom and insights to judge potential critiquers and critique groups. We need to trust he will create divine appointments with the right mentors and coaches, with those who will teach, encourage, and further our growth as writers. We also need to have faith he will help us examine and weigh the critiques we receive, to separate the wheat from the chaff, to pick out what really helps our story and our craft and to cast aside the rest.
Someone once said the art of writing is putting the seat of the pants in the seat of the chair. And this is true. But before this comes another step: Putting the knees of the writer on the floor before God to ask his direction and plan. If we can’t do the physical act of kneeling, we can all do the spiritual equivalent of time in meditation and prayer—quiet time with him.
How do you handle negative critiques? Be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
Don't forget to join the conversation!
TWEETABLESAre you being tossed about by every #writing wind? - Henry McLaughlin, @RiverBendSagas (Click to Tweet)
We need faith in 2 things when we #write - Henry McLaughlin, @RiverBendSagas on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)
Henry’s debut novel, Journey to Riverbend, won the 2009 Operation First Novel contest. He serves as Associate Director of North Texas Christian Writers. Henry edits novels, leads critique groups, and teaches at conferences and workshops. He enjoys mentoring and coaching individual writers. Connect with Henry on his blog, Twitter and Facebook.

Thesaurus—A Treasure Box for Writers

by DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills

Thesaurus—a treasure box for writers.While touring the Acropolis Museum in Greece, I stumbled upon a stone relic that caused me to smile, as though I’d just learned a powerful secret. The English translation said simply: thesaurus, a treasure box.
The meaning that fueled my interest is the idea of a storehouse or a treasury. The ancient Greeks used a thesaurus to store treasures, and for writers, our words are our treasures.Since grade school, we’ve used a thesaurus to find a list of synonyms and sometimes antonyms for specific words. This valuable resource helps writers locate specific words when the ones normally used are not exactly what we intend or the concept needs to be bigger, more definite, unique, or the writer wishes to avoid repetition. Meanings twist and turn according to culture, dates used, and what the writer is desperately seeking.
Word lovers can get lost in a thesaurus.
There are dangers with the treasure box.But there are dangers in tossing aside creativity and diving into a treasure box each time we want to sound distinct or extraordinary. The result builds barriers in our writing. We lose our voice and our character’s voice in an endless pursuit of the perfect word when often the most common fits our passage. Communicating with our readers is an invitation to a relationship. We want to use appropriate and recognizable language not chase them away with word choices that send them to the dictionary.
A treasure box is valuable when we open the lid rarely. For then the jewels inside are priceless and we value their worth.
Years ago, I started a treasury of words and their meanings. I titled them, “Di Words.” Those gems were the ones in which their sound and meaning appealed to me, the way they rolled off my tongue and their detail. I wanted to use them for special characters and how they viewed life, to bury them deep in narrative where they could be explored and mined like treasure. Many times only one of those words was used throughout the story because a gem is of immeasurable worth.
A thesaurus is indeed a storehouse of treasures. Used sparingly, they cause our writing to sparkle—overuse and our readers are blinded.
DiAnn Mills is a bestselling author who believes her readers should expect an adventure. She combines unforgettable characters with unpredictable plots to create action-packed, suspense-filled novels. 
Her titles have appeared on the CBA and ECPA bestseller lists; won two Christy Awards; and been finalists for the RITA, Daphne Du Maurier, Inspirational Readers’ Choice, and Carol award contests. Library Journal presented her with a Best Books 2014: Genre Fiction award in the Christian Fiction category for Firewall.
DiAnn is a founding board member of the American Christian Fiction Writers; the 2015 president of the Romance Writers of America’s Faith, Hope, & Love chapter; a member of Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, and International Thriller Writers. She speaks to various groups and teaches writing workshops around the country. She and her husband live in sunny Houston, Texas. 
DiAnn is very active online and would love to connect with readers on any of the social media platforms listed at www.diannmills.com.
TWEETABLES
Used sparingly a thesaurus can make #writing sparkle, with overuse readers are blinded @DiAnnMills (Click to Tweet)

5 Things We Discover when We Write Through the Tough Times

by Edie Melson @EdieMelson

I’ve never met anyone who had an easy life. I’ve met a lot of people that looked like they did—from the outside. But once I’ve gotten to know them, I quickly learned that things were never what they seemed. This holds true for writers.
Those who have the luxury of writing full-time have the same struggles faced by those who have limited time.
That leads me to what I think is one of the biggest lies about writing—the myth of finding time to write. Truthfully, that time is never found . It’s carved out of our busy lives. It doesn’t matter if you’re a bestselling author or just starting to put pen to paper. And whether or not we consistently carve out that time, no matter what’s happening around us, will determine how successful we are.
As writers, we need to realize tough times will come. And it’s during those times that our commitment will be tested and our resolve will be forged.But take heart. There are some good things that will come out of perseverance, and today I’m going to share them.
1. A strength you didn’t know you had. Until we push ourselves to write when we don’t feel like it, write when we don’t have time, and write when we plain just don’t want to, we’ll always feel like a fraud. But when we grit our teeth and hammer out words—sometimes just junk—we take our dream from wishing to reality. After all, as Nora Roberts said, “You can fix anything but a blank page.
2. The knowledge that you are a person to be admired and respected. If I give up every time something gets difficult, I lose my self-respect. But, if I continue on, no matter how difficult, I earn that respect back. Beyond that, I earn the respect of other writers around me.
3. A foundation of toughness. Writing isn’t for wimps. A successful writer is two parts mind-over-matter, three parts perseverance, and one part optimism.
4. The courage to continue on no matter what comes in the future. I’ve discovered something even more frightening than writer’s block. It’s starting over after a successful project. We all look at that blank screen and wonder if we have another book/article/poem inside us. And the more successful we are, the more paralyzing the fear can become, if we let it have a foothold. If, on the other hand, we refuse to listen to those doubts echoing in our minds, we’ll find that our courage grows and we’re able to continue moving forward, no matter what.
5. A sense of accomplishment. Moving forward, when things get tough, gives us a sense of accomplishment. Small successes can be built, one after another, into a confidence that doesn’t collapse when things get hard.
All of these things will stand us in good stead, in life as well as in our writing endeavors. So next time you find yourself in the midst of tough times, persevere and come out on the other side stronger.
These are the things I’ve found when I write through the tough times. What insights have you gained? Be sure to share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Don’t forget to join the conversation!Blessings,Edie
TWEETABLE 5 Things We Discover When We Write Through theTough Times – via @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Social Media Basics for Writers, Part IV—Facebook Basics for Writers

by Edie Melson @EdieMelson
Today I want to jump into one of the two most important social media tools in your arsenal, Facebook. But first, in case you've missed the previous posts, here are a list of them, with links.
Part I—Know Where You are and Where You’re GoingPart II—When Should a Writer Start Building a Social Media NetworkPart III—Targeting Millennials: Snapchat’s 3 Most Dominant Brands & Their Tactics  Facebook Basics for Writers Personally, I have a love/hate relationship with FB.I personally have a love/hate relationship with FB. It allows me to connect with a lot of my audience, but the creators of FB are also keeping me from connecting with a lot of my audience because of something called the EdgeRank Algorithm. 
Here's a short explanation of what that is:  
Many of you may have heard the term EdgeRank in regard to Facebook’s new policy for pages. It’s a new term, but the purpose behind it should sound familiar. EdgeRank compiles information Facebook believes will be valuable for each individual user. This is done through complicated equations, not unlike those search engine algorithms use to rank sites when a topic is searched.
Whether we like this new way FB has of sharing our updates doesn’t matter. If we’re still using FB, we must learn to work within this new paradigm of Facebook.
Before we start though, we need to have reasonable expectations. So let’s look at what we know. At almost any time during a given twenty-four hour period, only between 6-16% of your fans will see a specific post. This is due to a lot of different variables.
And, because FB is now set on a course that charges for advertising, it is limiting the organic reach of posts sent out from a professional page.
There are some ways to get around the new FB paradigm.There are some ways to get around this new paradigm.Pay to boost posts. This will usually do well for that one post, BUT it will not affect subsequent posts. Engage your fans on your page with shareable information. This can be quotes, memes (pictures with words) and conversation starters.Use your personal profile as a professional page.
Here’s a link to a blog post I wrote about How to use Your Personal Profile as a Professional Page, and why I chose that option. I would post the entire article here, but it has screenshots of how to make the changes on your own page and I think you’ll need to see those.
Back to Facebook EdgerankI want to share how FB decides if a post is valuable or not. This is across the board, not just on page, but also on profiles.
FB looks at the posts you engage with.FB looks at the updates that you engage with.  This means the ones that you LIKE, COMMENT on, and SHARE. If you tend to engage with certain types of posts, say baby announcements, then FB will make sure you see more of those in your news feed.
Also, if you consistently engage with a person and/or a page, FB will make sure you see more updates from them.
FB also looks at how popular a post is. For example, when I signed my book contract with Worthy for this books of  prayers for the military, it initially went out to people who engage with me regularly. As more people commented, liked it, and shared it, FB sent it out to a wider audience. This is why you’ll sometimes see something that’s several days or weeks old.
FB judges the popularity of a post by how 3 criteria.The first level is LIKE. This is good, but is the least that someone can do, so it cares the lowest weight.The next level is COMMENTING. This is much better. It elicited a response and a conversation, something FB considers important.The highest level though, is sharing. If someone sees something as valuable enough to share, then it gets the highest mark from FB. 
All of these things go into the algorithm that FB uses to decide who sees what.
Because of this, we need to make sure that what we post on FB has two components.It must be something that people can/will engage with. For example, don’t just post a Bible verse, post a Bible verse and then ask those who read it to share one of their own. This leads to the next point.Successful updates have a clear call to action. They either ask a question or for input. Or they say something like: Please SHARE or LIKE if you agree. People read a ton of stuff on FB and sometimes they just don’t think to engage. It’s up to us to remind them.
I try to post 4 types of updates (no matter which text-driven social media site)An inspiring quote, thought or Scripture.A question.Something humorous. Because laughter is good medicine.A link to something my specific audience would find valuable.Now it's your turn. What frustrations do you have about Facebook, what successes have you seen? Be sure to share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Don't forget to join the conversation!Blessings,Edie
TWEETABLESFacebook Basics for Writers, #SocialMedia expert @EdieMelson shares some tips & tricks (Click to Tweet)
Facebook can be frustrating, but it's still a valuable asset - @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)