Building Relationships with Fans
If I had a subtitle, it would be: Or, Some Things I Learned Along the Way
The other day, I dropped someone from my personal Facebook page. She's a professional author whom I knew casually from another website, and she sent me a friend request -- which I accepted.
Given the way that authors tend to network, I'm sure you're wondering why I dropped her.
One hundred percent of her posts were billboarding about where to buy her books, sent via Tweetdeck. I started to feel as though the only reason she'd invited me to be her Facebook friend was so that she would make a sale!
There are lots of ways to rock on Facebook (in fact, I took a class by that name from Molly Burke, Queen of Confidence). The main thing comes down to building relationships. So, I'm going to share some things I learned from Molly -- and some I learned from trial and error -- when it comes to developing relationships with your fans/readers.
1. Keep your personal Facebook and your fan page separate -- and don't post identical material in both places. Invite all of your personal friends to join your fan page, sure ... but make certain you aren't spamming folks with duplicate information. The same thing goes for your personal blog and your professional blog.
2. The audience for Twitter is different from the audience for Facebook -- or your blog. The good thing about Twitter is that each tweet has its own searchable URL. I admit that I was a reluctant adopter, but I have found Twitter to be a useful plank in my platform.
3. Keep things engaging. Readers already know that you'd like them to buy your book; they don't need constant commercials. The theory goes that the ratio of content:billboarding should be approximately 9:1. So, what can you do?
I developed regular features for my fan page. In 2010, I had Facts From My Fiction (information about historical people, places or events that were discussed in my novel), Food From My Fiction (documented period recipes) and Saturday Night Musicale (a video or recording, usually a classical piece, pertinent to a writing project).
This year, I switched it up. I have Location, Location, Location, where I share information about a place discussed in one of my books. Every Friday, I ask what people are reading over the weekend. Saturday Night Musicale occasionally turns into Saturday Night Sing-Along when I provide music and lyrics.
In between, I provide quotes of the day, links to blog posts like this one -- and sometimes I let people know where to get my books.
4. Give things away. Yep -- give it away. I have two free eBooks and I give the others away periodically. I participate in a couple of annual promotions, like "Read an eBook Week," and I also give eBooks to deployed service members via Operation eBook Drop. When it comes to the promotions, I've learned by trial and error that it's best to give books for free. It drives your work up the bestseller list, which gets it more attention from new readers.
I've also given away paperbacks in contests, donated them to charity auctions and more. It's definitely worth the goodwill to have freebies out there.
One of Molly's excellent suggestions is to have a freebie that people get in exchange for joining your mailing list. Well worth considering.
I say all of that to say this: you need to develop a relationship with your readers that is about more than their pocketbooks. Keep them engaged and interested, and they'll keep coming back.
The other day, I dropped someone from my personal Facebook page. She's a professional author whom I knew casually from another website, and she sent me a friend request -- which I accepted.
Given the way that authors tend to network, I'm sure you're wondering why I dropped her.
One hundred percent of her posts were billboarding about where to buy her books, sent via Tweetdeck. I started to feel as though the only reason she'd invited me to be her Facebook friend was so that she would make a sale!
There are lots of ways to rock on Facebook (in fact, I took a class by that name from Molly Burke, Queen of Confidence). The main thing comes down to building relationships. So, I'm going to share some things I learned from Molly -- and some I learned from trial and error -- when it comes to developing relationships with your fans/readers.
1. Keep your personal Facebook and your fan page separate -- and don't post identical material in both places. Invite all of your personal friends to join your fan page, sure ... but make certain you aren't spamming folks with duplicate information. The same thing goes for your personal blog and your professional blog.
2. The audience for Twitter is different from the audience for Facebook -- or your blog. The good thing about Twitter is that each tweet has its own searchable URL. I admit that I was a reluctant adopter, but I have found Twitter to be a useful plank in my platform.
3. Keep things engaging. Readers already know that you'd like them to buy your book; they don't need constant commercials. The theory goes that the ratio of content:billboarding should be approximately 9:1. So, what can you do?
I developed regular features for my fan page. In 2010, I had Facts From My Fiction (information about historical people, places or events that were discussed in my novel), Food From My Fiction (documented period recipes) and Saturday Night Musicale (a video or recording, usually a classical piece, pertinent to a writing project).
This year, I switched it up. I have Location, Location, Location, where I share information about a place discussed in one of my books. Every Friday, I ask what people are reading over the weekend. Saturday Night Musicale occasionally turns into Saturday Night Sing-Along when I provide music and lyrics.
In between, I provide quotes of the day, links to blog posts like this one -- and sometimes I let people know where to get my books.
4. Give things away. Yep -- give it away. I have two free eBooks and I give the others away periodically. I participate in a couple of annual promotions, like "Read an eBook Week," and I also give eBooks to deployed service members via Operation eBook Drop. When it comes to the promotions, I've learned by trial and error that it's best to give books for free. It drives your work up the bestseller list, which gets it more attention from new readers.
I've also given away paperbacks in contests, donated them to charity auctions and more. It's definitely worth the goodwill to have freebies out there.
One of Molly's excellent suggestions is to have a freebie that people get in exchange for joining your mailing list. Well worth considering.
I say all of that to say this: you need to develop a relationship with your readers that is about more than their pocketbooks. Keep them engaged and interested, and they'll keep coming back.
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Jaimey
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Mar 25, 2011 12:59PM
Very excellent points, Sharon. And I see a few places I need to improve my own relationships with my fans. Thank you. :o)
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Another tip I recall from the amazing Molly is that if you want blog comments, be generous with your comments on other people's blogs.
Sharon, I respect your decision to do what you did. I'm sure it wasn't easy. But when that feeling of being used comes over you, it's time to change something. I've been very fortunate so far. My book isn't out yet, but I worry that I am not giving enough attention to my writer friends and readers because of time constraints and other things.
Thank you for the reminder:-)
T.E. wrote: "Another tip I recall from the amazing Molly is that if you want blog comments, be generous with your comments on other people's blogs."Absolutely. And this is one of which I have to remind myself, because I read a great deal more than I comment sometimes.
Exactly! I still need to review In The Eye of the Beholder. So sorry I haven't done that yet. I will say, that I love your writing style and thoroughly enjoyed reading your book. I have your memoir that I haven't started yet. I'm so embarrassed, Sharon. I just have a really hard time keeping up with everything. Forgive me, please?
Cynthia wrote: "Exactly! I still need to review In The Eye of the Beholder. So sorry I haven't done that yet. I will say, that I love your writing style and thoroughly enjoyed reading your book. I have your memoir..."Oh, my goodness, Cynthia. Of course! We all get caught up with "real life," you know? I am so glad that you liked the book, and I look forward to reading your review when you have the opportunity to post it.
Cleo wrote: "Thank you, Sharon, for the excellent advice. I've always been a bit skeptical about the usefulness of book 'give aways', but after reading through your posts, I'm convinced."Thanks, Cleo! I firmly believe that we can all help each other succeed by sharing what we've learned along the way. I'm so glad that you stopped by to read, and that you shared your thoughts. :-)
Cleo wrote: "Thank you, Sharon, for the excellent advice. I've always been a bit skeptical about the usefulness of book 'give aways', but after reading through your posts, I'm convinced."Thanks, Cleo! I firmly believe that we can all help each other succeed by sharing what we've learned along the way. I'm so glad that you stopped by to read, and that you shared your thoughts. :-)
Thank you, Sharon. I too worry, as Tiffany said, about not feeling like a nuisance. Family and friends at work have been gracious about my posts about books, but I need to broaden that audience. Your success is an inspiration to me. My husband chuckles because i've consistently given away more than I've sold for each of my five titles. But I'm optimistic that eventually it will all click and one will be a success.
Thanks, Terry! I appreciate your comments. There are some other posts throughout my blog on marketing that you may find useful. Please feel free to have a look around!
