Navigating Indieworld and I.A.M. Facebook Takeovers

[Erica]

We will be doing author takeovers on the Navigating Indieworld and Indie Authors Monthly Magazine Facebook pages! This is a great way to reach a potentially new audience. The only the cost to you is anything you decide to giveaway as prizes. Here is how a takeover works:

1. Sign up for a time slot (these will be 30 minute slots), and yes, you need to have a Facebook account.

2. Plan some games and giveaways to post during your time slot. Most people do an intro to who they are/their books and 2-3 other posts with games and giveaways.

3. Promote, promote, promote the event.

4. On the day of the event, get on the Navigating Indieworld or the I.A.M. Magazine Facebook page (whichever you signed up for) atleast 5-10 minute prior to your scheduled time. Once the author before you finishes, the hosting position will be passed to you. You will add your planned posts during your time slot. Be sure to give time between each post for people to participate.

5. At the end of your time, the event will be passed to the next host and you are done.

*Just a note, you can leave some giveaways open for longer than your 30 minute slot so people who join later can look back and still enter.

If you are interested, here is how to sign-up:
1. Go to the Indie Authors Monthly Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/IndieAuthors...) or the Navigating Indieworld page (https://www.facebook.com/groups/17603...).

2. There is a post with a sign up sheet.

3. Click the link for the sheet and put your name and email in the time slot you want. The sheet should automatically save your information. Please close and reopen the sheet to make sure your info was saved.

*Please only sign up for one of the takeovers at this time to allow everyone a chance. If you are interested in participating in both, please keep an eye on this thread. We will let you know if we need more participants in the other takeover as soon as we feel everyone has had a chance to sign-up.
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May Takeover sign-ups are now live:

Navigating Indieworld-May 3, 12pm-8pm EST
Indie Authors Monthly-May 10, 12pm-8pm EST

[R.L.]

Thanks for posting Erica. I’ve found these takeovers to be a huge help in growing my sales and readership. I hope some of you guys at least give it a shot and remember you can give straight to kindle prizes. All you need is the mobi version of say a first in series and require that they provide a kindle email for delivery. You don’t have to give away gift cards as incentives. Just make your games and questions interesting.

[Carole]

Can't wait.

[Erica]

We still need more participants for the Facebook takeovers. These are a lot of fun and a great way to reach new readers. If you are considering joining us, but have questions, please feel free to ask. :)

[Dale]

Been thinking of it, but never did one before and so am not quite sure what it entails. Examples? Also, time might be an issue for me.

[Erica]

Sure. You will pick a 30 minute slot. Say you pick 1:30. Sign into Facebook and get on the Navigating Indieworld or IAM Facebook page at least 10-15 minutes before then to make sure you are logged in and ready to go. When it is 1:30, the takeover will be passed to you. From 1:30-2:00, you will have control over what happens on the page. Use that time to talk about your books and yourself. Most authors will do some form of a giveaway for the people that comment to encourage participation.

Sample posts may be:
1. Hi, my name is _____ and I am the author of _________. I am excited to be here today. To start it off, I would like to get to know you better. Comment with the most exciting place you have ever visited. Everyone who comments will be entered into a drawing for a kindle copy of my book __________.

2. I am currently in the process of releasing a new novel about _____. Something interesting about this book is __________. Please follow my Facebook page to learn more. Once you have followed me, comment "followed" on this post and you will be entered into a giveaway for ___________.

3. Outside of writing, I enjoy ___________.

4. Some form of a game post. You can find all types of ideas for games by searching social media games.

It is up to you how many posts you want to do and whether or not you want to do a giveaway with each one. It is also up to you how long you want your giveaways to be open for entries. They can end when your 30 minutes is up, or you can leave them open for another day or two so that people who join later can still have a chance to enter. Just be sure to state when they will close for entries.

Most authors will do a post every 5-10 minutes to give people a chance to respond. I find 3-4 posts are about right. I also pre-type them in a word document so I can simply copy and past. Including pictures with each post is also a good idea. They can be pictures of your books, you, or really anything you want that is related to your post.

I hope this helps. Please let me know if I can clarify anything further. :)

[Dale]

Thanks, Erica! One other question: are the Navigating Indieworld and Indie Authors Monthly takeovers separate events (so we can/should sign up for both) or are they the same thing?

Sorry if that's a silly question. I'm not at my best right now. Yesterday was a loooong day.

[Erica]

That is a good question, Dale. Yes, they are separate events. Navigating Indieworld is May 3 and IAM is May 10. We are asking everyone to just pick one for now. If there are still spots open after everyone has a chance to sign up, we will open it up for people who have already claimed a spot. The way it is looking, you will be able to sign up for both but just pick one for now. I will post here when you can sign up for the other.

[Dale]

Okay, I signed up for IAM at 1:00.

[Erica]

Thanks, Dale!

[Judy]

Erica wrote: "Sure. You will pick a 30 minute slot. Say you pick 1:30. Sign into Facebook and get on the Navigating Indieworld or IAM Facebook page at least 10-15 minutes before then to make sure you are logged ..."

thanks for all this info, Erica, which I' m going to copy for reference. Sorry that I keep coming back to the same question: is it possible to gift a kindle outside of the U.S. or does this gift have to be limited to US residents?

[R.L.]

You can send a mobi to their kindle email. I’ve done this for readers outside the US. I advise to only do it this way. Save your money because some people are known to refund your gifted books and keep the money. This way you weed out those people and make sure your hard work is going to people who actually care about it.

[Erica]

Like R.L. said, sending a mobi copy to their Kindle email address is the best way to make it international. If you plan to gift from Amazon.com, it will need to be US only. You can gift to other countries through Amazon, but you must make sure your book is available on that country's version of the Amazon website. You will then need to create an account on that website of Amazon and purchase it there, not on amazon.com. I have been able to pay with my US credit card on the European, Australian, and Canadian sites. You can convert the currency at checkout.

[D.J.]

I think the best thing for me to do is to test that out on mine. Until I actually see something work I worry that it won’t. If it’s there, I will worry about it!

[Judy]

R.L. wrote: "You can send a mobi to their kindle email. I’ve done this for readers outside the US. I advise to only do it this way. Save your money because some people are known to refund your gifted books and ..."

thank you, RL for this advice

[Judy]

Erica wrote: "Like R.L. said, sending a mobi copy to their Kindle email address is the best way to make it international. If you plan to gift from Amazon.com, it will need to be US only. You can gift to other co..."

thanks, Erica, I jotted this all down. I gifted the printed book to my brother-in-law on Amazon Spain

[D.J.]

I just emailed my kindle app the mobi of my latest and it turned up with the cover and everything. Gradually getting my head around things.

[Erica]

Thanks to everyone who has signed up so far. If you have already signed up for one takeover, you can now sign up for the other one too.

If you have not signed up for any takovers, we need more participants! If you still have questions, feel free to ask. :)

[Erica]

There are still spots left!

Can everyone, whether you are participating or not, please help up spread the word about these takeovers?

The takeover on May 3 (Navigating Indieworld) will take place on this page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/17603...

The May 10th takeover (Indie Authors Monthly) will take place on this page: https://www.facebook.com/IndieAuthors...

Please help us spread the word. Let people know to join our Navigating Indieworld Facebook group and like/follow the Indie Authors Monthly Facebook page for updates and to possibly win some epic prizes!

Thanks all!

[Kay]

This sounds awesome but I’m working all day on the 3rd then straight off to band practice afterwards. I don’t have a rota for the 10th yet but I’ll definitely sign up if I can!
Thank you :D

[Christine]

Shared!

[Dale]

I signed up for the Navigating takeover, too.

[Erica]

Things always seem to land on the same day. I hope you will be able to join us, Kay. :)

[Erica]

Thanks for sharing, Christine!

[Erica]

Great, Dale!

[D.J.]

I put the details in my newsletter that went 80% unopened lol.

[Erica]

Lol thanks, D.J.!

[Erica]

There are only 3 spots left for the Navigating Indieworld takeover on the 3rd!

I have also added Facebook events to the Indie Authors Monthly page and the general Navigating Indieworld page. There are 2 navigating Indieworld pages, one is a general page, one is a group--the takeover will be on the group page but I am not able to create an event on the group page. There is a link for the group as well as instructions in the event description. Please ask questions about that if you are lost. Not sure if I explained that well. Event shares would be greatly appreciated. :)

[Erica]

Tomorrow is the big day! Please help us get the word out about the Navigating Indieworld author takeovers. The event will take place on the group page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/17603.... People need to join the group and then return tomorrow starting at noon (eastern time).

This is a good opportunity to learn more about how author takeovers work as well. Please help us spread the word then join us throughout the day tomorrow. There will be a new author every 30 minutes.

[Christine]

Posted on Twitter and Facebook.

I'll try to stop in during the day - not only for the fun, but also to learn how it works.

[D.J.]

I’m as nervous as anything

1. My posts will be dull or
2. My posts will be the same as someone/everyone else’s posts
3. Makes 1 and 2 redundant because no-one will be there to read them.

[Erica]

I have done lots of these and I still get nervous too. Lol. Knowing you, #1 isnt even possible. #2 isn't a biggie since even similar posts are different when they concern different books. #3 is possible if we hit a bad day for people, but it will still be good practice. You will do great. ;)

[D.J.]

I don't know. I'm still not sure. I'm going to schedule the posts on my phone for the half hour after 6.30pm BST and hope I've got the correct time slot. Then I'm going to hide until it happens and wait for the inevitable internet outage that's bound to happen in the house.

[D.J.]

At the moment the Navigating Indieworld group is a closed one. It says only members will see the posts. Will that change later on today for the event?

[Erica]

That time slot looks correct to me too. :) The group will remain closed. People need to join the group to see the posts. I am checking frequently to accept join requests so they should be able to get in quickly.

[D.J.]

Okey dokey. I think I'll go ahead and schedule my nonsense, I mean posts.

[Erica]

Lol. Let me know if you have any problems with scheduling.

[D.J.]

I’ve scheduled one but now I’m paranoid because I can’t see it scheduled anywhere. I usually can when it’s my own page or group.

[Justin]

I just came across this and it sounds interesting. I would like to see how it goes for others so I have a better idea and know what to expect in the event you do this again.

[D.J.]

Come and watch me make an ar$e of myself. Standard procedure!

[Erica]

haha! You crack me up, D.J.

Sounds like a plan, Justin. If you are interested after today, we still have spots open for the Indie Authors Monthly takeover on the 10th. The links are in my original post on this thread. :) Today's takeover is at this link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/17603...

You will need to join the group if you haven't already.

[D.J.]

Erica, you know every time you post that link, I click on it just to make sure I've got the correct one... click number 72

[Erica]

I think my left click button on my computer is going to break with all the double checking of links I have been doing today!

[D.J.]

Yep

[Erica]

and...here...we...go

[Erica]

Thanks again to everyone who participated in the Navigating Indieworld takeover. We had great responses from the people who attended.

We need 6 more authors for the Indie Authors Monthly takeover that will take place on the 10th. You can sign up here: https://www.facebook.com/IndieAuthors...

[Erica]

The IAM takeovers are tomorrow! Thank you to everyone who has volunteered to participate and to everyone who has been helping spread the word. We also have an event page that we made for easier sharing on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/events/36035...

[Kay]

Unfortunately I’m not around again, but I’ve shared the event and hope you guys have a great time!

[Erica]

Thanks, Kay! We are planning to do more in the future. Hopefully you will be able to make one. :)

[Carole]

Hey guys!

Please share this on all of your social media! It's for the Indie Authors Monthly Facebook Takeover happening tomorrow!

I have sent it on my mailing lists to over 6,000 people! Here's hopin' we sell a few books!

https://mailchi.mp/12efe56e91a9/indie...