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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2014 11:43:24 GMT -5
As someone pointed out on KB a couple of weeks ago, it is possible to create a Facebook profile under your pen name, as opposed to a page. This would mean your pen name would be treated like a person, not a business or organization. You wouldn't need likes, you would just need your fans to friend you. Of course, this also means you wouldn't have the metrics you get with a page and no ability to monitor your reach. But it would circumvent some of the problems that have been noted so far.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2014 11:45:12 GMT -5
thats a good idea Lee. I never thought of that.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2014 11:56:46 GMT -5
The trick is to create your new account from a different IP address than the one where you created your "real" account. I did it a couple of weeks ago for my pen name, although I haven't actually starting using it yet. But it was no trouble to do it at all.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2014 12:16:00 GMT -5
I have come to the conclusion that 98 percent of marketing is a complete waste of time though. I'm not sure anyone actually pays any attention apart from other authors. The readers probably just go to amazon and pick books at random. I mean think about it logically, how many films or TV programs do you watch? and of those how many of the actors, directors, screenwriters to you bother to follow on twitter, like on Facebook and look at their websites.
And then of those you do follow how much attention do you actually pay to anything they say. I was following Cheryl Cole but most of her tweets were nonsense. So honestly speaking, I don't think it does a great deal in many genres to move the needle. It probably works for the romance writers because their fans seem to be a little - i'm not even going there but just read the reviews on them versus a thriller review.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2014 13:07:25 GMT -5
I agree, genre probably plays a large role in how well social media works for you. A lot of readers will just want to know when the next book is coming out, and some will want more contact with the author; how much more is probably a function of the author's ability to engage readers on a personal level and the genre in which he or she writes.
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Post by Becca Mills on Apr 19, 2014 13:38:11 GMT -5
As someone pointed out on KB a couple of weeks ago, it is possible to create a Facebook profile under your pen name, as opposed to a page. This would mean your pen name would be treated like a person, not a business or organization. You wouldn't need likes, you would just need your fans to friend you. Of course, this also means you wouldn't have the metrics you get with a page and no ability to monitor your reach. But it would circumvent some of the problems that have been noted so far. I looked into the page vs. profile thing a while back. There are two possible problems with using a profile. First, it's against Fb's rules to use a profile for a business. So far they haven't cracked down on the practice, but if LL's article is right, and they're about to start squeezing every penny out of us, axing business profiles might be part of the picture. If they do tighten up on enforcement, hopefully they'll give profile-users a chance to migrate to a page, but there's always a chance they won't -- that you'll just wake up one morning to an email saying your profile broke the TOS and has been deleted. Blech. Second, there's a limit on the number of friends you can have. It might be 5K? It isn't huge. If your career really takes off, it won't be nearly enough. Pages accept unlimited likes. Hopefully this is all up to date. I created my page more than a year ago, and that's when I gathered this info. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2014 15:05:38 GMT -5
As someone pointed out on KB a couple of weeks ago, it is possible to create a Facebook profile under your pen name, as opposed to a page. This would mean your pen name would be treated like a person, not a business or organization. You wouldn't need likes, you would just need your fans to friend you. Of course, this also means you wouldn't have the metrics you get with a page and no ability to monitor your reach. But it would circumvent some of the problems that have been noted so far. I looked into the page vs. profile thing a while back. There are two possible problems with using a profile. First, it's against Fb's rules to use a profile for a business. So far they haven't cracked down on the practice, but if LL's article is right, and they're about to start squeezing every penny out of us, axing business profiles might be part of the picture. If they do tighten up on enforcement, hopefully they'll give profile-users a chance to migrate to a page, but there's always a chance they won't -- that you'll just wake up one morning to an email saying your profile broke the TOS and has been deleted. Blech. Second, there's a limit on the number of friends you can have. It might be 5K? It isn't huge. If your career really takes off, it won't be nearly enough. Pages accept unlimited likes. Hopefully this is all up to date. I created my page more than a year ago, and that's when I gathered this info. All of what you say is true. This is at best a temporary workaround that has an unknown shelf life. I really think that we should all start cultivating fluency with Google+, regardless of how anyone feels about it right now, because I suspect that's going to be at least the first port in the coming storm as FB cuts off its nose to spite its greedy face. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2014 15:17:19 GMT -5
They just delete them with no warning. The 2 years I worked for someone as opposed to self-employment, his dog had an account. So, I made an account for each of my parrots. About six months later, Melanie's was gone. I got a notice saying "It has come to our attention that Melanie Rowland is not a real person because of the name." Hmmm. Okay. My other parrot? Oh, he got to keep his. I guess Kazoo Wee-wee Rowland is a more human sounding name than Melanie Rowland.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2014 15:21:33 GMT -5
They just delete them with no warning. The 2 years I worked for someone as opposed to self-employment, his dog had an account. So, I made an account for each of my parrots. About six months later, Melanie's was gone. I got a notice saying "It has come to our attention that Melanie Rowland is not a real person because of the name." Hmmm. Okay. My other parrot? Oh, he got to keep his. I guess Kazoo Wee-wee Rowland is a more human sounding name than Melanie Rowland. Sounds like someone reported the account, although it's odd they wouldn't report both of them. |
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Post by Rinelle Grey on Apr 19, 2014 22:32:26 GMT -5
I have created a profile for my author name as well (from the same computer, doesn't seem to have been a problem. Hubs and I both have personal profiles from the same computer too, so I can't see why that would be a problem. Different email address obviously though). I use it mostly to join author groups and stuff, since you can't join groups with a page. I mostly only have other authors friend me, but then, I haven't promoted it really either. I am prepared for it to disappear at any point though.  I have a google account, but to be honest, I don't see that it's useful at all. It's clunky, hard to understand, and not well laid out. I have it set up to post from my blog etc automatically, and otherwise, I mostly ignore it. The trouble is, everyone's using facebook. It does me no good to add people to google plus if they never check it. |
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Post by Becca Mills on Apr 19, 2014 22:56:16 GMT -5
They just delete them with no warning. The 2 years I worked for someone as opposed to self-employment, his dog had an account. So, I made an account for each of my parrots. About six months later, Melanie's was gone. I got a notice saying "It has come to our attention that Melanie Rowland is not a real person because of the name." Hmmm. Okay. My other parrot? Oh, he got to keep his. I guess Kazoo Wee-wee Rowland is a more human sounding name than Melanie Rowland. Sounds like someone reported the account, although it's odd they wouldn't report both of them. Maybe Melanie participated in a craft thread.  |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2014 22:59:36 GMT -5
Sounds like someone reported the account, although it's odd they wouldn't report both of them. Maybe Melanie participated in a craft thread. "Burn the witch! Burn the witch!" |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2014 23:03:24 GMT -5
I have a google account, but to be honest, I don't see that it's useful at all. It's clunky, hard to understand, and not well laid out. I have it set up to post from my blog etc automatically, and otherwise, I mostly ignore it. Google+ is useful to me because of the hashtags I include with every post. That helps with search engine placement. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2014 12:45:38 GMT -5
One of the best things to do is actually have a wordpress or blogger hosted site and not on your own URL - being tied into the network generates more reblogs, shares etc. Tumblr was very good for getting stuff viral - especially cover art. If you have a WP site on your own URL, you can install the plugin Jetpack (from the makers of WP). One of its many functions is hooking in onto the WP-network. Another thing. Maybe it gets overlooked because it is one of the oldest social networks, but LiveJournal is still going strong. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2014 12:52:14 GMT -5
One of the best things to do is actually have a wordpress or blogger hosted site and not on your own URL - being tied into the network generates more reblogs, shares etc. Tumblr was very good for getting stuff viral - especially cover art. If you have a WP site on your own URL, you can install the plugin Jetpack (from the makers of WP). One of its many functions is hooking in onto the WP-network. Another thing. Maybe it gets overlooked because it is one of the oldest social networks, but LiveJournal is still going strong. Livejournal! Ah, a blast from my sordid past. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2014 13:06:30 GMT -5
If you have a WP site on your own URL, you can install the plugin Jetpack (from the makers of WP). One of its many functions is hooking in onto the WP-network. Another thing. Maybe it gets overlooked because it is one of the oldest social networks, but LiveJournal is still going strong. Livejournal! Ah, a blast from my sordid past. And don't underestimate 4chan either. |
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