Building Your Author Platform with a Facebook Page

If you’re looking for a literary agent or want to get published, you should have a Facebook page for either yourself or your proposed book. This is an essential part of building your author platform. It’s like when you’re trying to sell a product you have to establish the brand. Which soda would you buy, a Dr. Pepper or a Mr. Teddy? You’d go for the more familiar brand. In the same way, literary agents and publishers look for an author people already know, like and trust.

In “Building Your Author Platform” book marketing coach Dana Lynn Smith said, “To sell books in today’s marketplace, you need to be connected.” One of the connections she recommends is online communities such as Facebook, which is a popular choice. Facebook is now used by one in every 13 people on earth, with over 250 million of them logging in every day.

Not only will a Facebook page give you access to all sorts of possible connections, it will give search engines like Google one more way of finding you and your book. Another benefit, each week you’ll get an automatic email giving you important stats, like how many people “Like” your page and how many comments were made. Comments are a great way for your connections to interact with you and each other, and connecting and interacting is what Facebook is all about.

Of course nobody can comment if there’s nothings to comment on. Remember content is king! Start gathering photos, videos, and web pages your fans will want to see and comment on. You’ll be using these for your website and your blog, and other parts of your author platform, as well. Search for some of your favorite authors on Facebook and see what they do on their pages to get some ideas. Once you have some content ready to post, you’re ready to create your Facebook page.

More than one person I’ve helped with marketing has said, “But I don’t know how to create a Facebook page.” So for those of you who don’t think you can do it yourself, I’ve made a nice little step-by-step tutorial to show you how easy it really is. Click through this tutorial and you’ll say, “Oh, I can do that.” Then go to it.

The more your readers see you networking with others on your new Facebook page, they will get to know you better, and an established identity as an author is an important step toward getting a literary agent or getting published.