Several writer friends have asked what the benefit is of having a Facebook “Like” or Fan page.
Some writers have already established friendships and reader audiences in the hundreds, even thousands, under their regular profile pages, and don’t see a need for a separate page. This seems to work well for author friends who 1. don’t write under a pen name, or 2. write more general mainstream and/or non-erotic works.
Before my Like page was created, a regular page worked just peachy for me–until I started getting friend requests from kids, nieces, nephews…
It turned into a pain to manually type in names and block every under-ager from seeing a post announcing a new erotic book release under my pen name. And, not all of my friends and family were comfortable with what I write, either. So on my personal page, I’d have customize and type in about 20 names of people who might take offense at seeing my author updates.
Enter my Like page on Facebook. As I started tinkering around with it, I appreciated the differences between a Like page and a regular profile page. Suggesting the page to friends was also as easy as clicking a button.
You can also restrict certain countries, and age groups under 21, from viewing/finding your Like page. There’s also a Likes graph of sorts that I don’t pay attention to because I get a weekly summary e-mailed to me that breaks things down nicely.
Now, I’ve had writers tell me that the thought of starting up a Like/Fan page makes them feel awkward, even a bit self-serving or pretentious. The biggest reason for me to have one is that it makes it easy to focus on the right audience for my erotic romance fiction. And, I can post R-rated excerpts, photos and videos without someone getting all huffy about its content.
“Like” them or not, these pages can be a great tool to help you promote, interact and attract potential readers.