I have been writing about book marketing in a regular basis, many people have not only liked it but also requested for more detailed writing on particular subject of book marketing and I have decided to write about FB presence on today’s take.

Before anything else, let me remind you all once more again. I never write as an expert, I only write them as my own experiences and self discretion is highly recommended. Please take it only as guidance and make your own final decision.

If I were to be honest, there was a time when I even contemplated of stop using FB simply because of the amount of vulgarity, inappropriateness and unprofessionalism in it. But the platform it provides for new writers like me was simply too great to ignore. After all, it has more than a billion people and e.g. 1 in 7 of total world’s population.

Here are few practices that I use to improve my FB page as an author and you can do the same.

1. Profile photos – As the saying goes, first impression is the last impression. It is your profile photos that people see first and make decision based on that first look. It gives us just a few seconds to impress our potential readers. Therefore, you should always pay more attention on profile photos and present it at the best possible way. You should also put more details about your books on the profile and make it look more professional.
2. Personal and Professional page – I use two separate accounts for my personal and professional needs. I post both family and book related activities on my personal account but only about books on my professional page. I never post any of my personal and other irrelevant activities on my professional account.
3. Posting – Experts say timing is very important while posting on social media but we shouldn’t worry much about that and I would rather pay more attention on things on which we have more control on such as content, relevancy and conformity of our posting to the main theme of our work. I always try to stay out of controversial subjects such as politic, ideology, race and religion. They polarize our society and make you take side. Our job is to find more readers.
4. Find relevant groups - FB is full of many such groups that connect people with similar interests and you can learn a lot by joining such groups. People are really happy and willing whenever there is an opportunity of showing off. If you can post a relevant and interesting question, you will have dozens of answers, sometime even hundreds, in no time, and some of the advices are really good. All you have to do is go through the threads of a particular post that interests you and pick up nuggets. Joining such groups won’t generate sales but provide necessary exposure as well as help maximize your chance of reaching out potential readers. But don’t overdo yourself by joining all the groups you found, select the ones that you found useful and have time to manage them as well. I have around 25 groups.
5. It is for networking – Social media is for networking, finding the right people and making real connection. But we seem to forget that most of the time while using social media. Just like in the real world, the virtual world also is full of colorful people, and it has both good and bad ones as well. We just have to tread cautiously, winnow the grain off the chaffs and learn to appreciate them. I have found some really nice and appreciative people through networking and their help and support have been precious.
6. Support fellow writers – It is quite natural for some writers to see fellow writers as their competitor and they mostly tend to behave defensively. I have seen some pretty scathing, unfriendly and sometime even hostile bunches and sometimes they were quite ornery. But it is outright wrong. People behave that way only when they are victim of their own low self-esteem, insecurity and jealousy. As far as I am concerned, my competitor is not my fellow authors but my own self and I persistently challenge myself for doing better than I did last time. I believe in supporting each other, amity is a lot better than enmity, and it is the very reason why I am writing this piece at the first place.
7. It is two way traffics – Despite people’s much trumpeted new order of this world, where the world has allegedly become more selfish and self-centered, I still believe in the principle of giving and taking and FB is no exception. The world including the virtual one is still two way traffic and we should give first if we want to get something in return. This practice of giving first and asking later has indeed worked very well for me. I always give first before asking for anything, and mostly succeeded. Of course, there were few exceptions when I failed but as the saying goes ‘you are either a blessing or a lesson’ and if I see things from that perspective, I never lose again.
8. Set an example – Preaching is always the easy part, the hardest part is to walk the talk and be able to set an example. As a writer of self conscience and righteousness, I have to not only write about our socials issues but also try to live a clean, disciplined and neutral life of my own. I am trying my best, hopefully people will start taking notice about it soon and you should also do the same. Talk is cheap and it is your reaction that makes the difference.
9. Leave your excess baggage at home – I have seen writers ranting, bickering and indulging on many activities as gadflies that should have been kept private at the first place. You might say everybody does that on FB, why not me? But for God’s sake, you are writer and you should try to, if not, pretend if necessary to set an example of high standard and leave your excess baggage back at home.
10. Be grateful – As the saying goes nice guy always come last but it is not always true. Nicety can take us a long way – I believe on it and I always say thank you. If someone has liked my work and made extra effort to write a comment, of course, I am grateful and I want to say thank you. That’s the reason why I always respond on people’s comment and say thank you and express my gratitude. Needless to say, people will not always have only good comments but also bad ones as well and the best way to handle negative comments is to wait until you have calmed down. If the negative comment is logical, try to explain with logic as well. But if the comment is rude and abusive, just ignore it.
11. Don’t shy away – Modesty is the virtue that I always practice, but in the proud world of winner taking all, sometimes it is okay to be loud and ostensive. Especially when you have achieved something good and you are proud of it, it is okay to be showing off and there is no other place than social media like FB where you can display it at the utmost way. Therefore, whenever you have something good going on, events such as book signing, your book accepted by library or university, your piece is accepted by newspaper, signed a contract with a publisher, you were facilitated by your community, revealing the cover of your new book, and so on, you shouldn’t shy away from it and let the whole world know about it. You can write the best book of the world but if the world doesn’t know about it, it is useless and this is when you have to shout out from the roof.
12. If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all – The virtual world is full of tricks, chicanery and gaffes. If not careful, it can be very slippery as well. Therefore, my code of conducting on social media including FB is ‘If I have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all’ and it serves me really well. If we cannot be friends, fine but I don’t want you to be my enemy. You can try the same principle as mine if you like and trust me! It can save you from a lot of unnecessary hassles.

Hope this is helpful, all the best and happy writing!

TIM I GURUNG/AUTHOR AT ISSLCARE – http://www.timigurung.com