I'm technically challenged. When CD players first came out, I waited before I bought one. And waited, and waited, and waited. Finally, one of my good friends bought me two CDs for my birthday, which forced me to buy a player. I'm slow like that.
Fast forward several years. I have a personal Facebook page, but was intimidated about creating an author page. What I needed was Author Pages for Dummies. But I took the plunge and lived to tell about it.
If you'd like to connect and chat on Facebook, check out my new author page here!
If you haven't created an author page yet, I'll share what I learned. And if you already have an author page, feel free to correct me or chime in with your own tips for making a better page.
Author Pages for Dummies, Step #1--Sign Up
If you have a personal page, sign out. Then log on to Facebook.com. At the bottom of the screen, beneath the green "sign up" bar, you'll see "create a page for celebrity, brand or business."
It gives you the following options:
- Local Business or Place
- Company, Organization or Institution
- Brand or Product
- Artist, Band or Public Figure
- Entertainment
- Cause or Community
I chose Artist, Band or Public Figure. Once you click on that tab, you'll need to "choose a category." I chose "writer."
Then you'll choose a name. I chose "Author Julie Musil" to differentiate from my personal account name.
Agree to the terms, then click "get started." Type in all the password stuff, then click on "sign up now."
Congratulations, you have a page!
Author Pages for Dummies, Step #2--Customize
- Add your author photo. I used my Twitter photo, which is a couple years old, but it's recognizable. (I really need to learn how to air brush) Anyhoo...
- Add a banner. Some talented people, like Stina Lindenblatt, create their own banners. Like I said, I'm techie challenged, so for now I used a stock photo from MorgueFile. Lots of great images to choose from, and they're free of charge and free of hassle.
- Upload content. I didn't want to invite people to an empty page, so I uploaded recent blog posts and accompanying images. Trial and error here, too--I learned to uncheck thumbnail if I didn't like the way it looked. I also learned to be sure my personal page was signed off, or it looked like my personal page posted to the author page. Ironically, creating an author page also encouraged me to learn more about Pinterest. I'm still new to this, but one of my fave authors, Jody Hedlund, regularly pins great stuff on her author page.
Author Pages for Dummies, Step #3--Spread the Word
I didn't want anyone to feel pressured about liking my author page. On my personal page, I let my friends and family know I'd created a page, and added the link. Many people ask how things are going with my writing life, and this way they can see on a regular basis.
Next I sent out a couple of tweets with the link.
I also added a Facebook badge to the sidebar on my blog. Facebook offers them here. I don't love what I have up now, so I'll play with it a little until I'm satisfied.
So that's the down and dirty on creating an author page on Facebook. If you've already done this, are there any additional tips you can add? Do you ever connect with authors on Facebook?