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Pages, or Fan Pages as some people call them, are one of the best ways to promote your book or cause on Facebook. They are often known as Public Timelines. Make sure you understand how they work for authors. Fan pages are much more flexible than groups and won’t dilute your profile with strangers. Here is how to create a page of your own.

In my experience, authors who “friend” people they don’t know soon hate Facebook.

My recommendation is to use Facebook to connect to friends and use pages to connect with strangers. You need to ask yourself if you want friends or fans on Facebook.

4 Reasons Facebook Pages are Better Than Facebook Groups

  1. Send messages to fans based on location. Speaking in Detroit? Send a message inviting your Detroit fans to come.
  2. Update a status. With each update Facebook puts more and more emphasis on status updates. Groups can’t have a status. Pages can.
  3. Have a username. You can’t get Facebook.com/BookName with a group but you can with a page. For instance Facebook.com/AuthorTechTips goes to our Facebook page. It’s easy to share and easy to use.
  4. Scale.  Pages handle lots of people better than groups. If you plan on having 100,000 fans you will want a page for sure.

Tweetables

  • I just learned how to set up my own Facebook page. Thanks, @AuthorMedia. – Click to tweet.
  • So that’s how you set up a Facebook page! – Click to tweet.
  • Friends don’t let friends recommend random Facebook pages to friends. – Click to tweet.

Step #1 Register the Page

To register the page visit http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php and pick a category and a name for your group. It isn’t easy to change the name of the page, so choose carefully. You will also want to make sure that you have selected the appropriate category.

Step #2 Customize the Page

Once you have your page up you need to add a cover photo, description, and personality. Make sure the images are the correct dimension and of professional quality.

The description or “about page” is very important. Make sure it is short and you include a link back to your author website. Facebook should not be your main strategy. It should point people back to your main website.

Your page needs personality. Don’t let it become just another bland page on the internet. On the Author Media Facebook page, we are always asking questions, suggesting articles, or putting up encouraging quotes.

Step #3 Suggest the Page to Friends

Once you get your page ready to go click the “suggest to friends” link underneath your page’s image.

Suggest-To-Friends

Generally, you only want to suggest your page to friends you think would get some benefit from the page. Why would someone join your Facebook group? What benefit is there to them? The benefits of joining the Author Media page is that you get notified of events in your area and get updates when new tips come out.

What do you think?

  • Do you dislike pages because they are sometimes called “Fan Pages?”
  • Did these tips work for you?
  • Do you have any questions or need any help?

If this was helpful to you would you consider suggesting the Author Media page to your friends?

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