I finally went over to the dark side — I joined facebook as an author. And I have to admit it’s worth the extra half hour per day! During an average week, I spend that time posting something personal to my page (often a book review), sharing something from a writing buddy, and commenting on a few posts. Then, during a launch week, I reap the rewards with lots of organic eyes on my launch posts.

I stole the format of my launch post from several much more savvy authors and thought I’d pass it along here in case you’re having trouble getting attention for your posts. Here are my tips:

• Start with an awesome graphic. If you’re doing a big sale like the 99 cent sale I ran on my bundle in August, it’s worth making a different graphic for each day of the week to see which one gets the most likes and shares. Optimal size is 1200X628 pixels
• Prime the pump with a header that asks for likes and shares while also cutting to the chase. Why should people care? Because it’s new? Because it’s cheap? Because it has a thousand 5-star reviews?
• Next, use one short paragraph to sell your book. The tagline from your blurb is a good inclusion here along with perhaps a review or a paraphrased review. Be sure to keep this short enough so your link will be visible without requiring people to click “More”.
• End with your link(s).
• Finally, boost the post (assuming you made the post on a page rather than on a personal profile). It’s worth spending a dollar a day to get a little extra buzz going during launch…although I have to admit that the post above has reached more people organically due to the friendly shares of authors and readers than it has through the paid boost.

As I said, I’m new to facebook, so I’ll bet those of you who are more experienced have other tips to add. What do you do to ensure your new-release facebook posts get shown to your fans rather than hidden in the facebook sea?

(P.S. Yes, I have a new release! I hope you’ll check it out. 🙂 )