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Sunday, 21 August 2011

To Facebook or Not to Facebook?: That is the Question.

Lani has been in my ear for a while about the wonders Facebook can do for a writer, but I have to admit, I've been more than a little reluctant. I have no doubts that Facebook is a wonderful platform to launch a writing career. My issue is my own ability to keep myself from unleashing my writing frustrations on my poor followers who will no doubt bear the brunt of my rejection rants.
       On my blog, I can carefully construct a calm sentence and I have to go through many obstacles in order to publish a post. Besides that, a smart alec remark on a blog is a waste of time. I fear the relative ease at which I could drop many such one liners on Facebook.
       Then there is the time wasting factor. Before the fun times that is my book blog, I used to stalk other Facebookers from my personal Facebook page. With my obsessive personality, I will no doubt turn into a crazy FB writer page stalker as well. This leads very little time for me to actually write.
       Do you guys have FB pages associated with your blogs? How do you cope with all the competing stimuli?

PS. Don't even get me started on Goodreads!

*Irrelevant note: Finished all my writing goals for this weekend. Woohoo. 
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9 comments:

  1. Anonymous22 August 2011 at 00:38

    I think having a FB page is a great idea for a writer or blogger - just remember to treat it as business, and save the ranting for your personal FB account. Same for Twitter.

    My unscientific observation is that a majority of people frequent either FB *or* Twitter. A smaller percentage use both. If you're looking to develop a platform, it makes sense to have a presence in multiple areas so that people can connect with you from where they are comfortable. (One interesting thing I've noticed is that the majority of GFC users are bloggers; virtually all of my non-blogging followers use FB, a few use Twitter, and only a handful use the RSS feed. So if you want to target casual, non-blogging followers, FB is a great resource.)

    (Oh, and YAY for accomplishing all writing goals this weekend! Go you!)

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  2. Jessica L. Tate22 August 2011 at 01:32

    I concur with BJ! Treat it like a business, keep the message positive. And the idea of using both FB and Twitter is a great idea. I'd do it if I had more free time. I have just a FB page for my blog, mostly all I do is post links to latest posts. Maybe once I actually publish a book, I'll create an author page for FB, Twitter, and Blogger. Until then, I'm content with my FB page.

    Here's the link to it so you can check it out: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Thoughts-At-One-In-The-Morning-a-book-blog/170969926292069

    I'm glad to hear this weekend was a success!

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  3. Alana22 August 2011 at 02:17

    I dont even have a link to my blog on my FB. I feel like my blog is my little not so private hiding place, i leave FB for picture of my friends and family, and the blog for all the fun stuff!

    However, I am not a writer and I think the more you get out there, the more successful youll be.

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  4. Ashley @ Bookaholics Anonymous22 August 2011 at 06:11

    I have my facebook and twitter linked somewhat to blog. I rarely use facebook though for my blog. Most the time I don't even post status on there unless I'm extremely bored. Facebook for me is place where I'm able to see all my friends, and family and post my many pictures I take. Also it helps me stay up with alot of the authors and publishers that I have as friends on there, or "like" on there. I would say do whatever you think is best for you. It doesn't have to be a distraction from other stuff.

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  5. Lan22 August 2011 at 08:32

    BJ: Great advice. I will try to keep the negative ranting to a minimum!! So difficult when I am in the middle of the query process.

    Jess: I will check out your FB page when I get home from work and create my "author" (I use that term loosely) page.

    Alana: I agree. I will leave my personal FB page for friends and family who have no interest in my writing career!

    Ash: I think my FB page is clogged with a lot of authors and publishers that I "like" as well and it's distracting. I will create my author page tonight. I just hope I don't have to change it IF (big IF) I get published.

    Thanks for all the help guys. Now i just need to work out how to link the FB page to this blog!

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  6. Ashley @ Bookaholics Anonymous22 August 2011 at 09:47

    Lan- I think if you go to networkedblogs.com you should be able to link them.

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  7. Lan22 August 2011 at 10:00

    Thanks Ash. Will check it out when I'm home from work!

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  8. Jenny22 August 2011 at 12:18

    I haven't joined FB I just don't think I'd ever bother using it. Way to go meeting those writing goals!

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  9. Unknown23 August 2011 at 09:49

    I think if you're a writer, Facebook is a great place to promote yourself!

    I don't have a Facebook page for my blog though. I thought about it before, but I'm just not really interested in maintaining a FB page for my blog. That, and I never join anybody else's blog FB pages.

    ReplyDelete

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