Promo Rules on FB - How to Make Me Skip Your Post

Maybe it's just me, but when I see a post about books on Facebook, there are a few NO-NO's that will turn me away, before I even see what the book is called, who its by or what it's about.

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1 - these fancy schmansy posts with hearts and flowers for about four lines, e.g.

*´¨)

¸.•´¸.•*´¨) ¸.•*¨)

(¸.•´ (¸.•`  

or this ⭐.•°°•.✫🎶 ღ˚ •。* 🎶.•°˚ ˚

And, no, I'm not joking. I've seen these exact things. To me, it's an eyesore and I skip past them, because it makes my head spin.

2 - OMG! OMG! Like, I just read the most awesome book!

No, you didn't. You were probably gifted the book, asked to post about it or whatever. And, if not, then I'm assuming you were. Why? Because people don't start every single post with OMG! ten million times. And yes, I've seen this too. There's one book blog I used to follow that has this exact problem for EVERY post, about a book review. Now I just skip reading it.

3 - *crickets* Literally, no words.

A sales poster, with no words, no "hey, I thought I'd just drop this by" or "this is my latest book, I'd love for you to check it out" etc. Nothing. Not a word. The same goes for teasers. Unless it's Teaser Tuesday, then I like to see text along with my posters, to get an idea of where I can buy the book, who the author is and what it's about.

4 - When I see one book promo'd in 15 groups a day, often more than 3 times in each group, by a mass-market street team that don't communicate with each other. If you have a street team, make sure you delegate the groups they can post to and don't let them spam groups with similar/same posts about your book. It makes you look like a spammer, even though you're probably not.

And, again, I've seen this happen. Once, it was 5 posts by 5 different people, who all had the same poster, text and were very clearly on the Author's street team. Now, like I said, it may not be the author's fault, but if you want to have a successful street team, pay attention to what they're posting and - if you see a problem - as them to remove the duplicate posts. Not only is it fair to the other authors who are being hidden by posts for your books, but it's also fair to the admins who HATE repeat posts like that with a passion. Not doing anything about it, when you know it's a problem, is a sure fire way of being banned from that group or reported for spam.

5 - DO NOT beg and plead for people to buy your book to get it into the #1 spot. Especially DO NOT say that you deserve it. DO NOT let your street team use this pleading instead, insisting that you "worked hard for it" or "deserve it". Guess what? So do a lot of other people.

Fun fact - when my last book came out, A Royal Craving, I was so close to getting a #1 spot in Amazon DE and Amazon CA, until another author's street team flooded FB with this kind of desperate post - "They really deserve that #1 spot". And, guess what? They got it. At my expense. Now, I'm not one to blame the author, but it was clear they knew about it (and no, I'm not naming names), and they did nothing. In fact, they shared the posts, creating even more of a problem.

My book was my first to ever really get me recognised in the M/M community, to get my work talked about between readers and it was a huge thing for me, to get so close to a #1 spot with it. This other author is huge and has has that little orange flag a dozen times. I had it once, for 3 minutes, a long time ago. It had taken me 4 days to get my book properly out there and noticed, so close to that #1 spot. It took this author 1 day of blast posting to get it.

I'm not the only person who had a book out at that time, so this isn't just about me. It's about being fair to the other authors that you maybe don't know exist. It's also being fair to your readers, some of who will instantly shut off when they see a hundred and one posts about the same book. So be smart and be fair. You're not the only author out there.

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Personally, I can tolerate 1, 2 and 3, by simply ignoring them. But 4 and 5 made me sad, disappointed and angry. 4 and 5 are the signs of an author who doesn't care about their readers or their fellow writers. This is a tough business as it is, but if you want to get noticed, don't step on those that might have helped you get to the top and certainly don't expect them to help you, after stepping on them.

I said it before, sometimes the street teams get over eager. This is why I don't have one, because you can't control them like you can control your own promotions. If I'm the only one promoting my books, I know where, when and how I'm representing myself. I also know that I'm not spamming anyone or using emotional blackmail to get my books out there.

I want to do this the right way. To let the readers decide who deserves the limelight and who they'll be recommending to their friends. This author and street team that flooded FB with a desperate bid for #1 got what they wanted. They also had 3 members and the author being reported by group admins for spam. The author was blocked from promoting their own work for a week, which - sadly - only wound their street team into a whirlwind of outrage and anger, sharing the book in even more places, with less care for other people.

But if you spam groups, readers and fill people's timelines on FB with your own work, so that nothing else is seen, expect to pay the consequences. Expect readers to get fed up of seeing your book cover everywhere and having your teasers thrown in their faces.

Be smart and be fair. I can't say it enough. When you're promoting your book, remember that there are a million other people out there, working as hard as you are, as deserving as you are, all fighting for the right to be seen. Sure, they're competition, but this business is hard enough without us turning on each other.

Stand together.

Support each other.

Share other author's, when you can.

Recommend great books you've read.

Be sparing with your promo's.

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They say it takes 8 times for someone to remember something. So 8 mentions of your book will probably get your stuck in someone's head. That doesn't mean it all has to be done in one place, on one day. Spread it out, over a week or a fortnight, share in 1-2 groups at a time. Or, better yet, offer up free copies to eager readers and let THEM be the ones to show off your work.

Whatever you decide to do, think before you act. Ask for help. Help others. Do whatever you think is right.

Just remember that we're all in this together.

Author Swag Ideas

As an author, one of the most important things you need to plan and budget for are prizes. Generally, it all depends on how you operate, but the most key events to have swag prepared for are: signings, book events, release day, random prize giveaways and other milestones that you want to celebrate with your fans.

As a newbie author, you probably won't do much of this until you really know what you're doing and how to get it done without blowing the bank. But, here are some easy, quick things you get buy that are personalised to your book/author brand, that you can get in the UK. I won't be covering US sites, because - honestly - I've never used them and it would be pointless. I won't talk about something I know nothing about. So, this post is exclusively about UK sites, because they're really hard to find.

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Ordinary Swag

Forget about bookmarks, because unless you buy rackcards instead, you're unlikely to find any UK sites, with decent postage, that won't charge you an arm and a leg for bookmarks. Your best bet is to print your own (2x6, 2x7 or 2x8" are good sizes) or buy some.

Amazon do great bookmark options. You can get these die cut bookmarks, 10 in a pack, for just £2.17, which is a total steal. Then it's just an extra £2.39 (plus £0.45 postage) for a pack of 10 tassels, if you want them, and £6.48 for protective sleeves, if you choose to go that way (only 6 in a pack, but still great value). Bargain!

If you do want to go the route of buying them, you can go to Moo.com and buy a bunch of business cards that can act as bookmarks (you even get nice rounded edges on some designs) or you can head over to Zazzle.com to personalise a bookmark (£6.65 for a pack of 20). You can also try VistaPrint, which always have offers on (TV100 is their advert code). They do 'rack cards' which are basically bookmarks the size of those little booklet flyers you get in banks.

It's all about what you prefer.

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You should definitely check out Moo.com if you're looking for something a little different. If you have the money, you can get some really special adaptations of the usual swag.

Examples:

Their Tailored Collection of business cards include options like gold foil, spot glass or raised spot glass. You can also get letterhead business cards. (shown in order lists)

    

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Unusual Gifts

You can also use business card designs to make something different. I chose to make character cards from mine. I simply chose one front design (my author logo) and used the wonderful feature of up to 100 different backing designs to create character profiles. Each one has their name, book, age and a profile of their character traits, followed by a single quote. Here's a close up:

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I also made series cards. These were made using the square business card option. It was super easy and, again, you could choose one front option and many back options. I simply chose the half-cut layout, with half being an image and half as words, then used the book covers for the image part and a series description for the writing.

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Another great option is to choose MiniCards and make quote cards. I chose one quote from each book and made one quote card for each book.

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For each option, you really have to be careful about your font size and wording, because the space isn't huge. If you play around with different fonts, you'll find one that works best for you. I kept mine the same for every card, in case I wanted to do a 'series' giveaway. You can also change the layout and colour of your background etc, so there are a lot of options for personalising it. I just prefer the simple look and having them all with black text and a white background means that I can mix and match each book/series mini card with the corresponding character card.

As for cost, they were all affordable. Here's what I ordered and what I paid for that order:

Business Cards (Character Cards): Matte Laminate Business Cards x 100

(ordered Dec 2015)

Square Business Cards (Series Cards): Matte Laminate MiniCards x 100 + Orange MOO MiniCard Holder x 1

(ordered Nov 2015)

Mini Cards (Quote Cards): Matte Square Business Cards x 50

(ordered June 2015)

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If you want something really spectacular and different, try out Moo's Limited Edition section:

"Make stunning Limited Edition print with exclusive designs from the incredibly talented Ohh Deer. (And no pressure, but once they’re gone…they’re gone forever!)"

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Hopefully you've found something that tickles your fancy. As soon as I find more awesome swag, I'll let you know.

Author Tips: Crunching Numbers

When it comes to dates, things can start getting really tricky, really quickly.

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Let's look at the biggest problem: Time Zones

If you use the 12/10/15 date format for a poster, you could be causing yourself and your readers real problems. Unless your date is over the #12 then us UK folk are not going to know what the real date for the poster really is.

Remember that everyone on the Internet lasts forever, unless you delete it and even then it might be floating around somewhere. If someone shares a poster with this date format on it, people like me will get seriously confused.

In the UK we put the date first, so 12/10/15 would be the 12th October (yesterday) but for the US it would be the 10th December. Now, those dates are close enough in the year that you could be advertising a December release.

It doesn't take up any more space to write 12th Oct or 10th Dec instead. It generally takes up the same amount of space, especially if you use the right text font and size to make sure it's still legible.

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Problem #2: Cross-Release

Now, this isn't always in your hands. Sometimes the publisher sets the release date of a book, but you can often find that they'll give you some leeway if you really want it.

Look around for blog tour sign-ups and release events, even cover reveals on Facebook or Google for them, for your chosen date. Check to make sure that a similar book to yours or something in your genre isn't releasing on the same date. If it is, you'll be directly competing with that book. It might not seem like it, but trust someone who has gone to many release parties - people don't have time to switch back and forth between 2 or 3 release parties that are happening on the same day. If your book event is in the morning and a competing book's event is in the afternoon, then that's fine. But if you're both at the same time, your readers are going to weigh up who is more well known, which event is offering the best prizes and which book is more interesting. You don't want that. Sure, you might find that your book IS the most interesting/anticipated and giving the best prizes. But what if it isn't? What if this competitor has more money to spend on prizes than you do? You're going to miss out and your party won't be the best it can be.

Solution? One great way to solve this is sometimes to have your release party a week or two AFTER your actual release day. Why? Because this will let you get all of your links and blog tours out the way. If you run them all at the same time, you run the risk of spamming your audience and not benefiting from the surge sales each event (blog tour, release event, cover reveal) should give you individually.

Also, people who are desperate to buy your book will pre-order it or buy on release day, so they're already an automatic purchaser. If you wait that week or two, you can reach people who might not have noticed your release yet. People who don't know you, but want to hang out at your release party to win prizes.

The best reason is to avoid the issue above - having your release event on the same day as someone else in your genre. Having your release event after your release can solve most of the problems with this issue and also remind people of your new release. It's a double whammy!

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Next on the list: Thunderclaps!

Thunderclap is an amazing platform to advertise your book. Now sure how to do that? You can find a post on our site, detailing that.

When setting up your Thunderclap, think about what you've already planned in terms of release events - FB party, cover reveal, release day, blog tour. You generally want your Thunderclap to be an event of its own, so try not to plan it for the same day as any of those other events you've already organised.

Reason #1: it can be considered spam. And - trust me - no matter how good your intentions there will always be someone complaining that your book is clogging their FB/Twitter newsfeed, if you have all this set up for one day.

Reason #2: you won't see the real benefit.

When you're advertising a new release, you want to see which advertising platform is working best for you, right? How can you do that if you have the same buy link for 5 different events that are all happening on one day?

The biggest draw of Thunderclaps is that you can literally see how many people will see your post. It's not an estimated number or just the number of people who have clicked to support you. It is literally the number of followers on FB, Twitter and Tumblr that every supporter will display your message to. Cool, right?

So, if your Thunderclap is going to be shown to 500,000 people, that should be enough of a boost on its own, without other advertising events. In my latest Thunderclap, I had around 50 clicks on my buy link after release day. The next day, my Thunderclap tipped and that number jumped to 370. If you have another event a day or two later, that will also give you a boost.

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Finally: SmartURL

USE SmartURL. I cannot emphasise this enough. If you don't know how, check out this post here.

As I mentioned before, when you've got a lot of release events planned, using SmartURL as your go-to buy link, you can track the effectiveness and results of each event using this site.

#1: you can see how many clicks you've had on your buy link at a glance. If you have 1 event every day or week, you can note how many clicks you have on each day and calculate which event got you more clicks. Easy!

#2: you can see stats about WHO is clicking on your link, e.g. male/female and age ranges.

#3: you can see which countries have given you the most clicks

#4: you can see which platforms (social media and mobile/computer) people have used to click from.

Why is all of this important? Because it helps you figure out your target audience and advertise effectively. If you see that you're getting more clicks from a mobile, you can make sure that most of your social media sites are properly set up for a mobile platform (places like Wix.com let you check this and re-arrange how it looks). It you're getting more women clicking than men, then you can target your posts to that, or vice versa if men are your main clickers.

Also, as I said before, you can view which social media sites were used most. That lets you see if it's worth doing an ad for that site, on another date, or whether to boost another social media site with an ad there.

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In total - always think ahead!

When it comes to a new or re-release or even a sale, it is VITAL to think about your timing and how you're going to keep track of progress and sales. Utilise all of the information above, to make sure that your advertising is effective and doesn't waste you time or effort. Or, more importantly, money.

From experience, I can tell you that if you have your Cover reveal on your FB page on the morning of your release, have your release event all day and then have a Thunderclap that tips later that afternoon, you'll probably end up with a few angry/frustrated/disinterested comments in groups (that you may or may not see) about how a certain book is spamming their news feed, or you'll end up with barely any clicks, because everyone who was at your event already clicked the buy link, so why would they click it on your cover reveal and your Thunderclap too?

Spread out your advertising and you'll see the benefit. Clunk it all together and you'll find that your book falls into those nasty little cracks of forgetfulness and inattention, because people have seen your book advertised so much that they've lost interest.

You want to be interesting and encourage people to read your story, not alienate potential readers.

How to: use SmartURL

SmartURL's can be an incredible tool to use in a million different ways. First off, they can be used on Facebook without causing those dreaded Captcha's. Secondly, they're saved on the SmartURL website, so that you don't have to save them elsewhere. There's a really quick and easy "Copy" button that you can just sign in to access.

Let's take a closer look.

Start here at the SmartURL website.

Here's your homepage.

Now let's sign in/register and take a closer look. You can do the quick and easy option of signing in with your social media account or register to sign up the long way.

This is how your homepage will look, once you've got a few links added.

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Now, click on "Create SmartURL" and we'll go to the page for how to create a link:

This is the most important part that you'll need to keep an eye on. If you're using an Amazon link, then this will be only 1 or 2 parts that you'll need to use.

First, let's look at the top options:

Now, I'd normally say that you should choose Country or Events, because it's a book that you're advertising and promoting to various countries. But, in this case, I've noticed that when you choose the Music tab, Facebook doesn't bother you with Captcha's or Unavailable links. Often, using other options above, you might run into these problems. But, these tabs have never made a difference to how well viewed or advertised the links will be. There is no SmartURL "database" like Thunderclap etc (post coming soon) to show you everything under that tab.

I use Music, because it's the least problematic, but feel free to play around and see which one you prefer to use. There's no set rule here.

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Next, onto creating our link.

I'm using the Amazon link for one of our company's books - Touched by a Vampire. I'll be using the Amazon UK links, to show you how you can make a SmartURL that will enable anyone in the world to click it and then be taken directly to their Amazon site. So, for example, if a person who lives in America clicks your SmartURL they will be taken to Amazon US. If someone from Australia clicks on your link, they'll be taken to Amazon AU.

Here's how.

This is your long link - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Touched-Vampire-Eternally-Yours-Book-ebook/dp/B00OFGAWD0/ref=sr_tc_2_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1444766395&sr=1-2-ent

Now, insert this into the box "Default URL". This is what you'll see. Remember: all I've done is insert this ONE link into ONE box. What SmartURL does next is what makes it so smart.

The list goes on to detail the following countries for this book, on Amazon:

Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Unites States, United Kingdom

BUT...there is the option beneath that, where you can add further countries. So, if you click this button, you can add the direct link for Mexico, Australia, China, Brazil. (<- these are the links to the main Amazon site, not the site to the individual book. This is in case you want to save them.) Also, you can find a list of ALL worldwide Amazon links here.

Now, let's name your link. I recommend that, if you're doing your own book, go ahead and give it an individual name. If that name is taken, it will tell you.

 So let's name this Touched, for Touched by a Vampire.

With the name taken, let's try adding in a full stop and put SophieSlade at the end.

With that approved, we can go ahead to the next part. However, this part here ↓ is not something I would suggest messing around with, unless you know what you're doing. I won't pretend that I do, so let's skip onto the next part.

When you're happy with that, click "Save" and you'll see this:

See those three little orange circles? Those are really important. To "EDIT" your link, click the little pencil on the left. In the middle, you've got your "TRY" button, that will take you to your page. On the right, the little clipboard is your "COPY" button.

CONGRATULATIONS!

You can now use your link!

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Every time you sign in from now on, you'll be taken to your SmartURL page (see above). As you can see in that post, you can quickly view how many clicks your link has had in its history. If you want more detail, click on the Stats button.

These are the stats for my book "Decadent", which has the most clicks and therefore the most stats available:

As you can see, you get a heck of a lot of information from one link. This will help show you where to keep sharing your link, where to focus your audience and where you're getting the most results.