Grow Your Author Platform Organically on Facebook in 2024

While newer social platforms like TikTok often steal the spotlight, Facebook remains the king of the hill when it comes to author engagement and audience connection. With its unique ability to foster deep, meaningful interactions and its unparalleled reach, Facebook is still a critical tool in an author’s marketing arsenal. But how can you make this platform work for you, especially when organic growth feels like an uphill battle?

In today’s blog, Ginger offers actionable strategies to transform your Facebook presence from a stagnant page into a thriving community of engaged readers. Plus, he shares a treasure trove of relevant hashtags to use in your posts, helping you draw in future fans, not just the ones who have already discovered you. So read on for a quick guide on how to use your Author Page to supercharge your social game.

Recently, I was asked why most of the articles I write about advertising focus on Facebook and the answer is simple: It’s the biggest game in town. Currently, no other platform offers quite the same sophistication as Facebook, or reaches a more appropriate audience.

But Facebook isn’t limited to just paid advertising. You can build quite a substantial presence there organically, especially if you’re willing to put in the work required. In fact, there are many authors who rely on Facebook as one of their primary platforms for engaging with fans – choosing it over Twitter, Instagram and even TikTok. 

This is because Facebook tends to be where your readers are, and when you encounter them on Facebook it’s a different experience to interactions on Instagram or Twitter. You can engage in longer conversations that are easier for other readers to discover and weigh-in on, and when your posts and engagements get shared, they tend to reach a new audience in a much more seamless and organic way than TikTok – almost as if you’re stumbling over a new friend’s profile in your feed.

But generating a following on Facebook isn’t as easy or intuitive as on TikTok or Twitter, and this is compounded by the fact that Meta actively limits your organic reach to just 15% of your total followers – making the task of gaining new fans much more difficult. 

But when you start building traction, it quickly snowballs – and if you’re already advertising on Facebook, having a robust calendar of content on your author page helps amplify the reach and impact of those ads. It’s really a no-brainer, and the biggest obstacle is normally just trying to learn what works on the platform, and what doesn’t.

That’s why I’ve decided to provide a quick guide to organically growing your author platform on Facebook – and it all starts with your Author Page.

Why You Need an Author Page, Not a Personal Profile

One of the biggest mistakes authors make on Facebook is trying to engage with fans and build a following using their personal Facebook account, or one they’ve specially created for their penname (which violates Facebook’s TOS, by the way, and can get your account banned from the platform.)

While it might be tempting to use your personal Facebook profile to promote your books, it’s highly recommended to create a separate Author Page instead. A Page on Facebook is a static landing page used by celebrities, businesses, and brands and it offers a lot more usability than a regular old Facebook account. Here’s why:

• Professionalism: An Author Page establishes a clear distinction between your personal life and your author brand. It gives your readers a dedicated space to engage with your work – and means you don’t need to worry about strangers seeing pictures of your kids or being privvy to other aspects of your personal life you only share with friends and family.
• Reach: Facebook’s algorithm prioritizes content from Pages over personal profiles, increasing the visibility of your posts. You’re also limited in the number of “friends” you can have on a personal Facebook account, but you can have as many fans and followers as you want on a Page.
• Analytics: Author Pages provide valuable insights into your audience, helping you tailor your content effectively and figure out what works and what doesn’t.
• Monetization: If you decide to explore advertising options in the future, you’ll need a Page to run ads. Since you have to have one, you might as well make proper use of it.

Growing Your Facebook Page Organically

Once you’ve created an Author Page, it’s time to start reaching out to people. Growing your Facebook page organically requires a strategic approach that focuses on creating valuable content, engaging with an appropriate audience, and finding ways to engage with them.

Here are two key strategies to always keep in mind:

Key #1 – Create High-Quality Content

• Know Your Audience: Understand their interests, preferences, and pain points. This part is generally easy, since as an author you’ll probably share many of these things with your readers!
• Diverse Content: Mix it up with text, images, videos, and live streams. Experiment and have fun with Facebook, trying out new types of posts and content. You’ll never know what will impact your audience, so experimentation is key when you’re just starting out.
• Visual Appeal: Use eye-catching visuals and engaging captions to attract new followers. Look at your post through their eyes. Would this make you stop scrolling if you saw it in your feed?   
• Value Proposition: Provide content that is informative, entertaining, or inspiring. This doesn’t mean all your posts have to be about your books – in fact, most of them shouldn’t be. Just create and share things that you find interesting and engaging, and you’ll find many of your future followers will appreciate them.

Key #2 – Engage with Your Audience

• Respond to Comments: Show you care by actively engaging in conversations. Even just tapping the Like button can reward somebody for leaving a comment. 
• Ask Questions: Encourage interaction and gather feedback in your posts – but just remember, if you invite opinions, you’re going to get them! 
• Join Groups: Participate in relevant Facebook groups to expand your reach. 
• Collaborate: Partner with other authors or influencers. Blog tours and Page takeovers are the bread-and-butter of many successful authors on Facebook, and many are eager for new authors to come and join them and help make an even bigger impact.
• User-Generated Content: Share posts from your followers! This rewards fans who take the time to engage with you, and helps provide social proof about you as an author.

How Can You Create Engaging Posts?

Once you’ve set up your Author Page, it’s time to start posting. Remember, the goal is to create content that people will want to share, like, and comment on. Here are some post ideas specific to authors – you’ve probably seen your favorite writers on Facebook create something similar:

• Behind-the-scenes glimpses: Offer exclusive looks into your writing process, such as sharing your favorite writing spots or discussing your research.
• Author Q&As: Interact with your audience by answering questions about your books, writing journey, or even personal interests.
• Book excerpts: Share tantalizing snippets from your latest or upcoming book to generate interest.
• Writing tips: Position yourself as an authority by sharing helpful advice for aspiring writers.
• Author challenges: Encourage interaction by creating fun challenges related to your book or genre.
• Share your passions: Demonstrate your personality by posting about your hobbies or interests outside of writing.

How Can You Reach More People?

Creating engaging content is invaluable – but there’s no point unless you’re going to be able to share it with new people. The best method for reaching a new audience organically on Facebook is to have fans of your Author Page share your post – letting your work be seen by all their friends.

However, you can also make it easier for readers to find your content on Facebook by using hashtags. These are something more familiar to Twitter or Instagram users, but hashtags on Facebook work in exactly the same way, and can help your content show up organically in searches for that tag.

Hashtags on Facebook are clickable links that categorize content. When you add a hashtag to your post (e.g., #bookworm, #amreading), it becomes a clickable link that leads to a feed of all other posts using that same hashtag.

Here’s a mix of general, genre-specific, and engagement-focused hashtags to get you started:

General Author Hashtags

• #author
• #bookworm
• #booklover
• #bookaddict
• #reader
• #bookstagram
• #bookish
• #amreading
• #currentlyreading
• #bookrecommendations
• #bookreview
• #writerslife
• #writingcommunity
• #indieauthor
• #selfpublished
• #supportindieauthor

Genre-Specific Hashtags

• Use specific hashtags related to your book’s genre, such as:
  • #romance
  • #fantasy
  • #mystery
  • #sciencefiction
  • #youngadult
  • #historicalfiction
  • #nonfiction
  • #memoir
  • #childrensbooks
  • #middlegrade

You can even make it more granular than that, by focusing on the tropes of your chosen genre, rather than the genre itself. For example, romance authors love using hashtags like these: 

General Romance Tropes

• #LoveStory
• #HappilyEverAfter
• #RomanceNovel
• #BookLover
• #BookWorm
• #ReadersOfInstagram
• #Bookstagram

Specific Romance Tropes

Enemies to Lovers

• #EnemiesToLovers
• #HateToRead
• #OppositesAttract
• #SlowBurnRomance
• #ForbiddenLove

Alpha Male/Strong Female

• #AlphaMale
• #StrongFemaleLead
• #BossyHero
• #IndependentHeroine
• #PowerCouple

Second Chance Romance

• #SecondChanceRomance
• #LostLove
• #RekindledLove
• #WeWereOnABreak

Small Town Romance

• #SmallTownRomance
• #CountryLove
• #HometownHeartthrob
• #CozyRomance

Historical Romance

• #HistoricalRomance
• #RegencyRomance
• #VictorianRomance
• #TimeTravelRomance

Fantasy Romance

• #FantasyRomance
• #ParanormalRomance
• #WerewolfRomance
• #VampireRomance
• #MagicAndLove

Contemporary Romance

• #ContemporaryRomance
• #OfficeRomance
• #BestFriendRomance
• #SingleMomRomance
• #MillionaireRomance

Finally, you can also engage with readers on Facebook another way – by going to the places where they’re talking about books. Try some of these hashtags:

• #bookclub
• #bookblogger
• #bookishlove
• #bookstagrammer
• #readersofinstagram
• #bookgiveaway
• #bookpromo
• #supportlocalauthors
• #readingchallenge
• #bookishlife

Remember:

• Relevance: Use hashtags that are relevant to your post’s topic.  
• Discoverability: Choose hashtags that are popular but not overly broad.
• Consistency: Use a mix of popular and niche hashtags. 
• Experimentation: Try different hashtags to see what works best for your audience.  
• Placement: You can use hashtags anywhere in your post, but many people prefer to place them at the end.

Benefits of Using Hashtags:

• Increased Visibility: Hashtags help your content reach a wider audience who are interested in the same topic. 
• Engagement: Hashtags can encourage interaction and participation in online conversations.
• Discoverability: People can find your content by searching for specific hashtags.

Now you’ve got #hashtags down, you’ll hopefully start to see more and more strangers find your posts – and remember what your grandmother said: A stranger is just a friend (or fan) you haven’t met yet.

Boosting Engagement

To maximize the impact of your posts, focus on building a community around your Author Page. Here are some ways to do that:.

• Respond to comments: Show your audience that you value their input by responding to every comment, no matter how small.
• Encourage sharing: Ask readers to share your posts with their friends if they enjoyed them.
• Invite fans to like your Page: When people interact with your content, invite them to like your Author Page for more updates.
• Use relevant hashtags: Help people discover your content by using popular and relevant hashtags.
• Post consistently: Regular posting keeps your Author Page active and fresh in people’s minds.
• Experiment with post formats: Mix up your content with images, videos, and text-based posts to see what resonates best with your audience.

Promoting Your Books

Now, all this advice is great, and will hopefully help boost your reach on Facebook – but as much as I recommended not making all your posts be about your books, you obviously want to make sure some of them are. After all, that’s why you’re doing this in the first place!

So, don’t be afraid to regularly insert some posts about your books – and here’s how to do it effectively:

• Direct links: When sharing book covers or excerpts, include a clear and clickable link to purchase the book. If you’re directing readers to Amazon, be sure to use an Attribution Tag to track their behavior once they get there.
• Create book-specific posts: Dedicated posts about your books can generate excitement and drive sales, and you should always ask people to share them.
• Offer exclusive content: Provide bonus content, such as short stories or character interviews, as incentives for purchasing your books or sharing your posts.
• Run contests and giveaways: Encourage engagement by offering free copies of your books or other prizes. I’d shy away from offering gift cards or any specific cash prizes, as Amazon can sometimes confuse these as “payment” for reviews (a major no-no.) However, prizes don’t only have to be books – and if they are, they don’t always have to be your books. 

Conclusion

Growing your author platform organically on Facebook takes time and effort, but the rewards can be substantial. By creating engaging content, building a community, and effectively promoting your books, you can significantly increase your reach and connect with readers on a deeper level – and on one of the best platforms for authors.

Just remember that hard work and consistency is key. Keep posting, keep interacting, and you’ll slowly watch your author platform flourish. With dedication and a strategic approach, you can harness the power of Facebook to build a thriving author career without breaking the bank on advertising – and when you do start advertising, it will make every dollar you spend work that much harder for you.

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