I’ve noticed, though, that many don’t know how to do certain things that will make their time on the social platform more productive and enjoyable.

Whether you’re using Facebook for book marketing, personal use, or both, you’ll be interested in these four lesser-known Facebook features.

Feature 1: Tagging and privacy settings

I have a friend who often tags one of her friend in comments on my posts. She does it so her friend will see what I’ve shared.

But I’m not friends with the people she tags, so guess what? None of them see my (totally amazing) posts.

Why not? It’s pretty simple.

My default post privacy setting is “Friends.” That means that only my friends can see what I share with that privacy setting. She’s my friend, so she sees it. Her friends aren’t, so they don’t.

However, when my privacy setting is “Public,” as it is when I share my blog post links on my profile, anyone she tags in a comment can see the post.

I control who sees my content; you control who sees yours. Others can’t decide for you who sees what you share.

Feature 2: Sharing an image that doesn’t have the “Share” option

Most of my connections know how to share an image by selecting the “Share” option under the image. It’s next to “Like” and “Comment.” When it’s not there, people comment, “Can you make this shareable?”

There are three things you want to know about asking someone to make an image shareable:

1. You don’t need the “share” option under the image to share it.
2. You’re asking the original poster (“OP” in digital native speak) to do something more. Haven’t they done enough simply by sharing it?
3. You have to wait for the OP to see your request and agree to take the action you’ve requested.

If don’t want to ask someone to do something you can do yourself, here’s how you can share that image.

On your computer:

• Tap on the image you want to share. You’ll get a larger version of it.
• Hover your pointer over the image. You’ll see words along the bottom.
• Select “Options,” then select “Download.”
• If it doesn’t download — because sometimes it doesn’t — hover your pointer over the image again.
• Right click on the image. Select “Save image as.” Save it to your computer.
• After you’ve saved it, you can share it.

On your smartphone:

• Tap and hold on the image you want to share.
• Select “Save Photo” from the pop-up menu.
• You can now post/share the image from your phone.

Here’s another way to do it:

• Tap on the image you want to share. You’ll see three small dots in the upper right.
• Tap on the dots.
• Select “Save Photo” from the pop-up menu.
• You can now post/share the image from your phone.

Please make certain you aren’t violating anyone’s privacy when doing this, however.

Feature 3: Sharing content privately

When people want to share something they’ve seen on Facebook with just one friend, they usually post it on their friend’s profile page.

That works if you want all of your friend’s connections to see the information. But what if you don’t want everyone to see it or it’s not appropriate to “share with the rest of the class,” as my eighth grade science teacher used to say?

Do this:

• On the post you want to share, select “Share” under the post.
• In the pop-up menu, select “Send as Message.”
• In the “Search for people and groups” box, type in the name of your friend. To say something about what you’re sharing, type in the “Say something about this…” box.

• Select “Send.”

Feature 4. Editing a comment

How many times have you commented on something and thought, “Whoops! There’s a typo!” or “$%#& autocorrect!”? It happens to me every day.

You quickly add a second comment that corrects the mistake.

The next time this happens, simply edit your original comment. It’s super easy. Here’s how.

On your computer:

• Hover your pointer over your comment. Three dots will appear on the right.
• Click on them. You’ll get two options: Edit and Delete. Select “Edit.”
• Make the change.
• Hit the return key to save it.

On your smartphone:

• Tap on your comment. A menu with options pops up.
• Tap “Edit.”
• Make the change.
• Tap “Update.”

You are now in better control of what you do on this popular social network. Don’t you feel empowered? You should!

What Facebook tricks and tips can you offer to others? Please share them in a comment! 

Groups are where the conversations among like-minded people are taking place on Facebook.

Until recently, groups have had a few limitations. In particular, group administrators couldn’t schedule a Facebook group post (as you can on your author Page) and had no insights into the membership and how and when it uses the group.

That’s finally changing, though.

New Facebook group features

Facebook is rolling out several new group features, including scheduled posts.

This couldn’t come soon enough for me. While this is already possible with third-party tools, I prefer to post within my Build Book Buzz group because while I’m there, I can scroll down and see who’s asking questions, whether they have answers, where I might be able to help, and so on.

Posting from an app is too hands-off for me.

I discovered this function by chance — no email or Messenger message from Facebook, no pop-up that said, “Hey! Guess what you can do now!”

I don’t want you to overlook it, so here’s how to find and use it in any group where you’re the administrator (owner, manager, etc.).

Follow these steps to schedule a Facebook group post

Start by writing your post in the “write post” box.

Next, select the little clock icon next to the blue “Post” icon.

Select a date and time the same way you schedule post on your author or book Page. Then select the blue “Schedule” icon in the lower right of the “Schedule Post” window.

You’ll see a confirmation on your group discussion page.

Need to make a change?

You’re done . . . unless you need to make a change in your post or decide to delete it. That process works much like it does on a Page.

But first you have to find your scheduled post! If you’ve just scheduled it and haven’t left your group, you’ll see it at the top of your group screen, shown above.

But if you leave the group and come back to it later, you’ll need to look a little harder for it.

To find it, select “Manage Group” in the menu on the left side of your group.

That generates a new screen. Select “Scheduled Posts” under “Admin Activity.”

In this test, I’ve got one scheduled post. Here’s what it looks like in my group.

To edit it for delete it, use the little caret, or down angle, in the upper right, just as you do on your profile or Page posts.

You’ll get a drop down menu with the four options shown below. Select the one you want; make your change.

Confirm or save your change when prompted and you’re done.

Other new group functions

Be sure to check your group for this new function as well as the new group insights and other features, too.

And . . . if you’re like many authors who don’t quite know the difference between a group, Page and profile, be sure to read, “Facebook profile, Page, or group? An author’s primer.”

Do you have a Facebook group? What do you like the most about it? Tell us in a comment. 

Did you know that a little-known feature lets you save those links to read later?

It’s my new favorite time management tool.

Before, I’d either try to remember what I’d seen later when I had more time to read (didn’t work) or take a quick screenshot on my phone (only worked if I was looking at Facebook on my phone). Now, with a couple of clicks, I can save everything that interests me and read it later when I have the time (or I’m procrastinating).

I created a short video that shows you how to do it.

Save a Facebook link

Rather read than watch to learn how to save a Facebook link? Here’s a loose transcript.

1. On the post you want to read later, put your cursor on the little arrow in the upper right of the post. Click on it.
2. Look for “save link.” Click on it.
3. To find your saved links, select “home” from your top toolbar, then go to the left side of the screen. Under “explore,” click on “saved.”

Pretty easy, right?

This is a particularly useful resource for authors who are in learning mode.

You’ve probably liked Facebook Pages that help you learn more about writing, publishing, and book marketing, and you’ve joined groups where you can discuss issues, ask for help, or learn from the experiences of others. (Pro tip: you might want to like the Build Book Buzz Page and join the Build Book Buzz discussion group.)

Pages, groups, and some personal profiles often share links to articles that will help you solve a problem or keep you current on industry trends. Personal profiles are more likely to generate posts with links to all kinds of interesting content, from funny videos to newspaper articles on current events to recipes.

There’s a lot there that can teach or entertain us, so learning how to save and access what’s most useful when we have time for it makes a difference.

Time management for authors

It’s all about time management. It feels like there’s never enough time to read, write, market, and do everything else in our lives. Any tool that can help you better manage that time is a gift.

In fact, maybe we can use this post to help fellow authors save time or be more efficient.

What’s your favorite time management tool or tip? Please share it in a comment.

If you can help just one person, it will be worth the couple of minutes it takes to share it. Thank you!

There’s no question that Chris knows what she’s talking about. What’s more, she communicates clearly and effectively. As I was reading, just as I reached a point where I thought, “It would help me to see this in a chart,” POOF! a chart appeared! She understands what her readers need.

Who can benefit from this book

In the book’s introduction, Chris explains who will and won’t benefit from reading this book. She makes it clear that she wrote it for authors who believe they are responsible for marketing their own books and who are willing to learn how to do it — then spend time doing it. If you aren’t going to do the work, there’s no point in learning about how you can use less social media to sell more books.

I’ll expand on that, though. If you look at learning opportunities through the lens of college course numbers, you know that a 101-level course is entry level, 201 is  more of an intermediate level course, and so on. This book isn’t Social Media for Authors 101. It’s at least a 201-level guide and maybe even 301.

That means that if you know nothing about book marketing or social media yet, this book might not be the best starting point.

There’s lots of helpful content on this site about how to use social networks for book marketing, including a recent guest post about Facebook, an article on the three Facebook options (profile, Page, group), and a good Twitter primer. You might also appreciate a popular article here on how to promote your book without using social media at all.

In addition, Chris advocates spending on Facebook advertising, so keep that in mind. If you’re dead set on never spending a cent on book marketing, you’ll get less value from this than someone who embraces the concept that you have to spend money to make money.

Fiction-oriented

You’ll also want to know that the book addresses novelists more than nonfiction authors. The concepts and content apply to both, but there’s no question that Chris was thinking mostly about fiction when she wrote this. There are occasional references to nonfiction in the text, but if this were truly an equal opportunity book there would be a section on how to use LinkedIn for nonfiction marketing purposes.

Don’t let that stop you, though — just be aware of it. Nonfiction authors can get just as much out of Sell More Books With Less Social Media as novelists can. I just want you to know what to expect. What you’ll learn from this book applies to nonfiction, too.

What to expect and what not to expect

Understand that this book doesn’t cover everything you need to know about book marketing (and it doesn’t claim to). For example, there’s nothing in it about book publicity. Book publicity, as you might know, is that free news media exposure you can get that is said to be 10 times more effective than advertising.

It also doesn’t cover blogging, guest blogging, virtual book tours, or public speaking, among other book marketing tactics.

The emphasis is on these topics:

• Platform
• Content you’ll create
• Social media with an emphasis on Facebook
• E-mail marketing

It covers those topics well. I especially like the guidance on email marketing — what to send to your list, when, and so on.

The real value in this book, I think, is Chris’s work to help you identify your platform level — she defines and explains four levels for fiction and three for nonfiction — and then match your marketing activities to that level. With that “label” in place, she helps you figure out which marketing activities or tactics are the best fit for you.

Bonus video content

Finally, there’s both a plus and a minus to one of the book’s features — the one that makes this part book, part multi-media training program. Chris has created companion videos that expand on what’s taught in each chapter. On the one hand, I see this as generous. On the other, I find it frustrating because it forces me to stop reading and go online.

It interrupts my flow.

Plus, I like my training to be all-inclusive.

But, to each his own, right? It might end up being your favorite part of the book!

And . . . let me point out that the book is a whopping 99 cents. To get top quality written and video instruction for that price is quite a deal. Kudos to Chris for working so hard with Sell More Books With Less Social Media to help authors learn.

What’s your most successful book marketing tactic?

Facebook 101 for authors

By Joel Pitney

When I bring up Facebook to my author clients, the responses range from “What’s the relationship between book sales and vacation selfies?” to “I know Facebook is important, but I have no idea why or how to leverage it for my book.” But I’ve found Facebook, when used effectively, to be the most effective social media outlet for authors to drive traffic to their websites and build exposure for their books.

In this article, I’ll address some of the key decisions that authors face when launching or refining their Facebook campaigns. I will also outline the best practices I’ve found to be most helpful.

A note for your journey

Before you begin a Facebook campaign, it’s important to remember that it’s a long game. You will likely encounter all kinds of articles, promotional emails, and experts promising “silver bullets” to help you gain “millions of fans” virtually overnight. But these are empty promises. Like any aspect of book promotion, your success depends on the quality of your content and your long-term commitment to trying things and adapting to what is and isn’t working.

So as you begin your Facebook journey, set your expectations appropriately and prepare yourself for a marathon, not a sprint. Don’t bite off more than you can chew, because you’ll burn out before you even start. Start your page small and add a new strategy or tactic each week or month. Let the page, and your relationship to it, grow organically.

When to start?

The simple answer is yesterday. Facebook marketing only works when you’ve built an engaged audience of people who resonate with your ideas, views, and content. So you shouldn’t wait to start until your book is ready to be purchased. You should start as early as possible so that you can find your target audience, discover what kinds of things resonate with them, and build a “tribe” of followers who will be interested in everything you do, including your book when it comes out.

What kind of page to set up?

Okay, it’s time to get started. The first thing you need to do is decide what kind of page to set up for yourself or your book. There are two general ways to set yourself up in the world of Facebook:

• Personal profile: This is your personal page where you share life events, pictures of grandkids, etc. You “friend” people and they have to accept your “friend requests.” If you have a personal profile page, you should keep this one separate from your “fan Page.”
• Fan Page: This is a professional Page that people can “like” without needing any kind of approval. Instead of “friends,” you have “fans.” This is what you should use to promote your book.

Here’s an example of a Page header. Note the arrow pointing to “like.”

When you set up your “fan Page,” you’ll be given a few options of what type of Page to set up: an author Page, a business Page, etc. I highly recommend setting up an author Page under your name, not the title of your book. This way you can build a following for all of your work that will promote the book you’re launching now and any future books or projects that you want to launch.

When setting up your fan Page, be sure to use a professional headshot for your profile picture, and develop a cover image that clearly conveys the value and perspective of your Page—both in the image and with text on the image. This will be important for your Page promotion efforts (outlined below). Here’s an article about developing an effective FB cover image.

(For more on profiles and Pages, read “Facebook profile, Page, or group? Au author’s primer.“)

Creating consistent content is key

Okay, so you’ve got your Page set up. What do you do next? The first thing is to populate your Page with regular posts and give people a sense of who you are and the “value” you might bring to their lives.

A good goal is to post something to your Page every day, but as I mentioned earlier, it’s important to start off slowly and build. You might try to publish two to three times per week to start off, and then grow to daily posting once you’ve gotten the hang of things.

What kind of content should you post? The short answer is: anything that would be of interest to your target audience of readers. But within this, I recommend a nice mix of the following:

• Your own articles, blogs, videos, or media. This is a great way to drive traffic back to your site where people can sign up for your email list, buy your book(s), and learn more about any other services you offer.  
• “Creatives” or what I call “picture quotes” are one of the most popular things on Facebook and tend to get great results. These are essentially pictures with quotes overlaid onto them. The quotes can be from yourself (but don’t go overboard) and from others. Here’s a great resource for making “Creatives.”  You’ll also find this article on three types of image quotes for authors helpful, along with this author social media image case study, too.  

• Third-party articles on topics relevant to your audience. While sharing articles written by others might seem like you’re wasting your time promoting other platforms, it’s important to do for a couple of reasons. First, you shouldn’t only promote yourself on your Facebook Page—people don’t like that. Second, by sharing ideas from others, you start to become an “authority” that people look to for all kinds of information on your subject matter. If you’re worried about spending time scouring the internet for relevant articles, I recommend setting up a “Google Alert” for news stories on your relevant keywords.
• Book content: Once your book is available to order, you can start to include posts about your book. This might be a picture of you with your first copy, an endorsement you’ve received, a promo about a free excerpt, etc.

Increasing your exposure with Facebook advertising

So you’ve built your Page and started to populate it with interesting, relevant content. How do you make sure that people are reading it? Unfortunately, Facebook is now a “pay to play” game, so even the greatest and most interesting Facebook posts won’t see much traffic unless you invest some money in promoting your content.  

To understand Facebook advertising, you need to know a little about how Facebook works. Most people consume Facebook content via their feeds (usually on their phones) where they see a stream of various posts from their friends and the Pages they follow. But not every single post by every fan Page makes it into a user’s feed. (In fact, just s small percentage of Page posts show up in feeds.)

How does Facebook filter what shows up in someone’s feed? It uses an algorithm that takes into account both a user’s Facebook habits (which posts they’ve liked, shared, clicked, or commented on) and the financial investment made by that the Pages they follow. This means that a lot of the posts that appear in a feed are there because the producer — the Page owner — paid for them to be there. And you’ll need to do the same to get your stuff into the feeds of your fans.

Here’s an example of a sponsored post.

Now that I’ve (hopefully) convinced you to incorporate some advertising dollars into your Facebook campaign, let’s talk about how to do it. Here’s the strategy I’ve used with a lot of my author clients:

• Set up a Facebook Ads Manager account. This is a pretty simple process. Here’s an article about how to do it.
• Determine your budget. I recommend a minimum advertising budget of $10/day ($300/month) to get things started. If you’re going to put all this time and energy into your Page, this is the least you should spend on promoting it. As you start to gain traction, you might consider increasing your budget.
• Start by promoting the Page, not the posts. There are two types of Facebook advertising: Promoting your Page and promoting each of the posts on your Page. Promoting your Page is essentially creating ads for the Page itself that show up in the feeds of people you target. The goal is to get people to “like” your Page. I recommend using your entire daily budget to promote the Page in the beginning, so you can build a fan base, before moving into promoting the posts themselves.
• Create custom audiences. Facebook allows you to set up an infinite number of “audiences” for your promotions. You can target people based on a variety of demographical information (age, location, gender, etc.) in addition to particular interests (cooking, meditation, business, autism, politics, etc.). You’ll want to create a few different custom audiences and test them out to see which ones work best. For example, you’ll have a different audience for your Page promotions than your individual post promotions. So if you’re a cookbook author, your Page audience might be more general and include keywords like “recipes,” “cookbook,” and “foodie.” But say you have an individual post listing your top 10 holiday recipes. You’d want an audience that included keywords like “holidays,” “Christmas cookies,” “New Year’s Eve cocktails,” etc.
• Shifting towards promoted posts. Once you’ve had a chance to build your fan base to at least 1,000, it’s time to start shifting your advertising budget toward promoting the posts themselves. This is also called “boosting” and allows you to create a custom audience for promoting each individual post. As you transition into this phase, I recommend splitting your budget between Page promotions and post promotions 50/50 ($5/$5 for a $10 daily budget), and then as your fan base grows, shifting your money more and more into promoting your posts. Once you’ve eclipsed 5,000 fans, you should spend all of your budget promoting posts, as you will continue to experience Page growth from your post boosting efforts.
• Track your progress. This is key, because even the best-laid plans are bound to need improvement. Track your stats closely, find out what’s working and what isn’t, and evolve your strategy. For more on how to do this, check out the next section.

Tracking your progress

One of my favorite things about Facebook is how many simple, easy-to-read analytics it provides to track your progress. But it’s important to understand which statistics are more important than others, and how to respond to the data. You should determine the key metrics you want to track, and determine how much you’re spending for each. Below is a breakdown . . . .  

• Page likes. As we discussed above, part of your advertising budget should be spent on getting more fans to like your Page. At first, you will likely be paying around $1 per new fan when you promote your Page. But you want to get this number down closer to $0.35/fan. How? The best way is to refine the copy and images in your ad and tweaking your target audiences.
• Post reach. Facebook likes to show you the many people your posts are “reaching.” This basically means the number of feeds in which your post is appearing, and this number will increase as your fan base grows and as you invest money in promoting posts. While less important than the engagement stats below, “reach” does help you to determine how effective your post promotions are in reaching your target audience.
• Post likes, shares, comments. I’ve lumped these three stats together, because in my opinion, they are interchangeable. Together with “clicks” (see below), they make up post “engagement,” which is really the most important statistic of them all. You might “reach” a lot of people, but what really determines the success of your campaign is how many people are actually engaging with your content by liking it, sharing it with their friends, or making a comment on it.

• Clicks. This is perhaps the most valuable of all Facebook metrics, because it represents someone taking the time to click any link that you’ve shared. Of course, not all posts have links, but for those that do, this should be your ultimate goal, especially if it’s a link back to your website.

While there are no set-in-stone benchmarks for how much money you should be spending for each of the above metrics, your goal should be constant improvement. Over time, you want your cost per fan, like, comment, share, and click to be going down, as you tweak your advertising strategy to do more of what’s working and less of what’s not.

How to handle the overwhelm

At this point, you might be thinking, “This will take me a lot of time that I don’t have, and I’m not confident in the return I’ll get from what I put in.” Fair enough, but in my experience, over time, your investment of time and money will start to pay off.

That said, here are a few tips for saving time:

• Batch your posts. I like to create my calendar of posts in one- to two-week batches, then schedule them all in advance using Facebook’s native scheduling tool or a social media posting tool like Hootsuite or Buffer.
• Hire an assistant. You might find it worthwhile to hire a low-cost social media assistant to research, develop, publish, and promote your posts. These professionals will create your posts for you and allow you to tweak them to make sure they fit your voice and perspective. For a high-quality social media person, you can count on spending $25 to 50/hour for one to three hours per week. As with anything, you get what you pay for, so be suspicious of any individual or service promising great work for super cheap .
• Do a little every day. The best way to deal with an overwhelming amount of work is to break it up into digestible chunks. You may not feel like you have enough time in your schedule to devote to Facebook, but you can likely find 15 minutes a day in between things to give your attention to it. This small amount of effort, even if you’ve hired an assistant to help you, will enable you to be much more tuned in to the audience you’re building.

There you have it. That’s my two cents on using Facebook to build your author brand and promote your book. As I mentioned in the beginning, the key is to get started and grow organically, adapting and building along the way. I hope you find the information useful and please share any questions or suggestions from your own Facebook experience in the comments below!

Got a question about using Facebook for book promotion? Ask it here in a comment. And, if you found this detailed how-to post helpful, please consider sharing it with your author networks. 

If you commented, I suspect you did so knowing that there’s always a risk associated with taking a stand. If you didn’t know that before you shared your position, I’m sure you found out quickly.

A social media case history

Take the case involving my publishing industry colleagues A and B. I like and respect and respect both of them.

I started paying more attention to Colleague A’s content when a post that wasn’t related to the election caught my eye. It was on her personal profile timeline, not her business Page, and the privacy setting was “public.” It was visible to anyone visiting her page.

What Colleague A shared was uncharacteristically confrontational. In the discussion that followed, she appeared to be cranky and close-minded — nothing like the person I know. A mutual acquaintance commented to me privately that she had unfriended Colleague A because of that discussion.

Uh-oh. Not good, right?

I wondered if Colleague A was struggling with something. I thought about calling to ask if everything was okay, but we are acquaintances, not good friends, and it was possible that my concern would be misinterpreted. So . . . I kept my thoughts to myself.

Election commentary

Her uncharacteristically dark mood continued with sarcastic pre-election posts. After the election,  she commented about the results — and how some reacted to them — in a way that communicated that she was pleased with the outcome. She criticized those who stated their disappointment.

While her criticism didn’t disturb me, I was surprised by it. There seemed to be a disconnect from her usual cheerful, fun commentary. It felt like there were two social media personas posting on one Facebook account. The upbeat person who used to show up there had been replaced by someone who was sarcastic and angry. It was odd . . . and I started to wonder which persona best reflected the “real” Colleague A.

And as the “Deal with it!” postings continued, I thought, “This can’t be good for her business.”

And I was right.

Point counterpoint

Enter Colleague B.

Colleague B was offended by Colleague A’s post-election commentary and called her out on it, by name, in a response on her own timeline. She described Colleague A’s position and attitude accurately and explained her own views, and why she held them.

Some might say that Colleague A came across as a bully and Colleague B as a victim; others might say the opposite. But one thing is certain: Colleague B’s post generated an angry backlash against Colleague A.

I wasn’t surprised that Colleague A became a target, but she was.

She complained that Colleague B had aligned her with some of the negatives linked to the election victor and in doing that, Colleague A said, Colleague B was thoughtless and cruel.

In other words, Colleague B’s response was irresponsible.

But predictable.

Consequences of controversy

Colleague A had every right to post whatever she wanted on her Facebook timeline. I liked her honesty and as I read the comments on her posts, I could see that she had many like-minded connections.

But when you write something that will feel confrontational and antagonistic to others, you shouldn’t be surprised when someone who doesn’t agree with you responds to it. It’s a risk you take when expressing an opinion on Facebook or any other social platform, and you have to accept that risk. If you can’t, keep your opinions to yourself.

Are you glad the election is over? Let us know in a comment! 

In December 2015, they left about 10 billion comments in various groups and generated 25 billion-plus likes on group posts.

Don’t you want to be part of that Facebook group action?

You can not only be part of it — you can lead it by creating your own Facebook group. It’s not hard to do it. In fact, it’s so easy even I can do it.

(Not sure about the difference between a Facebook group, Page, and profile? Read, “Facebook profile, Page, or group? An author’s primer.“)

Why you want to create a Facebook group

A Facebook group lets you build a community around a shared interest, issue, or cause.  People join groups to learn, share, and discuss.

A group isn’t an overt book promotion tool in the same way that a Facebook ad is. A group lets you get to know people who share your interest. For authors, that should be something related to your book or its genre (for example, a group for people who read BWWM — black women/white men — romance novels).

While you get to know them, they get to know you, too. Perhaps you share snippets of your writing, offer advice related to your expertise, or help people make connections.

The point is: When you create a group, you create the foundation for a community built around a shared interest in something related to your book.

That’s a quick overview of the “why.” What about the “how?”

How to create your Facebook group

Before creating your group, I recommend you a join a few Facebook groups related to your interests so you can see how they work. Observing a variety of groups for a while will help you figure out what you want to achieve with yours, and maybe even how to do that.

Once you’re familiar with them, the process is pretty simple. I’ll walk you through the process using screenshots I grabbed when I created the Build Book Buzz Facebook group two years ago. (To see a larger version of any of the images below, just click on the image.)

Login to your Facebook account. On the right side of your newsfeed where you find your activity options, select “Create Group” under “Groups.”

A window pops up that asks you for the group name. I want you to know this in advance so that you already know what you want to name your group. This is important, right? You want to be thoughtful about the name. There’s no need to agonize over it, but it should communicate what the group’s about.

In that same window, you have to select your group’s privacy — open, closed, or secret. If you’re not sure already, read this article, “What are the privacy settings for groups?” The Build Book Buzz group is “closed,” which means that it can be found in a search, but what happens in the group stays in the group.

Staying in that window, now you have to invite members. My reaction to this was, “What??? Already? I haven’t even seen my group on the screen yet!”

Yeah, too bad. This is how they roll on The Facebook.

I invited just one friend at this point only because I had to.  I invited others later, after the group was set up.

Click “Create” and you move to a screen that lets you select an icon for your group. The icon shows up next to the group name in members’ groups list on the left side of the timeline. I chose a book for the Build Book Buzz group. (That was a no-brainer.) You can also skip this step if you want.

Select “Okay” and like magic, your group appears in front of you!

Now you upload a cover photo.  It works the same way as it does for your profile — just select “upload photo” and select one that’s waiting on your computer.

Tip: Now that you realize you have to do this, have your image pre-selected.

With the group cover photo set the way you want at the top, move to the right side of the screen to describe the group and add tags.

Find the “Description” section on the right and select “Add a Description.”

Your description should tell people what to expect from the group and why they will want to be a member. What’s in it for them? Include any group rules, too.

Then add the “tags” using that option just underneath your description. Tags are words related to the group topic that help Facebook users find your group in searches or through Facebook recommendations.

Next, you determine your group’s Facebook web address — the URL you will send people to when you’re sharing information about your group — and the email address linked to it, which, by the way, I have never used.

To do this, click on the three dots next to the word “Notifications” at the lower right of your cover image. Select “Edit Group Settings.”

On the next screen, next to “Web and Email Address” select “Customize Address.” This will let you create a URL for your group with the official group name rather than a string of numbers.

Type in your group name (or whatever you want in the web address). Select “Customize Address” at the bottom.

While still in the settings, you can select preferences for membership approval, posting permission, and posting approval.

In my group, everyone can post and what they share goes live immediately — it doesn’t wait for my approval. If someone posts something that’s counter to the rules, I delete it. If they do it repeatedly, I remove them from the group. Select preferences that work for your group goals. If one of them is discussion and engagement, then don’t put any limits on that.

Your group is now ready to share with the world! Select “Discussion” in the upper left under your cover photo to return to your group’s home page. Add people using the “Add Members” box on the upper right under the cover image or by sending them the link to the group and asking them to join it.

That wasn’t hard, was it?

Do you have a Facebook group? What’s the URL for it, and why did you create it? Please tell us in a comment. 

Facebook is making the change because its research shows that’s what users want. Facebook said:

“People told us they wanted to see more stories from friends and Pages they care about, and less promotional content.”

According to people surveyed, there are some consistent traits that make organic posts feel too promotional:

1. Posts that solely push people to buy a product or install an app
2. Posts that push people to enter promotions and sweepstakes with no real context
3. Posts that reuse the exact same content from ads

Here’s one example Facebook sited as the type of organic (meaning, not promoted) post that people don’t want to see, even from Pages they have liked. As you can see, it’s overtly promotional and reads like an advertisement.

Impact on authors

What does this mean for authors with either author or book Pages? Will it make this marketing tool even less useful for your book business?

Not necessarily.

Your goal with your Page content is to do what you should have been doing along:

• Sharing information that is helpful and not overtly promotional — as in “Buy my book!”
• Always providing context for whatever you’re posting — if it’s a Rafflecopter contest, add descriptive text rather than just saying “Enter this contest!” with a link.
• Never posting content that you’ve pulled from your Facebook ads.

Read and follow Facebook’s “Page posting tips and best practices.” It has lots of helpful information and advice that will make your Page work harder for you.

Remember: People are on Facebook to learn more about what’s happening in their friends’ lives, not be bombarded with content that looks to them like ads. Give them more of what they want and they’ll see, and engage with, more of your Facebook Page content.

What do you think of the new plan? What are you going to do differently with your Facebook page now?