Like my wise old lady pic? Thought I needed an intellectual look as I dish out advice on this week’s Indie Author Series subject…Author Pages. New indie authors often make author profiles/pages their first venture into the insanity that is modern book marketing. I’m included. I remember spending a couple of weeks building my initial profiles, and it seemed that every time I thought I had finished, I’d find another opportunity.
Amazon Author Page
If I had to pick one author page that gave me that puffed-up, who’s-your-daddy feeling, it would be the Amazon Author Page. People see that, and they KNOW that you are an author. Amazon says you are.
My advice, keep it fresh. It’s easy to forget about this one since it’s not a social network. However, if you sell on Amazon, this is one of the most visible author pages you have.
Smashwords Author Page
Not as robust as the Amazon version, but just as important if you distribute via Smashwords. You can post links to your blog and such, a short bio, and where to buy your books in print. Cross-selling yay!
Facebook Author Page
As an author, your name is now a brand. Treat it like one. Don’t use your personal profile for public relations. Not only is it unprofessional, technically it’s against the Facebook terms and conditions to use your personal profile for a business or brand. If FB catches a business using a profile rather than a page, they will immediately delete the profile without notice. That’s why JK Rowling has a page, not a public profile. Well that, and she couldn’t keep Hagrid from sending her game requests.
Goodreads
This wildly popular social network for bookish types is a must. Keep fans and friends straight. A “friend” is where both sides agree to be friends and posts/reviews are shared between the two in their feeds. A fan can follow any author and will see the author’s posts/reviews in their feed, but the author does not see the fan’s postings. In my experience, it’s more common to attempt to friend an author than to be a fan. When I first started out, I didn’t quite understand the basics on this and denied friend requests if I didn’t know the requester personally. Thought I was being smart and keeping my personal life secure. Turned out that it’s a great way to keep a low profile. So yeah, don’t do that.
Shelfari
Would it be fair to call Shelfari the black sheep of the Amazon family? This really is a great site, but is often overshadowed by the giant that is Goodreads and even by its older sister, the Amazon Author Page. Oh, little Shelfari, such a sweet, young thing. The author pages on Shelfari are pretty basic, but the book pages are well worth checking into. If you’re an insane nut about your story like I am, you can post every extra detail you’ve ever wanted a reader to know about your books. I have a lot of fun posting my fave quotes.
There are other Author Pages out there, but these are a great start. See what the other YA Indie Carnival contributors have to say on the subject…
I love the picture. I totally forgot about Shelfari. Thanks for the reminder. Have a great weekend!
Love the photo! 🙂 Also, I completely agree with keeping it professional. I was just writing to Suzy about how it drives me mad when authors get all ranty and TOO personal. I feel like it’s a turn off to readers! “Your name is now a brand, treat it like one” is the exact way to go!!