The Social Media Goddess unveils secrets and strategies to keep your social media presence  effervescent and effective.

You’ve got your page built up and — lo and behold! — you’ve even started accumulating fans. Now comes the hard part — get them to stick around and participate on your page.  You want to begin a lively conversation. People will “unlike” you if you’re boring or too quiet and they’ll “hide” or “unlike” you if you’re too noisy, so try to find a common ground. So what is an author to do?

Consider starting out with posts a couple of times a week and add more as you have time. Try not to post more than once a day, however. If you’re hearing crickets, consider cutting back a bit. Pay attention to the types of posts that get a good response and those that die on your Timeline.

Now, our top ten favorite ways to get your fans to interact with you:

1. Ask questions — people like to answer questions and share their knowledge
2. Don’t just talk about your books — people love talking about themselves so give them something to talk about whether it be the favorite books you’re currently reading or what everyone’s doing for a long holiday weekend
3. Don’t be afraid to get a little personal — keep your posts about both business and pleasure; share details about your life and your writing (current, past, and future)
4. Share secrets — offer up teases of upcoming projects or books you are currently writing (share favorite snippets, inspiration photos, release dates, etc.)
5. Talk back — respond to comments your fans leave you and don’t leave them hanging. It’s important to respond to your fans in a timely manner so don’t wait a week to join the conversation.
6. Use polls — Facebook’s Question app is a great way to garner information your fans want to know. Try asking about favorite authors, or enlist your fans to help you narrow down titles for your next novel.
7. Get visual — people love pictures so don’t be shy. Share photos of your life as an author, be it writing on the beach, speaking at a bookstore, or researching at a library. Get creative! (Instagram is a great photo sharing app to use from your smart phone while on the go; look for a future blog post on photo sharing and social media in the coming months!)
8. Be a calendar girl (or guy) — pay attention to the world’s events and to the date. Is it summertime? Offer up your favorite summer reads. Is Lady Gaga big in the headlines and you’ve conveniently just finished a 600-page biographical tome on the singer? Post about it and tie it in!
9. Brag a little — note that I said a little, not a lot! Don’t be afraid to share good reviews you receive on Amazon or elsewhere. But be humble about it and don’t let it go to your head. Your fans will appreciate your gratitude toward faithful readers.
10. Share your books — when you have a new book release, shout it from the rooftops! Be sure to let your fans know where they can find your books (remember, they’re mostly your fans because they like your writing…well, unless they’re your great-aunt or second cousin and then they might just be on your page because you strong-armed them into it). Include links to online stores featuring your work and share photos of your book covers.

At eFrog Press, we decided to get visual (#7). We created Facebook albums of book covers and people using ereaders in the wild. We post fun photos of friends reading beside a fire, at the beach, in the snow, at a café, and more. Please like some of our photos at our new Facebook page.

How do you interact with your readers on Facebook? Have you tried any of our top ten methods and did they work for you? Let’s get the conversation started!

Tags: ereaders, Facebook for authors, Facebook interaction with readers, readers and authors on Facebook