#WoW! How to Get Facebook to Share Your Posts With Your Fans and Followers #MyWANA

Welcome to Tammy's Tidbit's here at Writer's Words of Wisdom. It's been a while since I've posted. I hope all is going well with everyone and their journey through the world of publishing. Last week, Paloma posted a graphic on how to break through writer's block. I needed that. I've been suffering with it off and on for the last couple months. Now I'm down to the wire for a deadline on April 15th and finally! Things are flowing again. Whew!

With that under my belt I can concentrate a bit more on sharing more helpful hints here with everyone. This week I'd like to talk a bit about how to get around Facebook's algorithm that determines who will see your posts on your wall and fan pages. 

If you have a author/fan page you've noticed that only a small percentage of your fans (those who've liked your page) actually see your posts. Why? Because those are the ones who actively engage with you and your posts. They like it, make little comments on the majority of them or even just a smiley emoticon. These are the people Facebook and their computers feel are important and want to be updated about you and your page. 

You can get more views for your posts by encouraging your fans and friends to make comments. One way to get your post in front of your current fans and friends is to boost it. For only $5, up to 3500 people can see your post. Of course this depends on your current fan base and friend count, but it is an investment that can really pay off.  Some of these people may not have realized they weren't seeing your posts. If they just click the like button, Facebook will register that as an ENGAGEMENT and these folks will be on the list to see your next posts. The more they like and leave even a short comment, the higher up on the list they go.

Sure, these little boosts may not lead to any sales of your books, but it gets your name out there and in front of the people who WANT to see your posts. These are the people who WILL buy your books if they know about them. It's why many of them liked your fan page to begin with—to get news of your events and new releases.

Another thing that's really helped me to get my posts in front of even more people who are NOT my fans/friends yet is FREE. In two groups I'm in, we do weekly post shares. Each of us creates a post/status update on our wall or fan page, then we share the URL of the post in our group thread. Each person participating in the thread will then click on the URL, like the post and leave a comment. We also share these posts on our own walls and pages to our fan base. These additional shares make the original posts more engaging and Facebook keeps the lists growing.

Go ahead and give both methods a try. Use them in combination with each other to get more reach. Either way you do it means you get your name and your work in front of more people and in front of those who wish to see it. Isn't that what social media is all about?

For more information on how to get around Facebook's algorithm, please check out this fabulous blog article by Elyse Salpeter: Facebook – Getting Around the Darn Algorithm…

Until next time,

~Tammy

Learn More About Tammy

Tammy Dennings Maggy is a best selling, multi-published poet and erotic romance author with Siren and Sassy Vixen Publishing. Her writing explores many facets of romance from ultimate betrayal to finding your soul mate. Her poetry serves as a companion to her novels and has inspired entire series all on their own. Tammy and her alter egos Lia Michaels and Stephanie Ryan and Tawny Savage make up the core authors at Sassy Vixen Publishing and together they've created the shared world series Temptations Resort. Look for the first books in that series to come out later this year.

Now happily married to her own Muse and soul mate, she continues to live her dream and act as secretary to all her characters demanding to have their stories told.

Check out:

Tammy's Website

Tammy's Blog

Tammy's Books on Bookstrand, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords,  and iTunes 

Sassy Vixen Publishing

Friend Tammy on Facebook

Like Tammy's Facebook Author Page

Friend Tammy on Goodreads

Friend Tammy on Pinterest

Follow Tammy on Twitter

Find Tammy's Videos on Youtube

If you'd like to share your experiences in the publishing world, please contact us about setting up a guest appearance. We'd love to hear from you!

#WWoW!: @dochappycamper Discusses Obtaining Your Own ISBN for Your Self Published Books #amwriting #MyWANA #ASMSG

Welcome to Tammy's Tidbits here at Writer's Words of Wisdom. Each week I'm sharing something I've learned during my journey to become a published author and the founder of a small independent publishing house.

The last two posts I shared with you some of my experiences formatting and distributing electronic and print books. This week's topic goes right along with those. In fact, I probably should have discussed this one before those, but just like many self published authors, I was so excited to share the information, I skipped a few steps. LOL!

Seriously, in today's digital publishing arena it's too tempting to jump into the deep end without doing your research. Many authors are so keen on putting "published" next to their name, they intentionally skip some of the steps. You know what I'm talking about and for the purpose of this discussion we'll not go into all of them. 

Today is all about the ISBN: International Standard Book Number. This is a 10 or 13 number sequence assigned to any published book. "The purpose of the ISBN is to establish and identify one title or edition of a title from one specific publisher and is unique to that edition, allowing for more efficient marketing of products by booksellers, libraries, universities, wholesalers and distributors." ~Bowker Identifier Services.

What that means is this number is the best way to link YOU as the publisher of your work. It's unique to the title. You have to have a separate number for your print and ebook formats, but once assigned, these numbers are forever associated with that specific edition. In other words: you own all the rights to your book. Period. End of story. :)

Why are these numbers important? Can't you just use the numbers assigned by Amazon, Smashwords, ARe, Draft 2 Digital and any other distribution channel?
To answer the second question first: yes you can use the free numbers assigned to you when you upload the book to those sites BUT...and this is a big one...you will NOT be listed as the official publisher of the book. Those sites will. 

This is a big deal when it comes to book stores and other retail outlets ordering your books. Some refuse to stock anything that lists Createspace as the publisher. In order for you and your work to get to the largest markets, worldwide, you'll need your own unique ISBN, listing you as the publisher. This helps you get noticed in this vast ocean of new books out there every single day. You need to have these little extras to help build up  your brand (you!), find your niche, and build your fan base.

Bowker is the only agency in the United States that can assign ISBNs to books published in this country and  surrounding territories. You can choose to purchase a single ISBN or in blocks of them. I found for my purposes—and budget—the block of 10 numbers for $250 was right up my alley.

The site is easy to navigate and you can set up your account in minutes. Once you purchase your numbers, you then assign your titles to them. You'll enter all the information about your book: author, editor, cover artist, cover art, blurb, page count, pricing, etc. All of this information along with your publisher information is registered to the book with the ISBN you assign. No one else will be able to use that number and you can't use it for another book either.

For more information on this topic: 

Should You Buy Your Own ISBN When You Self-Publish?

Why You, As A Self-Publisher, Need Your Own ISBN

Why You, As an Author, Need Your Own ISBN

Until next time,

~Tammy

Learn More About Tammy

Tammy Dennings Maggy is a best selling, multi-published poet and erotic romance author with Siren and Sassy Vixen Publishing. Her writing explores many facets of romance from ultimate betrayal to finding your soul mate. Her poetry serves as a companion to her novels and has inspired entire series all on their own. Tammy and her alter egos Lia Michaels and Stephanie Ryan make up the core authors at Sassy Vixen Publishing and together they've created the shared world series Temptations Resort. Look for the first books in that series to come out later this year.

Now happily married to her own Muse and soul mate, she continues to live her dream and act as secretary to all her characters demanding to have their stories told.

Check out:

Tammy's Website
Tammy's Blog
Tammy's Books on Bookstrand, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords,  and iTunes 
Sassy Vixen Publishing
Friend Tammy on Facebook
Like Tammy's Facebook Author Page
Friend Tammy on Goodreads
Friend Tammy on Pinterest
Follow Tammy on Twitter
Find Tammy's Videos on Youtube


If you'd like to share your experiences in the publishing world, please contact us about setting up a guest appearance. We'd love to hear from you!