#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! Guest Blog for Exposure!

Let's talk about writing Guest Posts for other blogs.

There are benefits to being a guest on another blog. The exposure you gain magnifies because you are able to reach out to more readers. Since most bloggers have guest spots, its not too difficult to find blogs you fit with. Writing a guest post puts you in front of a whole new audience and can increase your own blog's following. Blog readers that haven't yet heard of you now get their first impression and may then follow you... and maybe even buy your books!

Here are some GENERAL GUIDELINES to follow:

Be Relevant to the Host Blog. Know before you sign on that your genre is a fit for this blog's followers. You don't want to post erotic romance on a sweet romance blog. You also likely won't want to post paranormal on a contemporary blog.

Be Polite. Follow all the guidelines the Host Blog provides. They are hosting you so its the least you can do. Most will tell you when they need your post and how they want it provided.

Be Aware. Know what the format of your host blog is. You will want to submit the correct things the host blog regularly includes. For example, know if they include a book cover or a banner. Can you include an excerpt? What length?

Be Knowledgeable. It's about more than self-promotion. We all need to promote our books but most blogs are looking for more content in a blog post. Unless agreed upon otherwise, your post should have a topic for discussion. Write about something you have knowledge on - maybe a topic that fits with your latest book.

Be Connected. Include links back to your own website or blog when relevant to your post. Back links will connect your blog to the host blog and benefit both. Use these links to reference prior posts on similar subjects.

Be Loud. Follow up on you guest post by promoting it on your own social media outlets. Visit the host blog on the day of your post to respond to comments and interact with followers. One idea I use sometimes when guest blogging is to write a brief post on my own blog that drives traffic to my guest post. This sends my followers to a new blog they might enjoy.

Want to Guest Blog?

We offer guest blogging opportunities here on WWoW! You can submit a guest post and we will schedule it into the next available Friday. Tell us about a success you had as an author. Just share your experience. Our blog is all about Writers sharing their knowledge with other Writers. You can also include some promo of your latest book.

Send your guest post HERE. Use the subject line: "WWoW! Guest Post".

#WWoW! Social Plugins to Make Your Blog POP!

This week I'd like to share with you a tool I found nearly a year ago. No, it wasn't brand new. It had been around, but I hadn't had the time to investigate it until that particular moment in time. Okay, that sounds a bit "out there." LOL!  What I meant was I had been so busy trying to get my blogs off the ground and build up a following for all three of my pen names, that I missed this little helpful tidbit.  

I thought it was time to dig out the information again. A few of my friends have inquired about how they could get more traffic to their sites.  I asked them if they had a way for their readers to share their posts easily. A few of them said they did, but only the plug ins that came already preset with their sites. Are you one of those bloggers too? Read on!

Have you visited blogs and found they have multiple buttons for you to share their post or even follow them on various social media sites? Have you wondered how they put them on their sites? Me too. 

AddThis has everything you need to be able to offer hundreds of options for your readers to share your posts and follow you. They explain step by step how to get the buttons you want at the end of each post, or on your side bar of your blog/website.  You can even choose how your buttons will appear from a variety of different graphics.

Have Blogger? WorldPress? Not a problem. AddThis asks you where you will be using the buttons and then tailors each step by step for what you need. It's quite simple.

All you have to do is sign up for an account with AddThis and choose the buttons you want. You can also set it up so you can track how your posts are being shared. 

Get Your Buttons!

Go ahead and try it on your blogs today. I switched all five of my blogs on Blogger in just minutes. Here's the link to one on Sassy Vixen Publishing so you can see what it looks like. If you look at the left sidebar here on this blog, you'll see the social plugins we've added including the orange button with the white cross. That's AddThis at work!

Until next week,
~Tammy

Learn More About Tammy

Tammy Dennings Maggy is a 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 iTunesSassy 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