My dear friend Mari from Artotems recently invited me to partake in a Facebook book party for an author I had taken on a WOW! book blog tour a few months ago. The tour was for Ronald Chapman - as many of you will recall I spoke very highly of his books and his writing style in a blog post right here on the Muffin. For these reasons, I agreed to spend two hours of my Sunday afternoon chatting online with Ron about his work, his background, and we even got to play some Bingo and enjoy opportunities at a raffle basket and other great prizes.
The party was enjoyable but left me with lots of questions for authors who might be interested in such promotion.
** Have you ever done a Facebook book party? Did you do it yourself or did you hire a company to facilitate it for you? What is the ideal length of time for a Facebook book party? What's a fair price? What are you looking for as return on your investment?
** Have you ever participated in a Facebook book party? Was it for a single author or for many authors of a similar genre? What did you like most about the party? What would you change if you could?
I would truly love to hear from authors and readers about what I think could be an invaluable tool for authors and a lot of fun for readers.
Here are my thoughts:
Sunday afternoon from 2-4 seemed like a poor time for me. I felt like I was missing out on important time as a family. I would prefer something in the evening after my kiddos are in bed...but then again 6pm may be too late for some of my friends on the coast.
I enjoyed playing Bingo, but other parts of the party were draggy and I got a little bored (I got up and got another glass of lemonade and a cookie).
I feel I enjoyed the party more than others because I've already read and reviewed the books. This leads me to wonder if it's best to invite people quite far in advance and give them a tip that the party will be more fun if you read the book(s) first.
WOW! offers a variety of promotional opportunities and tours for authors - but as of now we don't offer any Facebook parties. Here's a list of what we currently offer: http://muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com/2017/04/promoting-your-book-with-wow-women-on.html . That said, what's important to you when choosing a company to do your Facebook book party or any other promotions? What types of companies do you steer clear of?
Please leave your thoughts and ideas as comments on this post. If you'd like more information about the promotions WOW! currently offers, please do not hesitate to contact Renee, Jodi, or myself at blogtour@wow-womenonwriting.com
Have a lovely Monday and a fabulous week!
Hugs,
~Crystal
You can find Crystal riding unicorns, taking the ordinary and giving it a little extra (making it extraordinary), blogging and reviewing books, baby carriers, cloth diapers, and all sorts of other stuff here, and on her personal blog about turning life's lemons into lemonade!
6 comments:
The Facebook party is an interesting idea! I've never been to one and don't do Facebook that often, but I agree with your suggestion of having it when everyone has read the book. Maybe the author could start with a reading from the book to get everyone more in tune with the purpose of the event?
ooh Angela - that's a great idea!
I've participated and been to a few. The ones I participated in had guest authors who took like a 30 minute time slot (or however long) and did something during that time. I asked trivia questions, had people post photos of something that had to do with my book, asked a question that related to a theme in my book, where people could share personal experiences. I did giveaways too. I think this method works fairly well because those authors invite more people than you may be able to yourself.
Crystal--I think both Angela and Margo had great ideas. I don't do Facebook at all, so I'm no help.
I've never been to a Facebook party, but I like the idea, especially if participants have read the book so they can discuss it, etc. Thanks for sharing, I'll have to think about this!
You ladies are such a wealth of ideas and great information! Thank you!
Hugs,
~Crystal
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