Welcome to my little (introverted) world!
Once upon a time, I was relatively active on Facebook and other social media, but as I struggled with my health, all that began to drift away. Almost three years ago now, I suffered a heart attack, and poof! There went the remainder of my online activity. I remained active in a few groups — my Christian indie author group, a few co-working friends groups, some Trim Healthy Mama groups, and my reader group. Well, that last one is a bit of a stretch. If Paula wasn’t leading the reader group, it would have fizzled out before it every really got started. As it is, it’s a fun, active place where I enjoy dropping in and chatting.
But everything else? Went by the wayside. My Twitter account went quiet. I continued to post story inspiration to my Pinterest boards, but didn’t draw anyone’s attention to them. I rarely posted on my Facebook profile.
Even worse, I abandoned my author page on Facebook. How embarrassing! Over the years, more than one thousand people had given me an upvote by “liking” my page. What did they get in return? Almost total radio silence. Yikes. That’s no way to treat a friend!
So, all that is about to change. Actually, it already has. This introvert has decided to climb back on the social media horse (is that a thing?!?!?) and embrace Facebook Live. Two have already taken place. If you missed them, you can find them here and here.
Yep, going live is terrifying. It means leaving a corner of my very small house at least partially set up. In this case, it’s a corner of the grandgirls’ bedroom! It means getting dressed up in more than sweats, putting on a little makeup, and making sure my hair is presentable. It means pulling some energy out of the stratosphere and enjoying chatting with you!
Here’s a sample of what’s in store, although I don’t know why it is showing a mashup image on the preview – definitely not how it is set on YouTube!
Did you catch that bit about the giveaway? Celebrate Lit is hosting a terrific giveaway for me. Follow the directions in the video to enter your name in the drawing!
Now over to you. Do you enjoy interacting with authors’ Facebook Lives? What do you like them (us) to talk about? What do you not enjoy? Give me some tips so I can make my “lives” an event we will all love!
PS: In case you’re not familiar with some of my early work, check out the first box set in my debut series, Farm Fresh Romance. This set is currently on sale for 99¢ (or the local equivalent) on Amazon worldwide and includes Raspberries and Vinegar, Wild Mint Tea, and Sweetened wit Honey. Check it out here.
Valerie Comer is a USA Today bestselling author and a two-time Word Award winner who writes where food meets faith and fiction. She injects experience laced with humor into her green clean romances. Her life on a small farm in western Canada provides the seed for stories of contemporary inspirational romance. Like many of her characters, Valerie and her family grow much of their own food and are active in the local foods movement as well as their church. She only hopes her creations enjoy their happily-ever-afters as much as she does hers, shared with her husband, adult kids, and adorable granddaughters.
I don’t do Facebook, but good luck with it all.
I love seeing and hearing you on FB live! I have not made it to the events live with you, but have watched them in full afterwards!
Looking forward to more!
Glad you are feeling well and can hear more from you. I have love the stories that I’ve read and I’m looking forward to the new series the first one came out September 7 and I’m wanting on the next one.
I generally don’t catch people when they’re live, but I will often watch later.
I do like Facebook lives! One of the fun ones I’ve done was doing a game. The author gave clues to different books and the first one to guess the actual book won a copy. It was a cute way to get everyone involved, and she had two people watching to catch the comments as they were made, so that they would know who answered first, instead of her trying to catch them while giving the clues. I usually have to watch the lives after the fact, especially this time of year!
Thank you, Mary!
That’s one of the beauties of it (or one of the downfalls, ha!), it stays up for others to view later.
Yay, Brenda! Hopefully, Give Me Another Chance, Cowboy will be out February 8 :)
I’m sure most of us don’t sit on FB just waiting for someone we like or follow to go live! I’m trying to let people know in advance what time it will be, but it still isn’t always possible. :)
Oooooh, that sounds like a fun idea!
It really was!! She had a couple of author friends who also donated a couple of prizes, so it was a treat!
I need to think about that one :)
It’s nice to see authors live but don’t do long ones…sometimes authors overdue it :)
Length is so tricky! If it’s too short, no one has time to get to it before it’s over, so it isn’t “live” anymore!
What do you think is the optimal length? I’ve heard 10-20 minutes, but as a viewer, I’d need to be REALLY interested to stick around that long.
Yes,I love to interact with authors on live chats, I love meeting the authors and I love learning more about their books. I love to hear what inspired them to become writers and just different things about them and their books. I Love meeting authors. Have a Great weekend and stay safe. God Bless you.
That was fun. :D
I will watch author live videos but usually after the fact – unless I get lucky. Chats that are 30 min & less I can usually “save” and watch later. Longer videos (an hour or so) I might not watch but I get that they might allow live viewers to “hop” on better.
Fb/social media is something that I am minimizing at present; there is so much negativity around. I hop on, taking a quick peek/scroll, and hop back off again. And I am reading more. :D
Yay, sounds good! I hope to see you at one of mine soon!
Oh I hear you about the negativity! I downloaded the FB Purity app and put in a LOT of keywords I didn’t want to see. That helps keep the “noise” to a lower level, at least. Plus I have 30-day snoozed dozens of people. Maybe I shouldn’t say that in public – oops!
I’m not as active on Facebook as I used to be either. I have a few author/reader groups I keep up with but that’s about it really.
I like newsletters best, that way I can read them when I have time to. I have watched author lives before, but they are not always on times that are convenient to me. Mostly I catch them later.
Huh. I didn’t know about that app. I will look it up. And yes. I have also applied the “snooze.” It has helped minimize repeat offenders. ;)
Love reading positive, HEAs currently.
To be honest I don’t look at FB live. Normally because I am doing other things at the same time and partly I haven’t really worked out why so many people are going live. (The few I saw it was all about what they were doing and I left). The ones I did watch were Michael W Smith when he was doing a worship service.
Maybe I need to give them a try but most are not when I am on or when I am getting ready to go out.
A few thoughts to consider when planning a live event:
1. What do you want to achieve or get from the event? Are you wanting to inform readers about you or about your work? Are you wanting to connect with your readers, find out about them? If so, what do you want to know? You get to drive the bus, so have a route in mind. You’re an author. Don’t be ashamed to focus on selling your books. Letting people see your personal life may be appealing to some but it is fair to make it secondary.
2. Do you have an overall plan for your online presence as a whole? Make sure a live event fits within that plan. There are more options than any one person could possibly keep up with: email newsletter, blogging, Facebook (Live or otherwise), Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and on and on. I would suggest picking the three that resonate with you the most and think about how they help answer the questions in #1 above. If you find that something isn’t working, you should feel totally free to rearrange. This is your business. It is certainly based on good relationships but not on the kind of relationships that drain you or that control you. Once you can establish the boundaries that you don’t want to have crossed, then you have greater freedom to be creative within them.
3. We all want to belong. Consider activities (like the giveaway Trudy suggested) that allow current readers to encourage new readers to come further into the community of Valerie Comer Readers. This could even be designed in such a way as to encourage live participation. With 20 or fewer attendees, offer only one contest or giveaway. Twenty to fifty, offer 2 or a larger package. Fifty to seventy-five, offer 3. Seventy-five or more do something really special. That provides incentive to current attendees to call their friends and have them join in.
4. I think it is key that you have a plan for what happens before you go in. For a live event (think of something like a Tupperware or Pampered Chef party), you don’t want the attendees to feel responsible for the progress of the event. You can certainly use their feedback to choose your path through the activities you have planned, but you need to stick you your route. That doesn’t mean that you can’t gather input from your “tribe” as you make your plan. Once your canoe enters the rapids, though, you hold that paddle and steer.
5. Think about what you would say to a new reader as you sit across from them over a cup of coffee. What don’t they know? How many novels have you published? How many different series do you have? What motivated each series? You could ask your Live participants what they know about homesteading or sustainability or just plain country living. Use their answers as a springboard to present the salient points about the Farm Fresh series.
6. It’s easier to direct a conversation in a presentation format (like a Live event) if you ask questions that have simple answers like “How many of you have ever lived on a working farm?” or “Having you ever lived in a community like the one in Farm Fresh?” You could venture a little further with something like “How many of you read Christian romance for the happily-ever-afters?” Then, given the response (large or small), talk about how HEAs figure in your own writing process, or in the discovery of the plots in whatever series you have under discussion.
Hmm, I have certainly rattled on. Let’s call that enough. I hope those ideas help in your process of prepping for a Live event (or otherwise).
I like newsletters, too! They fit better into the reader’s schedule.
Makes sense! The first few I watched were music groups I follow, too.
I’m ALWAYS about the positive, myself! I don’t go looking for the negative and avoid it where at all possible.
Thanks, Lincoln!
I’ve participated in a few FB Live events.
Hi Denise! Hope to see you at one of mine soon :)
I go on Facebook mostly to catch up with friends & family but when I have time I like to go live with you.
I only go on Facebook to play games & talk to family.
Good on you for prioritising your health until you were ready to take on more and for the courage to have a go at fb live.
I don’t mind being ignored for a long time on fb, because there are long stretches when I ignore fb. Most fb lives are not for me due to time differences mostly on in the middle of the night here.
A couple of author friends do fb lives, they include bloopers, competitions for anyone who views the vlogs, answer reader questions, talk about new books, research, once a month one highlights a backlist book etc….
Good luck with the tour! I won’t be entering as the postage cost would be enormous.
Hi Dianne! Good ideas there, thank you! And yes, sadly the paperback set is only available in the US. I can’t even get them into Canada easily (and reasonably affordably) at this point.
Thanks, Amy! I hope to see you sometime soon :)
I find it interesting how many ways there are to use Facebook! I’m not really a games player there.
I have Facebook account but no longer enjoy as most of whatI see is advertisement time stuff. Very little from my friends. Same with my Instagram account.
I am glad you are feeling better and returning to the activity for others to interact.
If you kind of miss Facebook, check out the FB Purity app. You can also use an ad blocker. There are ways to make it (somewhat) enjoyable again!
I Love seeing the Authors go live on FB Thank you for sharing Valerie I hope to catch one of your live video’s on FB! Blessings to you I will be going to the giveaway as I Love reading the print books!
WooHoo, thanks, Sarah! Hope to see you on FB Live one day soon!
I agree…around 10 min is best for me 🤓
So great to see you speak in person Valerie! Good luck with your FB Live project! I particularly enjoyed your Canadian pronunciation of “ABOUT”! LOL I’m going over to CelebrateLit to sign up!
Aw thanks, Laurie!
I’ve gone to enough writer retreats etc in Montana that I’m used to being prodded to say “about.” LOL