Ten Facebook Statuses to Instantly Engage Your Readers

The opposite of "Like" is now "Ignore."

by Lydia Netzer


Comments on Facebook status updates let us know that we aren't standing all alone in the middle of a party, making animated hand gestures and facial expressions into thin air. Likes reassure us that we're not sighing out half-hearted commentary into a lonely glass of wine while no one listens. As authors, these responses also let us know that we're doing social media correctly, and that we won't be fired by our publishers for being the dullest clods on the internet. They can fire you for that, you know. So how do you get readers to engage with your page? 

It's difficult to know what to say sometimes. I know this one older dude on Facebook who only posts pictures from traffic cameras and also cats. He has a bunch of friends and they're highly engaged, commenting on and Liking everything. I want to think he's unlocked some kind of magical Facebook formula where cat posts combine with traffic camera footage to create a powerful ankh that gives its wearer internet popularity. I salute that guy. But we can't all be him. A lot of people I know, especially authors, seem to worry about appearing too positive, too negative, too repetitive, too pretentious. Posting a status update can feel like tugging on someone's elbow. What if they don't turn around?

The way to get people engaged with your Facebook Page is to give them an opportunity to do something they already want to do. 

No one logs onto Facebook with a burning desire to say "Oh, hmm!" to a dry description of your writing routine. No one yearns to say "Cool fixture!" when you post a picture of your desk lamp. No one really needs to Like your link to an article you wrote about yourself. But you can get comments and Likes flowing by figuring out what people on the internet want to do, and then giving them a place to do it. 

For example, here are ten Facebook updates that will get comments, possibly even a storm of comments, for your Page, right now today: 

1. Turkey bacon: Salvation or abomination?
What do people want to do? Pick sides. 
Picking sides in a clear-cut two-side argument is the easiest thing to do in the world. And fun -- just look at sports. In fact, asking which sports team your readers are rooting for in a game would also make a good post, but really any simple choice between two opposing options will work. You'll have some friends who find extruded meat disgusting and some that feel turkey bacon has allowed them to live again. But don't make them think too much. This is supposed to be fun. 

Kids, we're having conversation starter for dinner!

2. What should I do with this chicken and rutabega?
What do people want to do? Talk about food.
If you haven't figured out that the internet is mostly about food then you haven't spent much time on Pinterest or Instagram. People love to talk about their favorite recipes and help you with your food dilemmas. Post a strange combination of ingredients and ask for ideas. For bonus points, post a strange combination of ingredients you actually have and then post a picture of the results. Or just ask, "What can I make with kale?"

3. It's time for vacation! What city should I visit next?
What do people want to do? Be experts.
Everyone is an expert on the places they've been, especially places in Europe for some reason. If you ask for a "must do" list in Barcelona, I guarantee your comments will be piling up in drifts around your page. You'll have to get rid of them with a leaf blower just to see your cover photo. 

4. Ready to change up my coffee. How do you take it? 
What do people want to do? Define a personal preference. 
Collections of these questions used to float around email lists, circulating as ice breakers or just getting-to-know-you prompts. What's your favorite crayon color? Do you drink lemonade or soda? Do you eat the broccoli stems or not? This kind of question is good because it requires a short answer, and it feels like a revelation without the discomfort of an actual revelation.

5. Anybody get any good news today?
What do people want to do? Share feelings. 
You could ask the broader question: "How are you doing?" But that's actually harder to answer and less inviting than a more specific question. Any time you can bend your post so that the on-ramp to a comment is a  yes/no answer, you're giving your readers an easier time. Anybody sick today? Anybody on the rampage today? They can always just Like... the Facebook equivalent of nodding.

6. What’s the worst thing you ever did in a minivan?
What do people want to do? Share personal anecdotes. 
Again, be specific in scope but general in appeal. Asking about the worst thing someone's done in a minivan is pretty specific. But on the other hand, everyone's been in a minivan. Everyone can answer this. Sharing personal anecdotes is fun, it's interesting to read the other comments on the post, and if you keep the question light, it's easy to give a quick comment.

7. Gosh, at what age do you think I should wean my baby?
What do people want to do? Express an opinion. 
Up to this point I've stressed that you should keep it light and easy, but I'd be remiss if I didn't note that real controversy will make your readers engage. One way to survive it with your dignity (and friend list) intact is to pose your update as a question, and then stay out of the resulting fray. Sure you can toss in some "Hmm, what about this?" comments to move the conversation along, but don't argue one side or the other. This isn't turkey bacon, and people can get pretty irate. Note: If you use the exact status update in this example, and you aren't currently nursing a baby, it might become obvious to your readers that you're just trying to stir them into a frothy passion. 

8. My kid/husband/dog just said/did a funny thing!
What do people want to do? Laugh. 
If you are lucky enough to have a child or husband or dog that provides you with Facebook fodder, don't hide this charming light under a bushel. If you find it funny, your readers will too, including me. 

I seriously don't know what kind of car this is.

9. Does anyone know what kind of car is in this picture? I'm doing research. 
What do people want to do? Help. 
Writers do research online, and one of the best places to do it is right on your Facebook Page, utilizing the knowledge base of your readers. Many times I've asked for help with word choice, facts, identifying pictures, etc. Unless you want it to sound like a game of trivia, make it a genuine question that you're actually struggling with. If you're really unsure, or the answer is ambiguous, then the comments won't dry up after someone gets the right answer, like they would in a trivia question post.

10. Guys, I've got a secret to share. 
What do people want to do? Connect. 
This isn't something you can do every day, both because it would be emotionally exhausting and because you probably don't have enough deeply personal material to keep on revealing something new day after day. Or maybe you do. (Great!) But once in a while, sharing something really personal is a powerful way for your readers and friends to connect with you. If you are in pain, or fear, or love, occasionally let people peek at that. Making yourself a little bit vulnerable makes you accessible and real to the people who genuinely want to connect.

When your Facebook Page provides opportunities for readers and friends to do things they already want to do, you're making it easy for them to interact with you. Try it! 


Lydia Netzer is the author of Shine Shine Shine, now out in paperback, which the New York Times Book Review selected as one of 100 Notable Books for 2012. It was also chosen by Amazon as one of their Editor's Picks for the Top 100 Books of 2012, by Library Journal as one of five Top Women's Fiction Titles of 2012, and by Nancy Pearl in Publisher's Weekly as one of her ten favorite books of 2012. It's a novel about robots, motherhood, space travel, true love, and the perils of fitting in. Find her on her blog, Facebook, and Twitter. 

Bragging About Your Child—Real or Book—Is No Way to Win Friends or Influence People

by Sophie Perinot

You see them in every playgroup—parents who aren’t really interested in the give and take of meaningful conversation. Instead, while Johnny eats dirt in the sandbox, they want to monologue about just how great he is. No matter the topic under discussion, they turn it in the same direction: “MY son. . .” (fill in the blank with a brag of your choice, often only very tangentially related to the subject at hand). Nobody likes these people. Nobody enjoys talking to them. Why then, I wonder, do so many authors model their social media interactions on these bores?

I’ve noticed quite a bit of this sort of blind self-centeredness lately, particularly in writing and reading related facebook groups. When I join a group devoted to say “Lovers of Mysteries with Dogs as Their Main Character” (okay I made that one up, but I don’t want to point fingers at actual groups or communities), I expect folks therein to share information on good books with doggy detectives, or links to websites to help me in researching or writing such tomes. Instead, what I am getting these days are nearly naked brag-ver-tisements—“My book ‘It’s a Dog Eat Dog World’ just got a super-duper review at ‘Dog books R us!’ Read it here. Or better still buy my book here, or here, or here.”

Come on fellow book-parents, if I want advertisements there are plenty running along the top or side of every darn website I visit. You’ve got a personal facebook page, probably an author FB page, and doubtless an author website where you can share good reviews and “buy it now” links. You can even directly and unabashedly promote your book at those locations (though the jury is out on how effective that will be for you). But the essence of communities/groups (even in the virtual world) is dialogue.

A hybrid of “boast posters” are the folks who share EVERY blog post they’ve ever written or will ever write to a facebook group, irrespective of whether it’s on topic. Sure, if you (or if I) have written a post that is germane to the topic of a group or comment thread (or touches on one of the subjects that you assume people follow you on twitter to hear about) then posting your link is a worthy public service. But if you are turning every conversation in the direction of yourself or your book-baby then spare us and save yourself the time (because pretty soon I for one am going to stop even looking at your posts because I already KNOW what they will say—some version of “my baby is so great.”)

As writers today there is a great deal of pressure on us to market our own work, and very specifically to have a presence in the virtual world. But I presume that an annoying presence seldom sells a book. If you join a community of like-minded people as part of your “building an internet presence” campaign, please try to interact with fellow members in a genuine, non-agenda-driven, manner. And for the record an interaction is neither effective nor genuine when it amounts to commenting on topics started by others about their book-babies PURELY for the purpose of turning attention to yours (“Oh Missy looks great in her tutu, but did I ever tell you about the time Mary did a guest appearance with the Rockettes?  Here’s the video link!”).

People can smell a pushy mama a mile away—whether in a school auditorium or on twitter.  If you are only talking and not listening in your on-line relationships you are wasting your time. People are going to start moving their chairs away. Want to get something out of your on-line-community participation?  Put something in.  How?  I can suggest two concrete ways:

Be a friend, make a friend. When another mom asks a favor of me in real life (e.g. can you pick up my kid tomorrow I have to go to the dentist) I am WAY more likely to go out of my way if I genuinely like that her and have a sense that she’d have my back if I was in pinch.  So in your author interactions build meaningful connections.  Listen to what other virtual community members have to say and comment intelligently.  Make friends rather than trying to score sales.  You may just get the sales to boot, because I buy books written by friends (folks I’ve gotten to know through writers conferences, through on-line communities and through their blogs), don’t you?

Gain influence by offering information and expertise.  I write historical fiction.  That means I know what other history nuts like.  When I read an article that makes me say “oh wow” (most recently an article having do with research on Roman toilets—to each her own eh?) I think, “who else would like to see this,” then I share it accordingly in the correct facebook group or using the appropriate twitter hash tag.  In addition, I take the time to comment, share experiences, or answer questions where my personal knowledge might assist someone else. A question about the difference between a Spanish and a French Farthingale?—I’ve got that.  A fellow writer wondering whether writers conferences are worth attending—I’ve got an opinion on that as well.  Be useful and before you know it you’ve built a “value niche” in the virtual world.  Can that help your book-baby?  I think so.  After all if I know that author X consistently exhibits an impressive knowledge of 18th century Italy, I am more likely to buy her historical thriller set in 18th century Rome.

And hey, think of it this way. . .even if being a full-fledged contributing member of an author playgroup doesn’t demonstratively increase your sales, at least people won’t wince when you pull up your lawn chair next to the monkey bars.

Sophie Perinot is the author of The Sister Queens(NAL/Penguin, March 2012) a novel of sisterhood set in the 13th century. Her debut was widely well-reviewed and made a number of “best of 2012” lists.

When Sophie is not chauffeuring one of her three kids or lint rolling the hair of one of her three cats she is hard at work on a new novel novel set in 16^th century France. 

Are You Getting Off?

As a debut author last year, I embraced the internet and all that it offered in terms of promotion, connecting to readers and colleagues. All those online interviews, blog posts, Facebook interactions, Twitter—all those things to get the word out about my novel—I did with gusto. In addition, I joined a few, private FB groups, where we shared information about our crazy publishing business—stuff that was affecting us all—good and bad.

This knowledge exchange and cross promotion was thrilling. It felt important and valuable, until it hit me that something insidious was happening. Over the year, I didn’t realize how many hours I was spending on Facebook, until my internal safety net, the one that filters TMI (too much information), had torn open. I plunged into a flood of data, bobbing and spinning down a scary, invisible current.

What strange, webby waters had I entered? What blurry ocean of online-ness?

I can only speak for my own experience, but my inner balance had tipped. My excessive online time had reached a point of disturbing my sleep, my rest, my sense of solitude. I’d toppled into a psychic whirlpool—one of my own making.

On walks around the city, which I do daily, my mind became entangled with other people’s Facebook posts and pictures. Random worries began to invade my thinking. If you’re a worrier like me, you’ll understand how this sucks holes in your brain. My psychic body was leaking, sinking, dragged down by www.overstimulation dot net.

Recently, I got stuck in an airport when my plane to Arizona was grounded due to a March snow storm. Luckily, I ran into two authors I knew—also bound for AZ (for the wonderful Tucson Festival of the Book). Together, we waited for our rescheduled flights. Over lunch, we talked about our favorite subjects: writing and books. Halfway through my salad, my friend said: “If you’re spending more than 30 minutes on Facebook every day, that’s too much. You should be spending that time writing your next book.”

A measly thirty minutes of Facebook every day? I was logging in way more than that. I felt ashamed of myself. Did I have a problem? Was I an addict? Clearly, my friend’s comment hit a nerve.

Since then, I’ve given this some thought and I’ve concluded that some of us can stay online at will, write new books and produce new work without feeling this data drain that I’ve experienced. But, some of us (i.e.—me ) need to unplug regularly and often. If I don’t step away from scrolling, linking and clicking, my energy begins to thin—a kind of mental osteoporosis (that, thankfully, begins to reverse itself when I take time off-line).

I’m going to try that 30-minute rule and see how I do. What about you? Do you get web fatigue? Or, are you unaffected by it? What strategies do you take to keep your balance?

***

Jessica Keener’s debut novel, Night Swim, recently landed back in the top #150 on Amazon’s paid bestseller list, and in the #1 spot in the Jewish Lit category. She is working on several new projects and hopes you will “like” her new FB author page to stay in touch as she continues to post pictures of clouds, trees, skies, flowers, books, Boston, New England, food (for up to or approx.. 30 minutes throughout the day, but who’s counting?).