How I Changed My Facebook Book's Page to an Author Page

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Sometimes I'm amazed at the things I just "happen" to catch on Facebook. Not long ago I saw a post on Facebook that helped me solve a dilemma I'd been wrestling with. An author posted on Facebook that she was changing her book's Facebook page to an author page--the exact thing that I'd been wanting to do but didn't think was possible! Here's the story:

I was playing with Twitter and I Followed another author under my Twitter handle for my Grandparenting Through Obstacles book, @GParentObstacle. The Twitter handle I followed is @ppmint777. Well, @ppmint777 sent me a thank you for Following her with this message:

@pprmint777:  Appreciate the follow! Find me on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/GivetheLadyaRide 

I clicked the link to check out her Facebook page, and there I just happened to see her latest post informing her fans that her page would be changing its name soon and they should see that change taking effect in a few weeks. Her name is Linda W. Yezak and her book is Give the Lady a Ride.

Her post caught my eye because this was the same thing I had been wanting to do but didn't think it could be done. I opened a Facebook Page a few years ago specifically for my book (about 2011, I think, when I was publishing my book Deliver Me). The best advice I was hearing back then was that we writers/authors should create Facebook Pages to connect with our readers.

Well... I remember thinking at the time that I didn't know exactly what would be the best way to do this. Name the page for my book? Create an author page? I already had a personal account under my name, so should I open another one under my name as an author? That didn't make sense. I wasn't sure, but I knew I needed to do something. So I decided to create a page for my most recent book. (My first book, Dear America, had been published ten years earlier and I wasn't quite sure what to do with that either. Create a page for it too?)

And then last August my book with co-author Renee Gray-Wilburn released and, together, we opened a Facebook page for it here: Grandparenting Through Obstacles on Facebook.

Since then I've had two more new books come out. And I have more on the way! What am I supposed to do? Open a new page for each new book?

That's just too overwhelming to keep up with. Plus, it's not a wise use of those contacts because they are all on separate pages. Doesn't it make more sense to cross-market all these books in one place, on one page? Sure it does.

Meanwhile I noticed a lot of my author friends were opening "Author Pages." I'd already started building "Likes" on my Deliver Me Book page and had over a hundred Likes. I hated to loose all that work and start over with a new Author page. But what else could I do?

That's why Linda Yezak's comment on her Facebook page so caught my attention. Turns out she had the same dilemma. Her Facebook page was for her book Give the Lady a Ride but she also has new books coming. She, too, wanted to convert her book's Facebook Page to an Author page.

So after I "Liked" her Facebook page, I returned to Twitter and wrote her this note. (Hope u can read my Twitter shorthand.):

@GParentObstacle: Liked your fb page. If u want to like mine it’s Deliver Me Book. Noticed ur changing to ur author name. Didn’t know we cud. Iwant 2 do same!

She responded to my note.

@pprmint777:  TY! Go here to change your name: https://www.facebook.com/help/271607792873806 Be sure to follow up with the email they send you.  

So I said:

@GParentObstacle:  THANK YOU!!! That is fantastic. Had no idea that was possible. I want to make it my author’s page instead of one book’s page!

And she said:

@pprmint777:  Me too. They wanted proof of business, and I told them an author page instead of a book page and didn't have proof. They let me change it.

After I did a little research on Facebook's Help page, I learned:

• You can edit your Page's name by clicking on "Edit Page," then "Update Page Info."
• If you have more than 200 Likes, you have to request the change (on the same "Edit Page").
• I didn't get an e-mail like Linda did because I had fewer than 200 Likes and could make the change myself. I didn't get asked to prove I was a business.
• If you have over 200 Likes, you can only request a change once, so think it through and make sure you choose a new name wisely because once you change it, it's set in stone.

The new name of my now-Author Page is https://www.facebook.com/DianneButtsAuthor

For once I left out my middle initial.

I recently heard a tip for doing radio interviews: be sure to give a website that is easy to remember. That's because a lot of people are driving or doing other things while listening to the radio and they can't write down your URL. So make it easy to remember! Boy that makes sense, doesn't it?

The problem is, when you have an usually spelled name and your website is your name, that can be hard. Frankly I'm just a bit weary of always having to explain that my name is spelled with two n's and an e. And then my middle initial is e. So this time I went with what I hope is an easier URL to give out and for people to remember. Because I want them to find me! And if they find me once, then they can find my websites and blogs, too.

But remember: if you change the URL to your Facebook Page, then any links you've put elsewhere won't work anymore. Which reminds me, I think I have a link at the right of this page for you to connect to my Facebook Page. I guess I'd better change that!

I've also posted a link to my (old) Facebook page in some Facebook Groups. I can't go back and change those since they're posts on the wall. So I hope savvy Facebookers will know what happened there. Just think, now you're a savvy-er Facebooker too!

If you don't have a Facebook Author Page yet, it's easy to set up. First you must have a personal Facebook account, so if you don't yet have one you have to do that first. Then you can create a Page here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php

Pages are different than your personal account (called your Timeline). Your personal timeline is for individuals and each person can have only one. Then you can have multiple Pages on that account. Pages are not separate accounts but are connected to your personal account and use the same login information. On Personal Timelines you get Friends and you Friend other people. On Pages you get Likes. There are other differences. See Facebook's Help section (click on the "gear" icon in the upper right of your homepage and you'll see "Help" on the dropdown menu). Then ask Help, "How are Pages different from personal timelines?" and you'll learn more.

If you're interested in seeing my "new" Facebook Author Page, please stop by here: https://www.facebook.com/DianneButtsAuthor.  I also put a new header on my Page which was fun. Tell me what you think of it in a comment either here on the blog or on the FB Page. I'd love it if you'd give me a "Like" too! Thanks.

Just this week I talked with another author who asked me what I planned to write about on the e-zine blog this month. When I told her what I had planned, she said she was excited because she, too, had been wanting to change her Facebook Page and didn't know how. So I hope this month's blog is helpful to you too in changing or creating your Facebook Author Page.


[CORRECTION: October 2, 2013 at 11:29: I mistakenly put the link to my regular Facebook account instead of my new Author Page so that link has been corrected. Thank you to reader Susan who informed me of my mistake!]

Tweetables:

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@DianneEButts - How to Create a Facebook Author Page  Click to Tweet


Related Articles:
5 Ways to Get the Word Out About Your Author Event - Learn how to create a Facebook event.


Hey guess what! I've joined Pinterest. (I'm still trying to figure out how to use that one.) If you're on Pinterest, you can now Pin my posts! (I hope this Pin It button works! If it doesn't work, please let me know in a comment.)