Tonight I am launching a takeover of Joanna Campbell Slan’s Facebook page. (Don’t worry! She invited me. 🙂 ) What this means is that at 7:00 p.m., I will be authorized to manage her page. I’ll pop in for an hour and chat with her several thousand readers. Introduce myself and Maggie Dove. It’s a fabulous opportunity, and I’ve been researching how best to handle it. Here are some tips.
Seven tips for a Successful Takeover
- Introduce yourself. This might seem obvious, except my first instinct is to go plunging in and start talking. The whole point of this exercise is to let people know who you are. So don’t forget to let them know who you are.
- Figure to post something every five minutes. (So in my case, that will be twelve posts.) Talk about your books, talk about your characters, talk about your dogs or other creatures in your life, talk about your newsletter. Of course, keep in mind the tone of the author you’re taking over. (This might not be the moment to explain what political decisions you’ve made.)
- Respond! Make sure to answer everyone who comments on anything.
- Include links. The easier you can make it for people to buy your book or sign up for your newsletter, the more likely they are to do it.
- Prepare beforehand. I work on the assumption that everything that can possibly go wrong, will go wrong. My computer will freeze. My dogs will start to bark. I will spill water. Etc. So I have all twelve posts lined up and my plan is to just cut and paste them in. Then I can relax and enjoy chatting.
- Have a giveaway. That’s part of the fun of a takeover! I plan to give out a copy of Maggie Dove , and an Amazon gift card.
- Thank the hosting author. In this case, @Joanna Campbell Slan, her assistant Christina Higgins and the most fabulous Kimberly Werntz.
Have you ever done a takeover? What suggestions do you have? And please stop by tonight! Would love to talk.
Susan Breen is the author of the Maggie Dove mystery series. Her stories have been published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine and Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. The MWA anthology, Crime Hits Home, in which she has a story, just won an Anthony Award. She teaches novel-writing at Gotham Writers and is on the staff of the New York Write to Pitch Conference. www.susanjbreen.com
Never heard of this! Break a leg!
Thank you!
Excellent! Have fun!!
Thank you!
This sounds so cool. I’ve never heard of it. And your prep work is perfect!
Thank you, Sharon!