Ever since Facebook became a publicly traded entity, the site has been a pain in the peace pipe for those of us with fan pages. It seems like every day I learn some new, despicable practice of theirs. For instance, we all know it doesn’t matter how many people like your page, only a minute fraction of those people will actually see your posts…Unless you pay to promote them. Oh, and if you do pay to promote a post or two, Facebook will make a note of this and allow even FEWER people to see your posts in the future, as they now know you are willing to pay for more visibility. You also can’t post images with your logo on it, for fear of Facebook flagging the image as spam. And I just recently learned that holding any sort of contest or giveaway through your fan page is strictly forbidden.
A couple of weeks ago, I was chatting with the lovely Rhonda Ramsey. She sent me a link about Facebook’s new cover photo restrictions regarding text ratios. Apparently, if the text amounts to more than 20% of your cover image, Facebook may shut your page down. Why? Because puppies-forbid you should host a fan page, with your own logo or website address or whatever, for FREE on Facebook. Puppies-forbid. Luckily, there’s a “compliance tool” at the link where, unless your cover photo is a beach scene, you can check to see if your page is in violation.
Needless to say, I went into a tizzy because this conversation between Rhonda and me occurred about a week before Blood in the Past’s release and all I could think about was Facebook shutting down my page right around the time of my release, thus ruining my entire life. So I immediately contacted Kit at www.kitfosterdesign.com and asked him to alter my cover photo logo to include just my signature, placing the logo in compliance with Facebook’s stupid rules. Although I haven’t changed my cover photo yet, I plan to if my page is suspended. My brand is very important to me. That logo is everywhere. And only dire circumstances can make me take it down. That being said, here is the new cover photo…
…which prompted the idea that I should join Authorgraph! Which I did! If you have a copy of Blood in the Past and would like a signed cover image with a personalized inscription, by all means, request one!
journeyofjordannaeast 
I didn’t really want to have a facebook page because I find it quite restrictive but forced myself into it. These new rules just seem so petty…
They really are. But until more people are active on g+ I have to stick with it. Ugh.
I know. I hope people make the switch soon. I find Google+ a lot easier to use.
Me too. And no stupid, money-hungry rules.
It’s messed up I stressed you out, sending you the information, and I have no idea whether or not I need to change mine!!
I am loving that autograph, Ms East!!!!!!
It wasn’t you, it was Facebook. Haha. Did you upload your cover photo to the compliance tool?
I … didn’t … even … bother …
Sigh
Haha. Classic Rhonda.
Haha!!! I’m going to. Ahem. I think.
Well good luck with that. You could always change it to a beach scene, haha.
Okay, that’s really weird. That’s what I’m working on, right now for a (free) wix site ..
freaky.
Maybe I am in your house…
(looks over shoulder)
I don’t wanna’ play this game, anymore
😦
Lmao!
Ugh. Great! I’m wanting to keep this page now less and less. Text graphics is what I do! Now I have to take that down? *headdesk*
You can wait to be reprimanded like I am. Haha.
Why avoid the Christmas rush? lol
Haha
Wow just read the new guidelines. I’m like an inch away from just deleting my facebook altogether. This is nonsensical nonsense.
I completely understand. But right now most of my exposure is through facebook. If more people would gravitate to g+, I would definitely leave. But they have me by the lady-nads. 😦
They have everyone by that, that’s the only reason they’ve survived. I guess I’m mostly lucky that I don’t have many people on my FB page lol
Lucky indeed.
Hahaha. I don’t feel lucky. 😛
I love Authorgraph, it’s such a neat idea – although I confess I haven’t had a lot of requests. I think a lot of people don’t really get the concept. As for Facebook – I really suspect they’re going to monetize themselves out of existence. Well, I guess they’ll continue to exist – even MySpace still exists – but I know I use Facebook much less than I used to, both for advertising and for personal use. So far, I’ve managed to combine my personal profile with what little book promotional I do on the site – but yes, I made the mistake of paying to promote book-related posts once or twice and now even fewer people see new posts from me.
You might want to check out BookBub and Kindle Nation and PIxel of Ink and do some advertising at those sites – they’re much more useful for selling books than Facebook posts have turned out to be.
I think Authorgraph is a pretty neat tool, also, though I don’t expect the requests to come flooding in either.
Facebook is definitely going to disappear. I can’t wait. I wouldn’t even use my personal account if it weren’t for all the friends I have spread out throughout the country and the world.
Thanks for the marketing tips. I already planned on using Pixel of Ink on a sale day, but hadn’t heard of the other two. 🙂
It’s too bad Facebook has drifted away from the original purpose – used to be a great cheap way to communicate with long-distance friends for me too.
That’s crazy! I didn’t know all of that was going on with Facebook pages. I guess that’s why EVERY single post made they ask me to buy an ad. I’m too cheap for that. It sucks that fans can’t see what you post. Then what’s the point of even having a separate page from your personal account?
Keep smiling,
Yawatta