Today we’re talking about Parties on Facebook. Some of the terms in this video might have different meanings and contexts outside of Facebook so for the purposes of this video, everything I talk about is exclusive to that platform. Some information will be repeated between this video and the other two videos in this series simply to ensure that both videos are fully informed in case you choose to watch only one of them.
If you’re a smut author and you’re not already on Facebook, I highly recommend that you make yourself an account for your pen name and hop on board. The reader groups there are filled with thousands of voracious readers just waiting to get their paws on your stories, and today I’ll be breaking down the ways in which those reader groups will let you highlight your work for the members.
Let’s start with Parties.
What Is A Party?
A Party is a group event similar to a Takeover that is most commonly to celebrate a book release, but can also be for cover reveals, general celebrations for holidays, author anniversaries, birthdays, etc.
What To Expect During A Party
These are not going to be hard and fast rules, but I’ll lay out the most common things I’ve seen with parties.
Before the Party:
Prior to the party starting you’ll likely be added to a group chat of all the participating authors where you will receive relevant information such as book covers and links if you’re celebrating a release. You’ll also likely receive the party graphic here, which is an image with the party name and all of the participating authors listed so you can spread the word about the party and encourage others to attend and interact.
During the Party:
You’ll probably be introduced by the host at the start of your time slot. If the party is drop-in there’s unlikely to be an introduction.
You’ll post your prepared posts, or, if you’ve pre-scheduled them, you’ll simply want to make sure they’ve gone up properly.
You’ll interact with everyone that interacts with your posts. You should also go through and interact with the posts of the other participating authors.
After the Party:
If you’ve done a game or giveaway during your slot, you’ll want to close out that giveaway in the next 24-48 hours. You don’t want them running forever. The reason being is that it will mess with the algorithm since most people are going to get the view of most relevant posts first. If your game or giveaway keeps being interacted with down the road then that can shove announcements, book releases, and even new party games down the ladder. To close out a game or giveaway you want to edit your post to tell people the game or giveaway is closed. If it’s a giveaway you can add that the winner has been contacted, and then you may want to turn off commenting, especially if it’s one of those games of a similar style to duck, duck, goose where the author has to go in and end it themselves.
Be sure to remove yourself as a moderator after the party is over, or at least once you’ve closed out the giveaway. To do this you’ll want to go to the members tab of the group. You’ll see yourself at the very top, then you just have to click the three dots and then click remove as moderator.
What To Post During A Party
Before I give you this basic list, please remember to read everything in the party instructions and follow those rules first and foremost. The below list will include a variety of post options that you can pick and choose from as is appropriate for the party you’re participating in.
A Congratulations Post.
If your party is for a book release or a specific celebration, you’ll want your first post to be hyping up the host, their new book, etc. Include book covers and links. This may not be a requirement for all parties, but please do be sure that you’re appropriately celebrating the focus of the party in at least one post.
Introduction Post.
This is where you tell everyone who you are and what you write. If you’re short on post spots you can combine this with the congratulations post. Your introduction post is different from the host’s introduction post. The host is likely only going to share an image with your name on it and inform people that you’re the next author that will be posting.
Book Promotion Post.
Highlight your work with engaging images that include your book title and book link so people can find your work. If at all possible, choose a book that fits with the theme of the party. If, for example, the host has released an omegaverse story and you have one of those too, your best bet is to pick that one for the focus. If you have room for additional posts in your time slot, you can have additional book promotion posts, either for a book that’s already out, or one that’s coming you want to get eyeballs on early. However, if you’re pressed for time, stick with one promo post.
Game Post.
People love games. Many people will have simple options such as using predictive text to complete a sentence, having a gif dance party in the comments, choosing book boyfriends using your initials, birthdays, shirt colours, etc. If the party has a theme, tailor the game to it.
Be mindful of your wording. Words like win, winner, winning, giveaway, contest, etc. could get commenters flagged for spam and could toss them in Facebook jail. This may not happen with every post that uses those words, but you want to keep an eye out because we don’t want to be punishing people for interacting with our posts. You can tell if this is happening because the post will say there are a certain number of comments, but it will not allow all of those comments to be shown. If you don’t keep an eye out for this, and you’re not available to alter the post should something of this nature occur, the host may have to delete your post to protect the party goers. This also applies to the next type of post on the list.
Giveaway Post.
Here is where you give people a chance to win something. Maybe it’s a copy of your book, or an Amazon gift card, or some swag. What you choose to give away is entirely up to you, what you have available, and how much money you’re willing to invest. Some people combine the game and giveaway post, choosing a winner from the game participants. Others may require people to follow a specific platform, or similar, to qualify for an entry into the giveaway.
Outro Post.
Here is where you tell everyone how to find and follow you. Include your links and handles to make it easy for people. This is also where you remind people to pick up their copy of the host’s book if you’re celebrating a book release. And also thank everyone for being there and for participating.
Things To Consider When Posting
If the host is introducing you don’t post at the very beginning of your slot so that the posts don’t overlap.
You can label your posts to make it easy for people to find them. To do this you can simply add your author name with a hashtag, and you can also number your posts as well if you choose.
Put an image with every post. People like pretty things to look at, so the more eye catching things you can give them, the more likely they are to see your posts and interact with them. GIFs work as well, but if you want to provide extra information or if you don’t know how to make them, that might not be the best option available.
Post 5 minutes apart, but be sure to keep within your time slot. Many party hosts will give you a post maximum to follow and you don’t want to step on the toes of the next author on the list. If you have a longer slot that’s an hour long, you may want to space out the posts so you don’t have to create quite as many, but that’s entirely up to you.
For example, say you have a 30 minute slot at 6pm. You might leave the 6pm spot open for the host’s introduction post. At 6:05pm you can post your congratulations post, at 6:10pm your introduction post, at 6:15pm your book promo post, at 6:20pm your game or giveaway post, and at 6:25pm you’d have your outro.
Make yourself templates so that you can adjust and tailor to individual parties and save yourself some time. You can make a template for each of your books, and I would recommend having a few different games you can cycle through, especially if you’re going to be doing parties regularly. If you write commonly in a specific sub-genre you can have games tailored to that, but also have some more general ones you can use as needed.
Important Things You Need To Pay Attention To
Mod Powers
You are very likely to be granted mod powers in the host group so that you can pre-schedule promotion posts. Not every group will do this, but most will. To clarify, when you get mod powers for events like these you are NOT to use them for anything outside of the event. Don’t approve member requests, don’t mess with other people’s posts, etc. Those powers are just to make your time more convenient so you’re not caught waiting for post approval.
Time Slots
Unless your event is drop-in only, you’re going to have a specific time slot for your posts. Most of the time you’ll be given that info in Eastern Standard Time, so if you don’t live in that time, be mindful of the time zones so that you don’t miss your spot.
Post Requirements
Depending on the type of event you may be asked to focus on a specific theme, to have a giveaway, to hype up a specific book, to promote someone else’s book, etc. Many events will have a post minimum and/or maximum so be sure that you fall within those guidelines as well. When you sign up or apply to one of these events all of that information should be made available to you, and if it’s not, you can ask.
How To Get Involved In Parties
There are a few ways to get involved. Your options are to be invited to a party, to see one in the wild and sign up for it, or to have a third party bring you in.
If an author friend is going to be having a party they’re probably going to post it in their reader group, in group chats, and they may invite you directly before opening it up to the wider community. Some host groups limit the size of parties so that may have an effect on if the party is ever shared past direct invites.
Get yourself into some group chats. Even if you only have a single author friend, ask them if they know of any parties, and if there’s an applicable group chat that they could invite you into. People will often share upcoming parties there that you can join. Also don’t be afraid to simply post and ask. Let your followers know that you’re interested in participating in a party and maybe someone will have a lead for you. The networks are vast with authors and readers and you never know who could see something and give you an opportunity.
I got into my first parties because of friends that were participating in parties that weren’t fully booked, so the host allowed them to invite anyone they thought might be interested. I didn’t know any of the hosts directly, but it was a good way to get my foot in the door. When you are invited to a party you are very likely to be presented with a link to a Google sheet where you can provide some relevant information and claim your spot.
If you have an author assistant or PA, they can find you parties as well. Through their networks they’ll be aware of parties that are open and can sign you up with your permission. The PA of the host may also offer you a direct invite if they know that you write similar stories to the host and can bring your audience with you.
How To Host Your Own Party
For starters you will either need your own reader group or you will need another group to host your party. This could be one of the big themed reader groups or maybe an author friend that writes the same subgenre as you has a particularly active group they’d like to offer you the use of for your party.
If you want to host in an author friend’s group, you can talk to them directly about that. If you’d like a large reader group to host then they probably have some policies and procedures already in place for that and you can head on over to their group and see if there’s accessible information for how to apply for a party.
Are Parties Worth It?
This entirely depends on who you talk to and what “worth it” means to you.
Do you want to celebrate new releases and engage with the author community? Then parties are where it’s at. It’s open support of your colleagues and it gets new eyes on your work at the same time.
Whether or not you choose to participate in these events is entirely up to how much time and energy you want to commit. If you’re a newbie they can be very valuable, but I’m also seeing more established authors say the Party train is slowing down and not offering them as much benefit. My philosophy is that you shouldn’t knock it til you try it when it comes to book promo because what works for individuals is wildly variable. Test them out for yourself and see how they work for you.
That’s all for now. I hope you found this helpful. You can find all of my books and platforms below. If you have questions or suggestions for future episodes, please do let me know. And if you’d like early access to these videos you can join my Patreon where I share them with people as soon as they’re ready to roll. Thank you so much for listening and I’ll see you soon for another episode!
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OMEGAVERSE
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2021 Omegaverse Collection – contains First Heat, First Heat: Second Chances, Heat Play Love, Conference Confidential, and 2 bonus shorts https://books2read.com/OV2021
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