Facebook for Smut Authors Ep 4 – Finding and Participating in Reader Groups

Have you read the post guidelines for that group?

If you haven’t yet, ensure that you do so for each individual group before posting. You don’t want to get yourself in trouble for no reason when you could have prevented it with a few seconds of reading. Always, always read the rules before posting. 

Does the group allow open promotion? 

Many groups do not, so always be sure to check out the rules around posts before you do anything so you don’t run the risk of having your post deleted or getting yourself banned. Some groups will have a specific day of the week or a specific thread where you can do open promotion, so keep your eyes open, and if that’s how open promo works in that group, be sure to follow those guidelines.

In most cases you can circumvent the ban on open promo by reading through the book requests people have posted and responding to those if one of your books specifically fits their request. Book requests are such a great way to set your book directly in front of the eyes of someone that’s asking for exactly what you have. You might have to spend some time scrolling, but it can be so effective since people doing request posts are ready to start reading or buying books so your market is primed and ready. 

Does the group allow self-promotion? 

Some groups will only allow book recommendations if you’re not the author. Adding on to this, sometimes the group will allow self-promo but the specific book requester will refuse it in their post. If you come across a book request that specifically fits one of your books you can always alert a friend or PA about the post and they can recommend the book on your behalf. 

I personally don’t recommend apologizing for self-promo when you do it. You know your stories best and you know for sure whether or not it matches what that person is looking for. Just give them the title and author and probably half the time they won’t even notice your name and the author name are the same. That being said, try not to get overly gushy about your work when you’re doing self-promo. It’s enough to just give them the info without trying to add in an obviously biased opinion on your own work. If you’re unsure or uncomfortable, you can always add the caveat “If you don’t mind a self rec you can check out XYZ”.

Does the group allow links?

Some groups will allow book recommendations, but will not allow purchase links. In those cases you can still share the book and author name, but will have to rely on people taking the next step to search for your book.

Have you appropriately censored anything Facebook wouldn’t like? 

The groups don’t make censorship rules for funsies, but rather because if they allow certain content through they can get in trouble with Facebook. Get in trouble enough times and the entire group is at risk of being terminated. If you repeatedly put the group at risk that’s a good way to get yourself banned. Are you aware of what the Facebook Community Guidelines are? If you’re not, do yourself a favour and have a look so you don’t accidentally violate them. https://transparency.fb.com/policies/community-standards/

Unfortunately a lot of the guidelines are reliant on bots for enforcement and you can get flagged even if your post doesn’t actually violate the guidelines. To save yourself and the group any stress you’d be prudent to censor any nudity on covers, even if it’s just partial nudity such as male-presenting-nipples, or lingerie. In any text you should censor profanity or sexual words. Please be aware that even implied sexual content can get you flagged, so approach things with caution. Not everything will get flagged, or it may get flagged months later as the bots catch up, but it’s never a fun experience when it happens, so save yourself some stress where you can.

Have you read the ENTIRE book request and are you recommending accordingly?

I constantly see people pitching things on request posts that completely disregard a huge chunk of the original request. Please read the entire book request and take everything the poster is asking for into consideration. If you see another suggestion that absolutely does not fit with what was requested, and you’re comfortable doing so, you can add a comment to let the poster know, especially if it’s for your own work. If someone is looking for paranormal, for example, and someone pitches your contemporary story, you probably want people to know so they’re not getting disappointed if they choose to try it out.

Also, please do not do that whole thing of “I know this isn’t what you’re asking for, but you should read X” with your work. Don’t do it. Someone who wants to read your stuff will post sooner or later and you don’t need to use this tactic. 

Have you checked to see if the book you’re going to recommend has already been suggested?

You don’t always have to do this, especially on popular posts, but if there’s only a handful of comments, have a quick scroll through first. You can always add an “I second this recommendation” or similar to someone’s suggestion.