Er, fans.
Ahem.
C'mon now.
One way or another.
Fans have naturally sprung to my mind for a number of reasons:
a. Here in the historic Hudson Valley and scenic Sound Shore
it's been hotter'n than a romance novel cover.
(Oh, look. There's one now):
and
b. Social media has been giving me absolute fits the last several weeks.
Oh, you don't understand "b.", you say. Aside from there being nothing more social than a bunch of broads playing mah jongg in a pool, you will have to take your lack of understanding up with evil boy genius Mark Zuckerberg.
Wait! Not that Mark Zuckerberg.
Because, quite frankly, I don't understand Facebook, either.
Well, now you're just being silly.
That's better.
On second thought, there's a reason why the social media giant's logo is a big, blue "F."
in a tailspin at Indy. 
Or wherever those Nascar folks go.
(Gotta love a sport where the cars dress up like cookies.)
And then it was strongly urged upon me that I should have a PAGE. A fan page. You know. For fans.
A PAGE...
Several things passed through my mind:
a. A singer they seem to play a lot as muzak in retirement villages in Florida;
b. Lancelot
Um, Lancelot Um....Lancelot
(Now that's what I'm talking about!) and other men in tights;
c. Identical cousin Cathy Lane's hairdo on the old Patty Duke Show;
(You know, "While Cathy adores a minuet [seriously?], the Ballet Russe
and crepe suzette, 
our Patty loves to rock 'n' roll, a hot dog makes her lose control, what a wild duet.") [What? No 'Nick at Nite'
in your house?];d. This guy:
and,
e. being a person who occasionally likes to sprinkle pixels on a blank screen as if they were croutons,
well, you know the drill.
and, e. being a person who occasionally likes to sprinkle pixels on a blank screen as if they were croutons,
well, you know the drill.
Yes, digressing again. (This is my writing process in action, folks.)
In any event, the dire consequences of converting my "Profile" to a fan "Page" has thrust (yeah, I said it) me into a social media hell that has left absolutely no time for anything else related to the computer.
Or pixels.
That's p-i-x-e-l-s.
Or even croutons.
Certainly not enough time to tell you all about The Language of the Fan. You know, one of the fun ways people communicated before there was Facebook.
Maybe next time.
Oh, would you look at that. Gotta go.
Taryn Kincaid is the author of an erotic paranormal romance, Sleepy Hollow Dreams. Her debut historical, Healing Hearts, a Regency romance, is available now from Carina Press, Please come visit her in social media hell, on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads and at her blog at http://dreamvoyagers.blogspot.com/
22 comments:
Um, so you didn't get a 'fan' page? :-P
I've been debating putting up a fan page, since like you I've been told the sooner you get one going the easier it will be in the future, when you have 5,000 FB friends and have to convert them all over to a page so you don't have to double post every thing.
But ultimately I think people would prefer to "friend" an author than to "like" their page (I know I do!). But I guess once you get too many FB friends you have no choice, unless you want to unfriend people, which may cause hurt feelings.
Sorry you're having such a hard time making the transition! Good luck with it!
I have both. Why? Because sometimes folks just don't want to hear about book/writing stuff all the time. So, on the "fan" or Author page, I keep it strictly writing/book/review related. On my "friend" or Profile account, I talk about everything. It gives a well-rounded view of both "sides" of me
I have both too, it's hard getting likes and easier getting friends but I am thinking positive for the future that will be my best path!
Cute post!!!
Pippa --
Honestly, I was too exhausted last night to go into the whole song and dance -- not to mention that I ran out of room...but the situation is this.
I know have a "Fan" Author Page that does not work.
And had to recreate my "Profile" page using a completely different e-mail address. So naturally, networked blogs no longer works and my blog posts aren't auto-published to either place like they used to be. The Author Page is missing essential elements, such as an "edit" button. And FB has been totlly non-responsive to my pleas and queries.
Shoshanna -- If you do it, just don't agree to their handy-dandy "click" if you want to convert your profile to page feature. It probably won't make that much difference for you, since you already have two different profile accounts. But I only had the one. And when I switched to Page, I could no longer see anyone else's comments on their walls and such, unless I made special trips to visit. Also, the Page is defective and doesn't have features -- EDIT -- that it's supposed to have! Also, can't get my Twitter tweets there and they won't go to the profile page because that's a different email address now.
When I clicked on the button, it just sucked up all my friends from the progile page and brought them over to the author page. Then it ransacked my email addies and such and started inviting people willy-nilly.
It' pretty much a horror show.
Might be time to check out Google Plus. NOT.
Yes, but you were smart enough to "create" a separate fan page, with a title like Suzy Q Author. And I wasn't. I just kept the Taryn Kincaid name. And the profile vanished.
Gettin' a little postmodern? Digital stream of consciousness? Love the images! Especially that guy who played Lancelot. Sorry Facebook is causing you grief. Unfriend it?
Ha! Hilarious. And I have both. Only because I started out with a regular page and finally made the jump to a fan page...
:)
Thanks for commenting, Susanna.
My life is essentially postmodern and stream of consciousness. And so it goes. (It really was my intent to do a blog post on The Language of the Fan, but digression is my middle name. Hopelessly sidetracked once I began my rant.
What I'm really hoping now is that I've used the name and logo of a certain social media giant enough times to get some actual face time, er, email time, from the "Facebook Team." But so far...nada.
Ah, I wish I'd figured it all out sooner, Karen.
Cute post. I don't really get Facebook either, but there are a lot of things I don't get, like JLo.
And then there's that other mystery of mysteries, Goodreads. LOL!
I have an author page but attracting fans in hard work! Fun post, or should than be fan post? Oh yes, and don't get me started on Goodreads.
facebook baffles me entirely. I hardly use it. I'll be sticking to my webpage!
I just have a regular page... I thought about a Fan Page, but I like the interaction of a regular page more.
I've created a fan page twice, and scrapped it twice. To be honest, I barely get to FB and now I have to go twice? If there were some handy way to make profile and fan page work in colloboration with each other, it would be big, big plus - but so far as I can figure, it's like having 2 separate identities.
Bah, I'm not a big FB fan, although I hear over and over how it's the best way to reach your readers. I like FB for personal stuff, such as sharing photos with family and friends, but I just haven't got the hang of it with author stuff yet. For now, I stick to twitter and blogging and will worry about the FB headache when (if???) I ever reach the 5000 threshold, lol
I have a regular page and a fan page, though frankly I don't update either like I should, since I've fallen into the habit of using Twitter and my blog for my author identity's online presence, while Facebook is where I keep up with my family and h.s. and college friends under my legal name.
Mmm, Ioan Gruffudd. He's one of those actors who should do nothing but historical or fantasy roles, IMO, since he just looks so at home and, well, HOT, in the costumes. (Sean Bean is another.)
Glad to see I'm not the only one that dislikes FB! I never used it for personal stuff, anyway, only for Taryn Kincaid stuff, even if I do offer comments more silly than writerly. Still, going to a PAGE seems pretty pointless to me now. Especially since the PAGE is defective!
Yes, Ioan Gruffud. Yum to the max!
Sean Bean goes without saying.
I would add Henry Cavill to that list. Though it will be interesting seeing him play The Man of Steel!
Thank you all so much for popping by.
Maybe next time...the real Language of Fans!
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