Facebook Groups could be your key to engaging readers and (eventually) selling your books.

Whether you are an active Facebook user, or you’ve just joined, Facebook Groups are a great way to interact with like-minded people. They are formed by individuals and organisations to promote causes, companies, or interests. If you haven’t explored Facebook Groups you really should as part of your audience development strategy… and to sell books.

When you join a Group check through their posts, read the About page, and adhere to their conditions. Whatever you do, DON’T post pictures of your book straight away. Interact with people – a Like or a Comment here and there will demonstrate that you want to be part of a group, not cynically sell to it.

Only when you’re comfortable with the way the group operates should you mention books you’ve written. Far, far better is to recommend other people’s books (preferably, but not exclusively, your fellow Wordcatcher authors!).

Join lots of groups and find the ones you like. Invite other authors you know to them to help them to expand their sphere of influence, and hopefully others will reciprocate and think of you. So, don’t be surprised or offended if other people suggest groups for you to join. You do not feel compelled to do so, and accept the invite in the spirit it is given – as an opportunity to meet new people.

We don’t want everyone in the same places, but crossover is good, and it can help a small group to grow more quickly if you invite 5-6 new members when you join.

Get involved in discussions but DO NOT be pushy about your books. Be a figure of authority who helps people and engages professionally in conversations. It’s likely that you find it pushy when people post with ‘buy my book’, so don’t be that person yourself.

Oh, and one last thing – you’re always on show as an author – so check carefully what you write BEFORE you post it – every time. Nothing makes an author look bad faster than a poorly written post. If you can’t take care when writing a short post, what does that say about a whole book?

Interact as much or as little as you can. But, like the warnings for excessive gambling, when the fun stops, stop. When you find yourself losing hours to Facebook Groups without return, it’s time to re-evaluate and pare back on your time. Set yourself a limit and stick to it. Read a few posts – don’t try to ‘catch up’ on everything you might have missed.