For most authors, using social networking platforms such as Facebook or Twitter sparks either looks like a waste of time or appears too challenging to be worth your time or effort.

But can Facebook be used to promote your new book or ebook? 

We cover dozens of book promotion methods within InfoMarketer’szone in great detail including tutorials, techniques and actual templates – social networking is one recent addition. 

Remember, social networking is all about getting discussions and social proof going – that can have a big impact on your sales. 

Here are 10 ways you can use Facebook to help promote your new book:

1. 600 Million people and growing, so the audience is big and getting bigger – it’s no longer just a teeny bopper “like” system

2. Simple to link up with existing contacts (friends, family, co-workers, etc…) where you can announce your book and get some immediate sales

3. Announce events such as book signings, teleseminars, webinars or other marketing sessions as “Events” which will get you some attention

4. Find some associated groups, associations, book clubs, etc… that may either buy your book or be intrested in bulk-buy or distributing your book

5. Customize your “cold” landing page where you give a way a “bonus” that gets people to “Like” you, after that they become automatically subscribed to your news feeds (your regularly updated wall content) which gives you another avenue to regularly reach your audience.

6. Post snippets of your book to get comments – your cover, an image from your ebook, a tip, etc…once people leave comments others typically swarm to snap up your book

7. Post case studies and testimonials (use Youtube for this as well) – get them to hold your book and often you will get a surge of sales from having the endorsement

8. Post weekly Q&A or FAQ around your topic to give value and get discussions going, then metion the link back to your book whenever you provide advice that would also be contained in your work

9. By posting regularly to your wall with great content (funny, real experiences, tips, etc…) you can build quite a large, loyal following. I would suggest you get an intern, part-timeer to post daily for you and watch your fans grow, you will notice more and more traffic coming your way

10. Facebook and Twitter content will become more relevant to search.  Google is already factoring in sites that are referred on social networking platforms into its calculation for authority on a given site, meaning that if you have thousands of people naturally liking your content and sharing your links with others your site will rise in the search engines.  In addition, Google itself just recently launched its 1+ search where users can rate content pages similar to what happens on Facebook and Twitter – so learning to communicate, share, participate and work that into your online marketing is here to stay, we may as well get used to it.