Tag: Michael Allen

The Power of Facebook for Writers – Part Two – by Michael Allen

Author/Screenwriter Michael Allen
Author/Screenwriter Michael Allen

Back in the beginning of January, Michael Allen provided us with an intense post about Facebook pages.  If you missed it, you can read it here.

Today we welcome Michael back with the second installment of his “Power of Facebook for Writers” post.  We’re going to pick up where he left off, after you’ve created your page…

Now, you want to promote your book page. One very effective strategy is to have a giveaway.  Let rafflecopter.com handle that for you. Start a giveaway and make it worth someone’s time.

I’d say an autographed copy of your book would make a great first prize.  But, you can have other gifts as well. Cafepress.com makes it easy for you to offer coffee cups, tee shirts, hats, bags and much more. Putting your book’s cover on a coffee cup or a tee shirt makes a handy gift for a giveaway. Continue reading “The Power of Facebook for Writers – Part Two – by Michael Allen”

The Power of Facebook for Writers – Part One – by Michael Allen

Author/Screenwriter Michael Allen
Author/Screenwriter Michael Allen

Facebook can be very powerful if you know how to use it. But, I’ve talked to plenty of indie authors who simply don’t see the effectiveness Facebook can have on an online marketing campaign. If they only knew a few things about what Facebook can do, they just might have a better time using this extremely powerful social media platform.

First of all, there is a personal profile and then there are pages that you can create. A personal profile can only have 5,000 friends. That’s why I suggest you make that into information about who you are as a person, not a book page. Provide information about your work and education. Highlight your interests. Add friends that you really know and even indicate who is in your family. In other words, be real. That is your real profile and it should be only about you.

Of course, you would mention that you are a writer and list all your books. That’s perfectly fine. So, then create a page for each book. Some writers find this a little too much. But remember, the Facebook experience is for you to define. So if you don’t want a page for each book, then simply create an author page where you can list all of your books. Continue reading “The Power of Facebook for Writers – Part One – by Michael Allen”

The Fun of Writing Screenplays by Michael Allen

Author Michael AllenI can’t speak for other writers. But when I write, it’s with the big screen in mind. When I’m writing a novel, I’m actually picturing it as a movie. So, it was only a matter of time before I started learning the art of writing screenplays.

My first screenplay was for a Walt Disney internship. I wrote a story about a writer. How novel! Anyway, I didn’t get the internship. But, I did get launched into a whole new writing direction. I have written over ten screenplays now and I can’t say that my journey is the best way to go about getting there, but it makes all the sense in the world.

Where to Look

It seemed like nothing I wrote was ever going to be made. I couldn’t get past the gatekeepers to save my life. Breaking into the industry as far as I’ve been able to get simply landed on my lap from a producer out of Maryland. He has a contract with a cable network and was seeking a writer to make a movie out of his concept. Continue reading “The Fun of Writing Screenplays by Michael Allen”