Hi, Dienece Darling here. Today, I’m sharing some of the Facebook Groups I like to hang out in as both a reader and a writer.
Let’s face it. Readers need authors and authors need readers, but we can’t all live in a bookstore for the rest of our lives (such a pity.) This forces us out into the wilds of the internet to find each other, and some places just aren’t worth hanging out.
Has this happened to you?
Reader, you’ve gone looking for a Christian book only algorithms mislabelled a general market as Christian, and you don’t find out until chapter 5. Or maybe you joined a Christian Facebook Group only to get spammed with book ads.
Author, you’ve spent hours creating graphics and promos for your book launch, only to hear crickets when you post to a Facebook group. Or worse, the only interaction is from people trying sell their services to you (or asking if you’d send them the book for free…).
Not all Facebook Groups are made equal, that’s for sure!
So, here are some of the groups I’ve found beneficial (aka not spammy) to hang out as both a reader and a writer.
Australasian Christian Writers
Yes, shameless plug here, but I have found Australasian Christian Writers Facebook Group beneficial (and to be clear, I mean the private group). Here’s why.
As a Reader:
- They only review or promote Christian or Christian World view, even if the author is a friend of the admins.
- They post a monthly new release blog, an easy place to find new books.
- Regular devotional blogs—oh what a blessing these have been to me!
- In-depth book reviews. It’s not just a few trite words or the odd trope. The blogger includes the full book blurb then they give specifics about what they loved about the story and what type of reader it will appeal to.
- Reader, you can post in this group! Keep it Christian and polite, but let the members know what books you loved or a reading meme that cracked you up.
As an Author:
- In addition to the writer life blogs published on the website, members are encouraged to post helpful articles for improving our craft, pitfalls to avoid, spam warnings, and other author related-quality content on the Facebook Group. And they do. It’s great.
- You can request an author interview or to have a blogger review your book (you must provide the book for free).
- For a small fee, you can join the blogging team (like I did!).
- Your new release can be announced in the monthly new release blog post.
- You can promote in the group with posts, just read and follow the rules please.
- Bloggers reader’s magnets are promoted on a 5 weekly schedule and their books are added to the Book Table page.
- Members who pay can have their books placed on the book table page with links and a short blurb.
Other Places I Go
Christian Writers Downunder
Reader, I found this group tends to have nonfiction inspirational, fantasy, or general market fiction written by Christians, particularly books set in Australia. They have a quarterly blog post listing all the new releases in one easy to read place.
Author, this group is fantastic for providing feedback. Want to know if your cover works? Wondering if you worded the blurb right? Ask, and the helpful members will answer! You can also have your book listed in the quarterly member blog and advertise your book on the page yourself (but only once).
Gorgeous Georgians
Reader, are you a fan of Laura Frantz and her fellow admin authors? Love the Georgian Period (roughly 1700-1830)? Then this is the place for you. Members get to interact with the admin authors, post what you like about their books, and get insider information!
Author, we can’t promote here, but I come to learn about my readers because I write Georgian England romance. This group houses my future audience. I should start learning what they like!
Around the world in 50 (minus 1) books
Reader, this group is so much fun! Every week, it’s a new book set somewhere/sometime in the featured country for that month (January was Australia, February was Cananda, and so on around the world). Many of the authors have heavily discounted their books when it’s their week, so lots to read for less money spent (win, win!). Plus, while I’m reading, the author is posting on Facebook for the week, telling me about themselves, pictures of the locations in the book, inspiration for the story, and little snippets of their day. It’s like reading the book with the author. It’s so much fun!
Author, we can’t promote here, but we can learn so much about marketing and interacting with readers. Plus, you never know. They might do this again one day, and you’ll be ready with your own book to submit! It’s all about making good connections and relationships and learning what to do. Plus, I became an author because I love books, so I’m here to read. 🙂
Inspirational UK & Ireland – Books, Readers & More!
Readers, if you want a Christian book set in the UK (historical or contemporary), this is the place to go! With their Take-Over Tuesday feature, authors do more than just tell you about their new release. It’s a get to know the author, photos of settings, pictures of the hero or heroine. Lots of fun, but it’s only on Tuesdays and one author at a time. So, your feeds aren’t overrun. For the rest of the week, the admins post once a day on a topic, and members interaction in the comments of that post.
Authors, do you have an inspirational book set in the UK coming out (historical or contemporary)? You can sign up to do a Take-Over Tuesday. You’re the only person posting on the Facebook Group that day anywhere from 6-10 posts max (please check the rules). This means you don’t have to worry about the algorithms because at least one of your posts should reach all the members of the group. And trust me, they do go looking for the rest of them. There is also usually a weekend post created by the admin where you can comment about any writer news.
Editing Insiders with Janyre and Sarah
For Authors only, this is an awesome place to pick the brains of two talented editors. That’s right, you can post questions about formatting, spelling, commas, wording, and these two respected editors will tell you how it’s done!
Inspirational Regency Readers
Readers: This group has a base structure with interesting things like ‘Workforce Wednesday’ (a weekly post about a type of job available in the regency period. Did you know there used to be someone who collected rags off the streets?). And that’s just Wednesday’s theme, every day of the week has a topic where you get to interact with famous authors like Erica Vetsch, Julie Klassen, and Michelle Griep (sorry, just fangirling here for a moment). While other authors are allowed to post about their books, that’s been kept to a minimum, and readers are allowed to post too (just follow the rules)!
Authors, you are allowed to promote your books if they are regency inspirational! You should of course take part in the group, follow the rules, and don’t over-promote your book.
Love the post. I totally agree about some that are just buy my book and no interaction. The other issue with a few I joined but left was they are public groups meaning anyone can read the posts not just members and I started getting a lot of spam messages on messenger and friend requests that I traced back to these groups so if the group isn’t private I won’t join.
I recently joined Fiction full of Faith which is still defining some things but I enjoy. Twice a month they have an author do a takeover for a day or two with questions to readers and so far it hasn’t been hard sell like use to happen at a group I was in. They post inspirational quotes and have a readers question on Wednesdays and allow readers to post a link to a review on a blog or review on Tuesdays and Thursdays although most are only doing this Thursdays. I know they have some other plans. And while this has both reader and author its focus if celebrating Christian fiction and reader focused.
I am on Avid readers but find that while its meant to focus on readers I find if a reader posts a question for other readers authors tend to take over give an authors point of view not what the reader is asking.
I hear you! Tracked a few messages and friend requests back to some groups as well.
Thank you for introducing me to Fiction Full of Faith. Looking forward to more interactions with this group. And thanks for letting me know you enjoyed the post and for letting us know about some of the places you go. Appreciate it!
Hi Dienece, Thanks for sharing your excellent post and comprehensive list of groups.
Christian Writers Downunder is one of the original Facebook groups that was established when Facebook first offered the option to set up groups. Many groups come and go, but CWD has staying power and has remained relevant for more than a decade. The admin teams behind the Facebook groups are the reason that groups like CWD have evolved over time to meet the changing needs of their group members.
I second what Jenny has said about Fiction Full of Faith. I’m doing an author takeover there this week (8th March) and I believe Carolyn Miller is scheduled for an author takeover in April.
Avid Readers of Christian Fiction is helpful for finding book information. I will search there for books on a specific topic. Like with all groups, it’s buyer beware and I do my own research on the books before reading/buying.
It’s hard to find good quality new-to-me books and I appreciate book recommendations in the Facebook groups that can point me in the right direction. 😊
Looking forward to seeing your ‘takeover’ week next week.
I had no idea how long CWD has been around. That’s impressive! Thank you for sharing.
For me as an author, (and as a self-published author) the best two groups have been ‘Christian Indie Authors’ and ‘Wide for the Win’ (not a Christian group at all) but fantastic if you don’t want to be exclusive to Amazon for finding out how to get your sales moving at other retailers – very experienced people in the group.
Thanks for letting us know!