The We Love Memoirs group on Facebook is an absolute gift for us authors!
Alan Parks and I created WLM (We Love Memoirs) in 2013 hoping that we could provide a friendly place where memoir readers and authors could meet and chat. It has grown beyond our wildest dreams, currently having 6.7K members and is still growing. We discuss books and everything else. Deep, lasting friendships are made and meet-ups take place all over the world. Readers DO NOT appreciate authors who push their books at them, so we ask you not to discuss your own books, writing or products. There are plenty of other Facebook groups filled with authors blowing their own trumpets at each other, with precious few reader members. We are 90% readers, and 10% authors and we offer heaps of ways for you to make readers aware of your books. SEE BELOW.
(Note: Special thanks must go to the wonderful hardcore of authors and superb moderators we have in WLM already who are perfectly aware of all the things listed below and who have helped to make WLM such a big success.)
NOT PUBLISHED YET? No problem!
Make sure you are on the authors’ database by emailing me immediately: TopHen@VictoriaTwead.com
Message Julie Haigh to tell her your launch date and she’ll announce it in WLM.
Give We Love Memoirs a nice mention with a link at the end of your book, and Beth Haslam will give you a Thank You Thursday shout-out when your book is published. Message her with a screenshot of the mention.
How to make We Love Memoirs work for you…
FIVE MINUTES PER DAY
Most important – DROP IN REGULARLY. 5 minutes per day will do it. Get your name seen, chat with the members, ‘like’ people’s posts, welcome newbies. Just turning up when tagged is not enough. When people notice and like you, they’ll seek out your books.
DISPLAY AND OFFER YOUR BOOK
Around the middle of every month, we ask WLM authors if they’d like to offer an ebook as a prize to winners of games and competitions in the following month. This is a great way to be seen and get more reviews so look out for Author Alerts that pop up in the group. Julie Haigh or I may have some places available for next month, let me know or tell Julie if you want to be added.
SPOTLIGHT SUNDAYS
SPOTLIGHT SUNDAYS are a fantastic way to be seen and for readers to discover your books. If you’d like one, ask Julie Haigh. These places are much sought after and only go to authors who are seen in WLM regularly. Julie will need your cover image and EPUB file to give away to prizewinners. (Not a problem if you are in Amazon’s Select as we are a closed group and bots cannot gain entry.) As a bonus, our members are brilliant at leaving reviews.
FRIDAY FREEBIE FEATURE
If you’d like your book displayed as a Friday Featured book, send me or Julie Haigh your EPUB file, and front cover.
WEDNESDAY AUTHOR – STARTING FEBRUARY 2023
Every Wednesday, one author has permission to post 6-8 posts in the group during a 24 hour period. Wednesday Authors can talk about themselves, their books, share links, videos, images, give away books, or whatever they like. If you’d like to book a Wednesday Author slot, let me know and I’ll give you a choice of dates and show you examples of possible posts.
TELL US!
If you have an Amazon countdown, or your book is being promoted, Julie Haigh is really on the ball and will probably have picked up on it already and advertised it in WLM for you. If not, tell her or another moderator about it. Another event, like a radio interview, or an award? Tell Julie Haigh or another mod, and they’ll announce it in the group.
SPREAD THE WORD
Invite your readers, friends and bring in new members by mentioning us often on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (#WeLoveMemoirs) or blogs. Readers have voracious appetites, many read more than two books a week. If they like WLM, they’ll bring their friends. They’ll stick around and when you publish another, they’ll be waiting. If every author brought in 5 new reader members, we’d have well over 1500 new members instantly.
Follow @welovememoirs and Tweet using the hashtag #WeLoveMemoirs. Retweet other people’s #WeLoveMemoirs tweets and they’ll retweet yours.
Follow @Welovememoirs on Instagram and use the hashtag #welovememoirs
VIRTUAL PARTIES
Although we don’t allow self-promotion, we frequently throw fabulous 24 hour VIRTUAL PARTIES which give authors the opportunity to promote and give away their memoirs as prizes. Look out for email invitations and notifications in the We Love Memoirs group. (Not on the email list? Ask me!)
We have just ONE rule: NEVER SELF-PROMOTE. Do not start a post by mentioning your own book’s title, link or link to your own blog. Thinly veiled mentions of your book in a post are not welcome either. These are BIG turn offs to readers and not allowed in WLM. If you spend time in WLM, readers will ask you about your books or seek them out. If anybody asks you a direct question, of course you can reply. It is perfectly okay to recommend other books, just not your own…
Be warned, if you break this one rule, Clarissa the Crocodile will eat your post. Break it again and you’ll be shown the door without warning.
Anything Else?
Well, yes!
- We have a WLM Author Group (private so only we authors can find it or see the posts). We discuss covers, writing, anonymity, publishing, promotion, Amazon, advertising and a host of other vital booky stuff. Ask me or Alan, and we’ll let you in.
- I also run a private WLM Beta Readers Group. If you’d like to join to give your new book a final read-through before it is published, please message me or a moderator. Our beta readers will also leave honest reviews when the book is published. Please note, this is not a proofreading service, just a final check.
Thank you for reading, and we hope you enjoy WLM as much as we do!
Questions? Private message me on Facebook, DM me on Instagram or Twitter.
Victoria Twead – co-founder of We Love Memoirs
New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author