I have been exploring the Facebook pages of a few authors in my study of the potential of new media. I checked out the pages of Stephen King, V.C. Andrews, and Clive Barker. They are just a few of my favorites, I grew up reading these authors. I chose to critique Stephen King's page because the page is kept up well. It is maintained by Doubleday/Anchor books and states the page is not maintained by the author. V.C. Andrews and Clive Barker either aren't keeping them up or they are kept up by fans.
The first image you see on Stephen King's Facebook page is a huge wall of books. There is also a 'Like' link with what appears to be 3.9 million people who like Stephen King. If I'm not mistaken that is the population of Los Angeles.
There are great links for some upcoming projects such as a sequel to The Shining and apparently a prequel to be done by Warner Brothers. The most recent posting was yesterday so they do a good job of keeping the page up to date. There is a 'Likes' listing for what either Stephen King or Doubleday likes but it includes H.P. Lovecraft so I won't question it. Anyone who likes H.P. Lovecraft is OK in my book. It is nice to see fans are posting some of their finds on Stephen King so there is a circle happening here that shares the author's projects. The page promotes one project, a fan answers with a find of his own. I love that there is a hand written letter posted by King when he was fourteen years old and submitting to a magazine. In his letter he was a humble kid, it was very charming. The letter humanizes the super star author that is Stephen King. The page is littered with quotes by King, giving him a presence on his own page.
Overall, I think Mr. King's page really works well for marketing his genius.
Angel,
ReplyDeleteGreat review of Stephen King's page. I had visited it myself and was quite impressed. I like the way the site has pictures and info about King from years ago, which do allow his fans to see him as a real person.
Joan