Sunday, August 5, 2012

Nicholas Sparks Facebook Page


For an assignment in my New Media class at Southern New Hampshire University I researched three published authors’ Facebook pages to get a well rounded idea of how they present themselves to the public.  Research shows that certain practices help writers’ exposure to the public and I wanted to discover if those practices were being carried out. 

David Morrell has been a lifelong favorite author of mine so dissecting his methods might have been too easy for me.  His page does show much interaction with the public along with advertising for his work; a plus for a writer.  John Grisham’s Facebook page felt more like a platform for advertisement and not as interactive as Morrell’s site.  The author I’m choosing to take a deeper look into is Nicolas Sparks.  Is it because he’s in Southport, North Carolina right now and I might see him pass by in his car?  Maybe.

Sparks’ Facebook page has plenty to offer for his fans.  There are contests such as the Twitter party which offers chances to win an autographed copy of Safe Haven and other prizes.  The site also has a “Fan of the Week” posting that is decided by participation through wall posting and comments.  Sparks also shows his character by sharing moments from his charity work; the Sparks’ Basketball Camp.

The three necessitates to a good Facebook page are the Profile, the Pages, and the Groups.  Sparks’ profile is professional in the sense that he makes his followers feel a part of his work.  There are many pictures from the set of Safe Haven, being filmed right now just down the road, which is an adaptation of his book.  Though Sparks doesn’t actually post many comments to those commenting on his post his followers still seem satisfied that he is taking the time to update his page several times daily.

Sparks has pages of information on his work that are intergraded with games, fun extras, and calendar of events.  Getting information on anything Sparks is very easy through his Facebook account.

I didn’t see that Nicolas Sparks has any groups that he leads and being a full time author and advisor to movies probably doesn’t allow him time to follow many groups.  This is countered by the availability of the public to participate in any of his various games, contests, or interactive networking.

The advice for writers on Facebook is for them to be social, natural, consistent, and diverse.  Nicolas Sparks seems natural in his posting, often laid back with his picture posting.  He is consistent by dropping lines from movies, asking questions about his novels, and updating his account daily.  His diversity and social skills seem to lack slightly.  If Sparks would interact in the comment section like David Morrell does, then more people might comment for the chance to be spoken to.  His diversity ranges from one of his projects to another and in the multiple available pages, but not in random postings or comments or information on his personal life or perspective.

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