Guest Post

Guest Chick: Nora Page

We are so very delighted to welcome Nora Page back to Chicks on the Case today. She is the author of the Bookmobile Mysteries–the third in the series, Read or Alive, is out this week!

What My Cats Are Teaching Me About Social Media

Hi, everyone. Thanks for inviting me, Chicks! I’m delighted to be here and have been thinking about topics.

Like how much I miss visiting my library, currently closed for safety. Who’s with me on this? Everyone, I assume? It’s thematic to my books too. My main character, Cleo, is a senior librarian and chief bookmobile captain at a charming small-town library.

In the first book, Better Off Read, a toppled tree and tricky mayor take Cleo’s library out of commission. Cleo is devastated and would be even more worried now. Not that I’d write Cleo into a pandemic, but I imagine she’d still manage bookmobile deliveries. I picture her speeding to patrons’ homes with sanitized books and toilet paper.

I also considered cozy mysteries and what a comfort they are, especially in difficult times. The pleasant settings, supportive friends, helpful pets, fun crafts, and tasty treats… I’d love to escape to cozy land right now! Well, minus any murders.

But then came kittens. Right before my state issued stay-at-home orders, my husband and I added two kittens to our previously single-cat household. Yes, it’s a major increase in paws, but in total furry mass we’re still less than, say, a basset hound.

They’re little bundles of joy. Even our senior cat adores them. In cuteness worthy of a cozy novel, our tabby guy follows them around and bathes them when they snuggle up with him. It’s adorable! I have so many photos!

Which brings me to the topic of this post.

To reiterate, I’m stuck at home with a cute pack of cats. I have vast numbers of photos. I’ve shared some (okay, more than some) on my social-media pages, but even I realized I could go too far. So, I did the only logical thing.

I made the kittens their own Instagram account: @ThePurrSisters!

@ThePurrSisters

It’s fun, distracting, and embarrassingly more successful than my author page at attracting followers. If you have bored math students at home, they could calculate how fast the kittens are outpacing me.

I’ve had my Instagram page, @NoraPageAuthor, since March 2018. Let’s round to two years. I’ve made 530 posts and have 340 wonderful, awesome followers. As I write this, the kittens have had their page, ThePurrSisters, for two weeks. They’ve made 23 posts and have 295 followers. That’s almost 300 in two weeks! They’re crushing me.

So, what can I and other authors glean from the kittens?

  1. Know your brand and stick to it. This is super-easy when you’re a kitten. You’re fluffy, cute, adorable even when terrorizing furniture. All you have to post is yourself. For authors? Trickier, I think. No one wants daily photos of me typing. I mostly share posts about books, cooking, gardening, and outdoor prettiness, but clearly this strategy isn’t as successful as 100% kitten.
  2. Post regularly. The kittens’ Instagram account follows other pet pages. They’re all adorable, but it’s impossible to remember every furry face unless they appear consistently. I vow to post more, especially on Facebook. (Sorry, kind Facebook followers! I’ll do better!)
  3. Be nice. This is obvious, but pet pages take cuddly to heart. They follow back. They leave supportive comments. They collaborate. I love to share other authors’ books! If anyone wants me (or the kittens) to share a book cover or announcement, please reach out.
  4. Let your followers know how much you appreciate them. I am so grateful! But sometimes I forget to say this. How silly that kittens had to remind a writer to put feelings into words.
  5. Add kittens? Mmm… Maybe the key is kittens. I should add kittens to all my posts!

Authors and readers, what you enjoy seeing on authors’ social media? Bits of daily life? Book updates? Pets? Does anyone else follow pet accounts? You can confess to me. Even before the kittens, I was devoted to an uplifting German hedgehog, several celebrity cats, snails in dioramas, and a fabulously pampered squirrel.

 

Nora Page enjoys rainy weather, the perfect biscuit, and quiet evenings in with her husband and cats. You can often find her in the company of books. Read or Alive is her third Bookmobile mystery.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/norapageauthor/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NoraPageAuthor/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Nora-Page/e/B077YNCMFK%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

Website: https://www.novelmystery.com/

38 thoughts on “Guest Chick: Nora Page”

  1. Hi Nora. Congratulations on the release of Read or Alive. I enjoyed reading the first two Bookmobile mysteries and look forward to reading this one.

    In terms of what authors post on social media, I do like to hear about their books, of course. But also some tidbits about their personal life, but not too much. Some go too far and I think TMI! Pets are cute and fun to see since I don’t have any at home (allergies). And i love food and travel so any posts about those virtual meals and trips are enjoyed.

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  2. Your kittens are adorable, and I’m glad senior kitty loves them. I don’t follow any pet accounts, but I can see why they’re popular. After all, who doesn’t like looking at animal pictures? Congrats on the new book. Love the title and the cover!

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  3. Any animal is adorable. My retired-racer greyhound, Koda, is a big part of my social media and posts with him always get more likes/comments/etc. than anything of me. Oh well. As a follower, I like seeing pets and personal life tidbits, sprinkled with book information.

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  4. Ohmygosh those kittens are adorable! I think Nala would looooove to have a kitten of her own, but the cuteness factor would render me unable to do anything else but stare at them while one hand perpetually pets one or both of them and the other takes pics.

    I don’t do Instagram, but I’m reminded of when our kids were little. We have so many cute/funny/poignant photos of them doing cute/funny/poignant things …. and then they got to be teenagers. They were still cute/funny/poignant, but all they ever did was flop on the couch reading. A few of those pics go a long way. Needless to say, it was the death knell of our Christmas letter.

    Congrats on your new book! Can’t wait to read it!

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    1. Thanks, Becky! Aw…a kitten for Nala! But, yes, you’d have to get on Instagram to share all the adorable photos of them and they do make it difficult to think dark mystery thoughts.

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  5. I enjoyed reading your blog this morning, Nora. Your photos of the kittens and senior cat are just adorable! I’m anxious to read “Read or Alive” to see what Cleo is up to again. I’m also anxiously awaiting the reopening of our local library–it’s been too long since I’ve been inside.

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  6. Congrats on the new release, Nora — and thanks for visiting with us today! LOVE the kittens — so much fluffy cuteness!
    I’m intrigued by snails in dioramas. And I think you should share your recipe for the perfect biscuit on FB!

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    1. Thanks, Vickie! Let me make your day and direct you to the Instagram account @aleia for the fantastic snails in dioramas. They just recreated a scene from The Shining so it’s mystery appropriate too.

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  8. Yes, my Jack Russell, Ziggy, always gets far more likes than I do, so these are very wise words of advice. Too bad I didn’t start on Instagram when she was a puppy!

    Thanks so much for visiting the Chicks today, Nora, and congrats on the new book! We have a Little Free Library in our front yard, and I say, LONG LIVE LIBRARIES!

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    1. How fun to have your own Little Library! Yes, long live all libraries! I bet Ziggy would have a devoted following. Look how I’m pushing pet accounts! You’ll think I only stopped by to promote my kittens.

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  9. Welcome back, Nora, and congratulations on the new release!

    The purr sisters are absolutely adorable and have me as a new follower. (Of course, I follow you, as well!) So much social medium wisdom here! You and the kittens have inspired me.

    Now I’m off to learn about an uplifting German hedgehog. I think I need one in my life!

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  11. I relate so much! I started an Instagram page for our Austin shelter cats and they’ve blown me out of the water in number of followers! Your kittens are ADORBS!

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  12. Congrats on Read or Alive! (I’m going to follow you *and* your kitties on IG.)

    FB is really hard me to post on (at least the fan page) because I feel like all the content gets sucked into a black hole.

    If only we all could unleash cute kitty powers!

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    1. Thanks, Jennifer! The kitties and I are following you too. I totally understand about FB. I always feel like I’m missing friends’ posts. Your books are perfect (purrfect?) for unleashing cute kitty powers!

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  13. Oh my goodness–love your kitties so much! I just went over to Instagram and followed, though I am TERRIBLE at Insta…cannot figure out how to do anything, even find messages or people’s feeds. Every time I try, I end up running away again.

    And of course I love the Bookmobile series too! Hey, everyone, I got a sneak peek and it’s fantastic and you are going to love Read or Alive so much.

    Congratulations on your latest! Am so happy that you came to visit today–the cuteness is just what the doctor ordered for these trying times. xoxo

    ps: Nora and I have a launch party coming up on May 27, so please join us! https://www.facebook.com/events/211758516533192/

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    1. Thank you so much, Cynthia! Yay for our party! It’s coming right up! And thank you for feeding me bits of book news from Twitter, which terrifies me and I’ve never even tried to sign up for.

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  14. Aww, Nora, this post was so much fun! A lot of wisdom in that list. Huge congrats on the new book–it looks great! And we Chicks love you just as much as your adorable kitties. I was already an avid follower of You, but I just added Purr Sisters. You are an awesome photojournalist–the captions are so clever. On Insta I follow @rollyteacuppuppies. I know, I know–I shouldn’t b/c they are those tiny dogs bred to be even tinier, they can hardly walk their legs are so small, and their owners groom them a ton, like My Little Pony. But I am beyond fascinated by their general cuteness and promo videos. I share them with my Golden Retriever, who cocks his head in confusion. The cat turns up her nose.

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  15. Congratulations on your new release, Nora!! So excited for you ❤ Yes, cats are huge on social media! Speaking of, I'm going to follow your IG kitten page right now…and I might need to look into that pampered squirrel, too 😉

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    1. Thanks, Kate! There is something so comforting about cozy pet accounts. If you’re interested in the cute squirrel: @little_thumbelina_girl. So cute and an endearing backstory too.

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