 MORE Partying! Bandita Style…. resized.jpg) Posted by Jeanne Adams Aug 16 2012, 2:21 am
In another one of those Bandita discussions that often go on in the Lair, several of us started talking about Facebook, and Fan pages and Twitter and all that Social Media jazz. Now, nothing beats the fun we have in the Lair, but sometimes, it’s also really fun to join in with you, or Bandita Buddies, or our other Banditas on Facebook. Laugh or share just a “quickie” (ooh-la-la!) on Twitter. Beth, Nancy and I, slackers that we are (well, I am, they’re not!) hadn’t yet set up Fan pages. Unfortunately, I’m nearing my limit on being able to have Friends on my personal page, so I was staring down the barrel of making a Fan page. So was Beth. And Nancy, with her upcoming release in November, was joining me in the grumble-fest about creating Fan Pages. Anna C, Donna (resident promotions smartypantses), and Tawny, (web guru extraordinaire), along with her amazingly talented fellow web whiz Trish, kept encouraging us to Just Do It. Then our web designer got involved. Many of you know Liz Bemis, of Bemis Promotions. Like all of us Bandits, she’s a Golden Heart Liz knows websites. And she knows allllll about how to maximize Twitter and Facebook and make it look damn pretty while you’re at it. Grins. I had a meeting with Liz about my site and she got on the “Get Social Media Savvy” bandwagon. “Why don’t you just put one up (a Fan Page), then do a contest and invite everyone from your personal page to LIKE your Facebook Fan Page?” Uh-huh. Picture my deer-in-headlights, you-can’t-make me expression. Don’t get me wrong I LOVE technology. I love gadgets (when they work). I just don’t like all the time it takes to do, undo, redo, and resettle something I thought I had already learned. Take Facebook, for example. I like my personal page. I don’t like that Facebook keeps changing how you see it, what the parameters are, and how the timeline works.
That whined, I LIKE it like it is. *sigh* But it can’t stay that way because I’m about out of room. Twitter, on the other hand, I “get” and they don’t mess with it too often. I like that. You get 140 characters of commentary. Keeps you from running off at the mouth – one of my constant failings – and makes you edit really well. Grins. Or get QUITE creative with your spelling. SNORK! I’d like to just keep the status quo, but technology marches on and I must go with it. :> Oh, and I have to admit that Liz won me over by telling me, in detail, just how easy it was to create a Fan page. I began thinking – always dangerous! – about how to introduce this new “thing” I was doing, that everyone else was already doing. Nancy and Beth and I started talking, then we got a few others involved, and well…next thing you know, in typical Bandita fashion, we’d planned a party. We even roped Liz
THREE MONTHS? Ohhhhh yeah. Do we know how to party or what? We’re giving away prizes once a week for the next three months, starting next week! EVERY WEEK!! YIKES!!!
Nancy, our newest, and soon-to-have-her-book-out (in ebook and PoD) published Bandita is giving away a dragon goblet (no dragons in the book, but OMG gorgeous!), a Renegade prize package and some other goodies to celebrate her November release of her debut novel, RENEGADE. (Don’t you just ADORE that cover? Yum, yum, yum.) Beth is giving away TWO - count them TWO! - of her trilogies as sets. Donna is giving away a totally cool package of Japanese-themed goodies along with her Cassanova Code. OMGosh, these Japanese themed items are so COOL! To promote my October release, Deadly Charms, and its charm bracelet theme, I’m giving away silver charms. Trish is giving away a set of her Teagues of Texas trilogy and other book prizes. Tawny is giving away a totally cool Karma Cafe gift basket, and the trilogy of her Christmas books, including the December 2012 release, Nice and Naughty. And Liz is giving away some special web/design goodies that you just won’t believe. Check in with allll our Facebook Fan pages and you’ll see the FULL LIST!! And that’s just for starters! There are prizes each week for the next 12 weeks. Yes, I said TWELVE weeks!
An eReader. A package of RITA Nominated books. The rarest of the rare – a copy of The Education of Mrs. Brimley – and other books by Donna MacMeans. A silver charm bracelet from Tiffany’s. MORE books. Trilogies. Themed items. REALLY GREAT STUFF!!! So what’s the catch, you wonder? Ahhhhhhh. You have to get techie. Not much. Just a little bit. You have to go to Facebook and LIKE our Fan Pages. Then click on the little icon on each page that says ROMANCE BANDITS and fill in your name and email address. That’s it. (Too easy? Okay, you can follow us on Twitter too, if you want.) Pretty cool, eh? So what about you, Bandita Buddies - I know many of you use Twitter - How often do you Tweet? Do you follow any famous people? (I follow Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert – OMGosh funny! I also follow @PRDeathStar which is a total Star Wars crack up.) Do you like the new Facebook Timeline? What about the new penchant everyone on FB has for constantly posting “inspirational” pictures? Do you follow the FAN PAGES of any famous authors – Including Banditas? Do you UnFriend people who post political stuff? (I do!) Tell all!! TweetComments135 thoughts on “MORE Partying! Bandita Style….” |
  
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This is assuming they have...
Is the GR following me?
I’m a dinosaur as I don’t twitter or tweet or belong to facebook. It sounds like you will be having a great big long party though. Have fun!
I’m planning on having some fun with the chook ~ I’ll let him loose in the yard with my cats and sober him up a bit for the long threee month session coming up.
LOL. Is that what that screaming is? The rooster running from cats.
Thanks Kaelee and congrats on catching that rascally bird! Have fun with him today!!
Kaelee, I’m on FB and Twitter mainly because people pressured me to do it. I try to watch how much time I spend, on FB in particular, because it can be a huge time suck.
Intimidating the GR always makes him more manageable. Good plan!
Kaelee, you may want to watch the GR if he’s running around loose! He seems sort of dumb and harmless, but it’s all an act. He is quite good at acting stupid and luring people (and cats) into a false sense of security. Keep a sharp look out over there!
You’re so right, Caren! Just because P226 hasn’t taken him out on manuvers in a while doesn’t mean he’s FORGOTTEN how to be sneaky.
Grins.
Caren and Jeanne, you make good points, but he truly is afraid of assertive pets. Cats should be especially imposing. *g*
Kaelee, I think your plans for the GR today are spot on! He needs a bit more exercise *g*
Hey, when we party, we party.
Funny you should mention unfollowing people because of political stuff. I have done that when I felt my head was going to explode.
I follow a lot of celebrities on Twitter, but one of the funniest recent Twitter accounts I’ve started following is @sarcasticrover — it’s written from the point of view of the Curiosity Mars rover. I’ve almost hurt myself laughing at the tweets.
Hahah! See Trish, that’s exactly it! I don’t mind if you state a political opinion different from mine. What I do mind is if you are spewing rhetoric or misinformation. Or just going on, and on, and on, and on….about anything. I recently unfollowed an author who just contantly self promoted. I KNOW about her book. Don’t need to know more about her book. Heehee. Head exploding – good measure for when to unfollow! HA!
Oh, LOVE @SarcasticRover! Love it! @Steve Martin is fun too, and if you’re not too senstive about religion, @TheTweetofGod is side-grabbing funny too, right along with @DeathStarPR Grins.
Trish, some people’s political posts do make me feel like my head will explode. I wish people would just leave that stuff outside the room, or else send it only to their true, actual, personal friends–though how they could do that, I have no idea. Maybe by that old-fashioned medium, email?
A vitriolic FB post isn’t going to open a dialogue and thus will not change anyone’s mind. It just ticks people off.
The downside to FB is getting friend requests from friends of friends I’ve never had any direct contact with. Political stuff I disagree with, even if it makes me grind my teeth, is tolerable from people I actually do know and like, either from personal contact or online interaction. From people I wouldn’t know if I fell over them, and vice-versa, it’s way more annoying than it’s worth.
I have to check out the fake Rover. Sounds cool!
I keep telling myself I’m missing tons of funny by not being on Twitter (well, I’m on it, I have an account, I just never use it *g*) Maybe one of these days I’ll figure out if I really do want to Tweet or not
Wow…just wow!!! This sounds pretty awesome…
Alas, we are anti-Facebook in our house, of course, one day I will probably HAVE to cave as my boys get older and start begging for one of their own. My oldest is thirteen now, and just about everyone he knows is on Facebook, as is my mother-in-law who wants me to join so we can play games together… *sigh*
I am a big fan of Twitter, although I’ve only recently started Tweeting again. I used to use it to promote the coffee chain I worked for, but after a falling out, well, it got ugly, and now I’m shifting gears to promote myself instead.
I will definitely be following y’all there… will that count towards these fabulous prizes? I’m @_Kestrel_ if anyone wants to follow back!
Whew, okay, everyone has been followed, I feel like a stalker now! It would be awesome if the GR had a Twitter page, haha!
Heheheh, Kestrel, that is cool. You are followed. And it’s a GOOD kind of stalking! SNORK!!!
Caren I didn’t know you were on Twitter, darn it! (I should ask these things!) Will follow you too!
Oh, Kestrel, forgot to say that I finally caved on letting my 12 year old join Facebook. His friends were all on and he was feeling decidedly left out. Sigh. I monitor it closely of course. (Because hey, I have SO much spare time….NOT!)
I have a love-hate relationship with all social media, but on the love side, it’s very fun. Grins.
Kestrel, I am now following you. I am @carencrane1 if anyone wants to follow me. I’ll totally follow everyone back, too. I don’t Tweet often but do enjoy followers. So shallow!
Following back! I’m the same, I don’t tweet much anymore, usually just sites I find that I think are funny or interesting for whatever reason.
Kestrel, I’m on FB, as I just responded to Trish, mainly because I got pressured into it. It has been handy for keeping up with the boy, as his friends post picture and tag him, which brings up the picture on his page.
A rising sophomore, he’s probably past the age where I need to worry about it, but I never use his name online. Yet friends on FB will refer to him by name in their comments. I also don’t use the dh’s name, again with the same issue. A guy once appeared at a romance writer friend’s door and announced that his brother read the writer’s books in prison and was a big fan, then asked if the writer could spare some money for the brother. I don’t want to be too easy to find.
I’m now following you on Twitter. I love the photo of the kestrel you use. If you like, you can find me by putting in my name with no space in the middle.
Oh my gosh, your friend’s experience sounds scary! I also avoid using my kids and dh’s name online, for the same sorts of reasons. Even in cyberspace a little anonymity is good.
Will def. follow you! I’ve gotten many compliments on my kestrel avatar, I got the nickname in high school when I worked at a Ren Faire, and it’s stuck. Not bothered being named after such a pretty bird!
Kestrel, my son (almost 21) is way over Facebook as are most of his friends. They do post the occasional picture which is nice for us when he’s down at college. My girls (15 and 18) use it a bit but don’t post very often – mostly they check to see what everyone is doing.
FB is a good way to stay in touch with people from a distance. My mother in law works at a college and is friends with a lot of students from around the world who use it to keep up with what’s going on back home, and that is a nice aspect of it. I just see it as a huge time-suck, and I am good enough at procrastination already!
I’m not really into social media – I don’t Twitter at all & Facebook is just a big confusing mess to me.
I like blogs – a lot. To me they are much more user friendly. I’m showing my age perhaps, but I can happily live with that.
Mary, honey, you are not alone! I get major info overload on Facebook. Plus, you can lose half a day there, easy. I can’t afford to spend that much time on anything!
Hi Mary! I’m with you. That’s the “hate” part of the Love/Hate quandry I have with Facebook. It’s messy. They keep changing it so I have to relearn how to navigate it.
That said, it’s also kinda fun. grins. I love to see people’s pictures and if I need to laugh, there is always something about which to laugh – sometimes intentionally, sometimes not. SNORK!!!
Mary, I also prefer blogs. I like the interaction.
Mary, I think it’s easy to get sucked into spending too much time on social media and it’s smart to spend your time on blogs since that’s what you prefer *g*
Jeanne
What a party I love facebook and I am on twitter but for the life of me I can’t work that one out I have done a few things but never remember what I did LOL.
I am pretty sure I do already like all of your fan pages but of course I will check I love seeing what everyone is doing and reading etc.
I don’t take much notice of the time line thing I just do what I want and check out what I want to as for the inspirational themes some of them are really nice and I have shared a few but not many and yes I have unfriended people that have put up things I don’t like LOL
Thanks for all the fun Ladies
Have Fun
Helen
Of to The Gold Coast for RWA in the morning I am really looking forward to catching up with Anna and Christina and meeting Eloisa James whoo hoo party time
Helen -
Beth, Jeanne, & Nancy have brand spanking new fan pages so be sure to “like” them to be eligible for the way cool prizes – and don’t forget to like Bemis Promotions as well. While you’re on one of their sites, click the little Romance Bandits box and the entry form will pop up.
Have a great time at the conference – and give Anna and Christina a hug for us as well.
WoohooO! Party on, Helen!!! Have a great time! (And as Donna said….like our Fan pages! Grins.)
Helen, I’m trying to be more active on FB and learn Twitter, but it can take huge amounts of time. I don’t spend a lot of time commenting on FB, especially on posts by “friends” I do not actually know at all.
Have a great time at the conference!
Helen, have a great time at the conference!
I’ve not “unfriended” anyone – but I’ve been tempted. Can nice girls unfriend? LO . I may have to do that.
In a similar vein, I’ve never asked anyone (in the sense of sending an invitation) to “like” me. That just seemed rude, but I may have to go that route. I’m still just a novice at Facebook.
And twitter… sorry – I don’t tweet. I think it’s a neat concept, but I know I’d be tempted to invest far too many hours that I don’t have following someone interesting. It’s like eating chocolate – sometimes it’s better just to keep it out of the house.
Hahaha! You’re so right, Donna! Twitter can be addictive.
I’ve heard a lot of authors and marketing gurus say that you should just pick one you like and make that your “thing” – I think I’d still have to pick both FB and Twitter. :>
And sometimes, I just have to not go there if I want to get those pages done! ha!
Donna, I hope I’m a nice girl, and there’s someone I really may unfriend because of her unrelenting acidic political posts. She, too, is someone I do not personally know but with whom I have FB friends in common.
I also don’t send those invitations. I don’t like getting them, so it would be serious hypocrisy for me to issue them.
Donna, my son went through and cleaned out his Facebook friends last year, whittling it down to only those he cares to connect with – I might have to do that at some point for my profile page.
I truly hate the new timeline on FB. I understand some change is good but too much is still too much.
I have a Twitter account but find it hard to keep up with right now. Speaking of keep up, I gotta go to work now.
Thanks for popping in Dianna! I’m still trying to get used to that timeline too – as everyone can tell. Grins.
Dianna, I’m also not a Timeline fan. Have a good day at work.
Hey, Dianna! I’m not on Facebook enough to like or dislike Timeline. Trying to change that – the being on FB more often, that is
Well, i’m on facebook, sooo addicted to it ! And i’m on twitter as well, fine me both at jody lynn allen. I already have several of you on my facebook, will have to wragnle the rest of you there!
And i will find yall on twitter too. I love following celebrities too, some of them can get a bit overhwelming, had to unfriend kirstie alley, got so tired of her endless posts. my page was nothing but her!
I do follow Leonard Nemoy (Spock) Stan Lee( creater of Spidey) a ton of writers, friends and whoever else looks interesting. The three month party sounds totally cool, will be here often, you may get tired of me!
Happy writing ladies, i have to get back to mine! LLAP (Yes, spock is rubbing off on me! What can i say, I’m a geek)
Hi Jody Lynn! I love following Spock! Isn’t he interesting? I also follow George Takeai and William Shatner who is hysterically funny. :>
I follow Adam Levine too because of The Voice. Love that show, so I followed him. He uses a lot of language, which I don’t like, but he never fails to be interesting!
Jody, you’re a comic book and Star Trek geek? Me too! Except I’m more of a DC fan than a Marvel fan. I hope you enjoy our three-month party. We’re figuring to have a blast.
And we’ll still be here as usual, of course!
i’m not often tweet on twitter *confession : just tweeted for giveaway lol.
famous people i followed were author ;D
no i don’t like timeline, so confusing
i love to like author on fb, so i can get a news of their book and ofcourse i like banditas on fb
Thanks for following the Bandits, Eli!!
Nancy and Beth and I all have new fan pages.
Nancy is at https://www.facebook.com/nancynorthcottauthor?ref=ts
I’m at https://www.facebook.com/JeanneAdamsAuthor?ref=hl
And Beth is at https://www.facebook.com/BethAndrewsBooks?ref=ts
Jeanne, thanks for posting the links.
done
Eli, we’re glad you like us here and on FB. I’m not a timeline fan, either.
I’ve been on Twitter for more than a year now and I STILL can’t figure it out! But I do follow some Pages (as opposed to Walls or whatever) on FB, especially if they belong to artists, as that’s a way to see their latest work. For authors all I really need is a heads-up and I toodle over to Amazon to check that person’s entire line of titles. Twitter’s okay for writing sprints with other writers, and with trying to find out the latest news at, say, RWA Nationals. (Though those tweets are mostly about what to wear.)
Hey Carol! thanks for liking us – and for toodling over to Amazon for our books! Wheeee! :>
Hi, Carol–I just joined Twitter and am figuring it out. I still tend to go to author websites to see what’s going on. I’d rather read an online excerpt than download a sample I’ll have to get rid of.
But you remind me I need an Amazon author page, too. I’m hoping the cover will be on the site soon.
I’m not comfortable on Facebook, even though I have two pages, one for family, friends from high school and college, and former students and one for all my Romancelandia connections. I prefer Twitter where I’m @Janga724. Nearly all the celebrities I follow are writers. Editing to 140 characters is good practice for me too, Jeanne.
I signed up for Pinterest but haven’t been able to get into that yet. I am fascinated by the description of the new Medium, which I registered for yesterday.
Hey Janga! I follow you on Twitter. Grins.
I signed up for Pinterest, but I know it would eat every bit of my time if I really got into it. Eeek! :> So I’m going to stick to FB and Twitter.
Janga, I haven’t been to Pinterest for a while, but it’s actually fabulous for me. It’s like collage for me without the mess. I’m an extremely visual person (extremely auditory too, which is weird, but Jeanne says it’s possible) and Pinterest really does help the creative juices flow.
I believe you can’t create it until you can visualize it. We just did a major renovation of our yard to host a wedding reception in June, and if I hadn’t had Pinterest in the months coming up to that, I think I might have stalled. I have a board on there called “sparks the muse” which I use just for stuff that pings that little creative being inside me. Funny to look at it, because it’s all either beautiful, mystical, slightly mysterious, or outright strange. Nothing “normal” there much.
Which says something about me, I suppose.
I hope you love Pinterest as much as I do.
Nothing “normal” there? And why should there be? Hahahah! Snork!
Love your pinterest page. I just know that if I get started on that I’ll never return….
Janga, I just followed you on Twitter. I like the floral picture! I wish I’d thought to do two FB pages and made the one for actual friends not searchable, though I’ve enjoyed reconnecting with grade school buddies on there.
I just discovered Pinterest through friends at work, and I love it! It’s like creating a virtual collage, so it has helped with my story so far. Also, I love arts and crafts, and have pinned stuff to do with the kids.
I’m on twitter all the time. I actually like it. I do follow some famous people, but not a lot. I actually follow a lot of authors. I check facebook everyday, but not on as often as twitter. I can’t keep track of the number of fan page. I slowly add a new fan page every other day. I think I will go to Facebook today.
Thanks, Melody, for moseying on over to FB today….grins. :>
And thanks for popping in here too!
Hi, Melody–I’m newly on Twitter. I couldn’t tell which Melody you were, but you can find me by using my name with no space in the middle.
Thanks for going to FB today. I add fan pages slowly, too, and we’re asking people to add 8 for this promo, but they don’t all have to be done in an hour or anything. They just all have to be done before the first prize drawing.
Nancy my twitter name is Mallymel, but I’ll find you.
Hi Jeanne and Good Morning to all!
You ladies sure like to party
That’s one reason I keep coming back.
I seldom use the time-sucking FB!
I called my sister (1 of 4) on her birthday the other day and she said I was the only one who called. The rest of the 9 siblings sent wishes on FB. Makes me sad…I feel as though everyone is turning into robots.
Same thing with the phone. Seems I get more texts than calls. Everyone has become electro-social. No tweeting for me! I will call or visit in person.
Is it hypocritical of me to join chat parties?
Btw…that “Renegade” cover is hypnotic. I found myself in a daze….dang, talk about time-sucking!
Hey Deelyn! I’m with you. I’m more likely to call than text, but I do find texting convenient sometimes. :> And I’d MUCH rather have a call than a FB post for my birthday.
Wait….9 siblings? EEEK!
And no, it’s social to chat! Heehee. And we’re so, so glad you’re HERE!!
Deelyn, witness my comment below. I do sometimes feel like it’s a loss of skills. It’s so much easier and more convenient to email a thank you note or a good wish. But is convenient what we want for those things?
And when I’m running crazy, I’d much rather text. I don’t have to “make nice” and I can just ask the important stuff cuz that’s expected. It’s faster and more efficient.
But am I going to forget how to write the note, or lose my sensitivity to making sure people read me correctly in conversation and don’t misunderstand something—like my intentions? Easy to let rude thoughts slip in when you’re out of practice. I wonder if that’s why many adults think of teenagers as rude these days. Because they don’t have any practice at “making nice.”
A friend who owns a restaurant near me has it as a “safe spot” which around here means kids who have no folks at home when they get out of school, or suddenly find themselves alone with no place to hang, can show up there, hang out, and don’t feel like they have to have money to buy something. He said it’s hilarious to watch. The girls all sit on one side of the restaurant, the boys on the other. Texting one another across the aisle.
It’s replaced passing the “i like you if you like me” note and they don’t have to get through the awkward stuff. Which I think means they never WILL learn to get through the awkward stuff. Hmmmm…
Deelyn, I’m glad you like my cover! I do, too. I open it up just to stare at it every so often.
I know what you mean about people becoming “electro-social” (a great phrase!). FB seems to be replacing email, cards, and phone calls. We’ve noticed a drop in the number of Christmas cards we get. We still send them, but other people are moving away from that.
I have been considering a fan page for a good while now, and I think, Jeanne, that you and I have had some discussions about it, and about how to launch them, if I remember right. Now I’m seriously considering getting a second “personal” page under a name that is not obviously mine, and setting up my fan page under my real name, so people can find me and my writing, photography, or whatever else I do.
I haven’t done much with my personal page yet, but would like to do a little more. It seems like everyone is migrating to social media, and I’m not sure how I feel about that. The curmudgeonly me wants to gripe. But everything moves forward and with this, I’ll take the path of least resistance as long as I can keep it from being a major time suck. I have plenty of that already.
Internet forums are my downfall. I have one about an area of interest in my life, where people have discussions about all kinds of things, all surrounding said subject. I’ve made some actual real-life friends through that forum, some of whom are coming to camp in my backyard next week. So I can’t write that off as a total waste at all. That said, I can sit on there for hours discussing stuff that mostly doesn’t make a big difference to much of anything in my life. So it’s very easy for me to get addicted. Time seems to disappear without my sense of its passing. Even with television, shows are an hour or a half hour, usually. So you can tell how long you’ve been sitting there. I’ll sit down and before long it’ll be 4 in the morning and I’ve done NOTHING that moves my life forward.
So….I do have a love-hate with this kind of technology. I’ve met so many wonderful people through the bandits. But I’ve actually MET many of those folks at conferences and gotten to know them as real people. Those places where you interact purely online….I think…am I losing my ability to have a real life? It’s why I won’t learn or get involved with any online gaming. I would just move into somebody’s basement and never come out again.
Cassondra, I think you’re wise to be wary of time sucks. Online gaming can be a huge one. I’m trying to be more active on FB without letting it take over my life.
A lot of the time, my FB friends I don’t actually know post pleasant or interesting things and are a positive influence even though we’re not friends in any real-life sense, never having interacted outside the cyber-confines of Facebook. But because I’ve never otherwise interacted with them at all, I’m leery about posting personal info. I don’t like to share that stuff when it’s going out to people about whom I know virtually nothing.
Heehee. Yes, my fellow curmudgeon, we do feel that same love/hate tug. :> And you’ve given the exact reason I do my best not to get on ANY games online. Especially online scrabble or word games. EEEK!!! I never come out. I lost two hours the other night playing Free Rice. http://www.FreeRice.com if any of you need another word-game-addiction. They donate rice based on how many words you get right. Time. Suck.
Likeyou said, Cassondra, it in no way moves my life forward. And it sure doesn’t get the books written. EEEK!!!
Great post, Jeanne! I also unfriend political stuff, especially of the extremely right wing bent. I like my politics middle of the road, please!
Jo, I just wish people would leave politics outside the discussion, especially when they’re “friends” with so many strangers.
Amen, Nancy!
I don’t do twitter and am not into that type of technology. I enjoy blogs and yours is one wonderful place to visit and congratulations once again on this beautiful day and place.
Pearl, thanks for the kind words! I also prefer blogs and genuine interaction. Leaving a long comment on FB is difficult.
Thank you so much, Pearl! That’s a wonderful compliment to what we’ve created here (and celebrated so proudly yesterday!)
I love blogs and the interaction on them so much more. :>
I neither Tweet nor do I use FB.
We’re so glad you come HERE though, Minna! Thanks!!
Jeanne, thanks for pulling all this together in our promo launch post and for coordinating all the details. It was a huge job, and you juggled it all beautifully.
I have yet to unfriend anyone for vitriolic politics, but the day may be coming. It’s tougher when it comes from people I do actually know and like, versus people who are my FB friends because they know other people who are, even if we’ve never had any other interaction. The latter, I wouldn’t miss.
I hate the Timeline. As for the inspirational pictures, they’re okay. Some of them are cute or funny. Most do little for me either way.
Yes, I’m on Twitter, under my name but with no space in the middle. If people decided to follow me, that would be great. I would be happy to follow them back.
I am now following Leonard Nimoy and George Takei, whose FB stuff I totally love. And my publisher, Grand Central. Would follow the guy who modeled for my cover, but I have no idea who he is. Too bad. A couple of people asked if I would introduce them to him.
Heehee. Well, Nancy, he IS hot! That is one outstanding cover!!! LOVE it!
George Takaei is so wry and funny, isn’t he?
On the promo, just to be clear–liking the Romance Bandits page on Facebook does not enter you in the contest. To enter, visit and like my page, Jeanne’s, Tawny’s, Trish’s, Beth’s, Donna’s, Anna C.’s, and Bemis Promotions’. Clicking on the box with the RB logo takes you to a page with all our pictures on it, and the picture links to the appropriate page.
Thanks for clarifying that, Nancy!!
I follow many Banditas on FB, but to be honest, I follow so many authors that I enjoy reading that they all kind of get lost in the shuffle. Plus, with a full time job and family comitments, I don’t look at FB atl that much. I much prefer e-newsletters from an author.
Molly, seeing as how I plan to send out an e-newsletter in November, when Renegade launches, your comment gladdens my little heart.
Now that it’s just the dh and me at home, I have more time for social networking, but I know what you mean. It can be a massive time suck, especially the constant updating of Facebook.
Hey LilMissMolly! Thanks for popping in today! I follow a lot of my fellow authors too, and some editors and friends. It’s fun, but sometimes I have to leave it for a few days too, just to be sane. Grins.
I was going to demand links but found them in the comments. All pages Liked and Caren followed on Twitter. I do all the sites but can’t get in the swing of Goodreads.
You gals perfected the online party but stretching it to 12 weeks?? That’s got to be a record!!
Terri, thanks! I saw your picture on my fan page. For those not yet through and needing links–the RB box on the bottom of each of our sites contains our pictures and Liz’s logo, which link to our pages. Glad you found us all!
Hahahah! And y’all thought the 12 Days of Christmas was a big promo! SNORK!!!
Well, this should be fun, actually. (I hear your groaning people!) I love this sort of thing – Nancy, stop rolling your eyes – and I’m always up for a party! Grins.
That said, Terri, we’ll see if I feel that way in 12 weeks time!! Hahahah!
WOW!!! What a party! Will be sure and friend all your pages on FB but sadly do not tweet. And all the new books coming out too?!?!?!?! You are too good to us. Thanks!
Hi, Brenda–We hope it will be a great party. With 7 writers and a web designer involved, we’ll have plenty to talk about.
Hi Brenda! Thanks so much for popping in today! Glad you’re here. Grins.
All the new books are great, aren’t they? LOVE it!!!
I love celebrations and parties and this one is special. Unfortunately I don’t do tweet, Facebook etc. I love the written word, your posts and celebrations though.
Ellie, we’re glad you like our site! No worries on FB. It’s not as though we’re moving all the prizes into that contest. There’ll be plenty of loot in the Lair.
Hi Ellie! Don’t tell FB and Twitter (shhhhh!) but we’d rather have you here. Much more conducive to a nice chat! Grins.
Great party! I do love parties in the Lair. So much fun and what a fabulous contest. Thanks!
I’ve “liked” all the appropriate pages (had already liked most of them) and am now following Nancy and Caren on twitter. Btw, I couldn’t find the Bandit contest link on Anna C”s page.
I’m on both facebook and twitter. I check in a few times a day but try to limit time spent there. Some days are more successful than others.
Like others, I enjoy the blogs and try to visit my favorites every day. Of course, I’m checking our blog throughout the day to respond to comments. Gotta love my smart phone!
I follow a few famous people.
I’ve had timeline for awhile now and really don’t mind it.
I haven’t unfriended anybody over politics yet but the campaign isn’t over. Mostly, I just tune that stuff out. People are nuts!
I follow a lot of author fan pages. Whole bunches and, of course, I follow the Bandits! Doesn’t everyone? ::grin::
Thanks, PJ! I’m still more into blogs than FB or Twitter. I like the level of interaction.
Yeah, people can be nuts on politics. I don’t engage, just scroll past.
And thanks so much for following us!
Hey PJ!! We’re working on getting Anna C’s link up. She’s at RWAus so that’s more fun and more important at the moment. Heehee. (And slacker me, I forgot to be sure it happened before she left! Eep!)
I love the blogs for interaction. I especially love you blog, The Romance Dish (for anyone new here who might not know: http://www.TheRomanceDish.com ) You do reviews, which we don’t, but there’s the same sort of fun, warm interaction there. LOVE that!
Thanks, Jeanne! You’re very sweet to say that and, believe me, the feeling is mutual!
FYI… to Bandita Buddies who haven’t discovered us, Banditas Trish and Anna Campbell blog with us every month on the 10th and 24th respectively.
Mostly, I just tune that stuff out. People are nuts!
LOL, PJ! I agree. I also just tune a lot of it out.
I try to follow all the banditas on face book.I love to chat and find new books to read. I only had to “Unfriend” once and that was a very unpleasant feeling. I cannot tweet because I am afraid I am doing it wrong but I do follow authors on twitter.
Gail, thanks for keeping up with us on FB! I found tweeting scary, but I finally figured out I just type, watching to be sure I don’t go over 140 characters, and that’s all there is to it.
Someone on FB told me you can shut out retweets, which is handy when celebs talk to friends and regular followers are clueless. Haven’t actually tried it yet, but I mean to.
Hi Gail! Thanks for following us all on FB! I had to sort-of watch on Twitter for a while before I got brave enough to Tweet on any regular basis. :> It’s fun!
Again, tho, as so many have said, it can suck away your time….Grins.
I’m already lost lol. I’m not quite sure how to go about finding all your fan pages. The few I tried I didn’t find the right place. I’ll keep trying lol. I don’t twitter. Facebook is all I seem to be able to keep up with and not even that sometimes. I’m afraid I’m guilty of posting political stuff but I give my views but don’t make nasty comments about the other guy. I only deleted one author because she made such horrible comments. I usually can agree to disagree lol.
Hi, Catslady–I can deal with politics. It’s nastiness about it that riles me.
If you click on the Romance Bandits symbol on our FB pages, it takes you to the contest page. Each of our pictures and the Bemis Promotions logo is a link. Thanks for trying and for keeping up with us over there!
Thanks. I got everyone’s to work except Anna’s?
Hahaah! Catslady, I fear that I am as well. :>
Thanks for being HERE and for trying to find us THERE!
I don’t tweet nor am I on FB. My big vice in life is blogging; it is a huge “time suck”, so I don’t need any more things taking time away from stuff that needs to be done around here. I enjoy blogging and I will continue as long as possible.
FB reminds me of cheesecake. I’ve never eaten cheesecake, and my GF for 47 years now has been bugging me to try it for over 40 of those years. My thought is, “What if I like it? Then I’ll gain even more weight/not lose weight, plus I’ll always be craving it!” So … what if I like FB (which I probably would)? I would gain even more weight sitting on my butt here reading everything.
Nope. I have willpower when it comes to stuff I don’t know about, but watch out with the ones I do (like chocolate, potato chips, chocolate, dairy products, chocolate … have I mentioned chocolate?). LOL.
Good luck to you all. I’ll watch for you here instead….
Heh-heh-heh….you’re wise about the cheesecake, Laney. It’s dangerous. Very, very dangerous. Grins.
Thanks for following us here. In many (most?) ways, I think we’d ALL rather hang out here and chat. Still FB and Twitter has a portion of our audience as writers too. We’re going to try to lure them into our Lair. Grins. More fun people with whom we can chat, party, and gossip! Yeah!
Glad YOU’RE here!! (Now, about that cheesecake….)
LOL, Laney! I feel the same way about Pinterest. I’ve heard it’s great, would probably love it but am just not going to get started on it. I have enough going on.
btw, I only recently started liking cheesecake *g*
Beth, Pinterest really is a time suck. I’ve cut back on what I’m doing over there. I’ll probably check in once a week or so, and that’ll be it.
Laney, I prefer blogging to FB, but FB can be, like cheesecake, kind of addicting if you get a good exchange going.
Even though we’re on FB for the contest, we’ll still be here in the Lair, with lots going on.
Woot! I’m excited about the next three months – and this was just the push I needed to get my Fan Page up and running *g*
As I mentioned, I have a Twitter account but am not on it at all. I’m going to try and change that after I turn this book in
I’ve “Liked” quite a few author pages on FB along with my son’s band *g*
Oooh, COOOL, Beth! What’s the band so we can LIKE it too?!
Just made a dry run to the airport with the boy so he can pick up his girlfriend without having parents hover in the background. When I got back, I discovered I had been Timelined on FB. Grrr. And the Timeline format includes “Places,” a map showing everywhere FB knows you have ever been. I don’t like to share this info, and there appears to be no way to hide it. I took the “tour” twice, but there’s no edit/delete pencil icon on the Places square.
Anyone know of a way?
I wouldn’t like to be Timelined like that. I used to use Foursquare, but the dh pointed out that it just helps people track your movements and opens you up to RL stalkers and potential house-thieves and such who will know when you aren’t home. People have even marked their homes as locations to check-in! That’s just a scary prospect, and I don’t want to invite danger on myself or my family, so I stopped. FB should get rid of that aspect.
I think people are a little too open sometimes, as with the example you cite, Kestrel. There doesn’t seem to be any way to take the map off, but the contents are removable, so I’ll just be sure not much ever turns up on there. It’s got two places now that I’m okay with. I’m not really worried about stalkers, but I don’t want a log of my movements on any website.
Sorry, but I’m somewhat of a dinosaur also.
No tweeting from me, and I’m on Facebook
only because of my older grandchildren.
They opened pages and kept after me until
I did too. They wanted to have someone to
communicate with, now I can’t find them for
all the other traffic! Somedays, I want to
either close out my account or Unfriend all
the traffic! There, got it off my chest! Now
I can participate in the “Big Party!”
Pat C.
WTG Pat! I say Unfriend everyone but the authors and the grandkids. Grins.
Okay, okay, so that’s harsh….Grins.
Pat, I can see how FB could generate an overload feeling! We find it very useful for keeping up with the boy now that he’s away at school. His friends post comments and photos, and we can see them.
Woot! Party!
You always know how to have a good time in the Lair!
OK… I do have a Twitter account, but don’t check it very often–I find it a little overwhelming!
I follow most of you Banditas, and other authors–aren’t you all famous??
I’m not a huge fan of the FB Timeline, but then again, I find all this newfangled stuff kind of confusing ;p
I do follow you Banditas and quite a few other authors–sometimes I wonder if I ought to have a separate “identity” for my real-life friends ;p
hey Fedora! thanks for being such a big supporter. I saw that you’d been one of the first to LIKE my new Fan page! WOOOT! Thanks!!!
Fedora, I’ve wondered if I should have a separate identity for people I actually know or used to know well and people I meet through writing or my fandom activities. I think I’d be more open about personal things in a smaller circle.
I’m pretty sure everybody you follow appreciates it. In the Lair, we all like to knowing someone finds us interesting. We even know that about the lurkers because of analytics–not who they are, of course, but that they’re around and noticing.
I’m not on Facebook and people are always telling me all the great stuff I’m missing out on, but I don’t have a desire to sign up for an account. I have a Twitter account, but don’t really tweet. I follow Joel McHale, Chris Rock, Marvel Enterntainment and Conan O’Brien.
Hey Jane!!! Ohhhh, Marvel Entertainment! gotta follow them too….
It’s good to keep it simple, so kudos to you!
Marvel just announced the release date for Avengers 2. It’ll be out on May 1, 2015. So excited.
Something to look forward to! When we were at DisneyWorld, I got all excited because I rode back to the hotel in the Avengers monorail. When the dh and the boy got back later, I couldn’t wait to tell them–but they’d ridden back in it, too!
Jane, I’m learning Twitter. I try not to get too pulled into FB, but reconnecting with people I knew in grade school has been really nice.
Well, crud! You’re never going to Friend me, Jeanne, because I post inspirational quotes/pics and I post political quotes and comments! Dang.
I am an admitted FB junkie! I HATE timeline. Hate. it. very. much.
I follow Anna C., am friends with Nancy and Anna S. I follow Margaret Brown, Cindy Kirk, Renee Ryan, and several others.
I have a Twitter account, but don’t follow the person I am supposed to be following….does that make sense? I know everyone in the world loves Pinterest and I just cannot get into it. Weird, I know.
Of COURSE I’ll friend you Deb, you’re a Bandita Buddy! I don’t mind inspirational quotes or even politcal comments. What I mind is the rants and the painful acid some people just can’t seem to keep to themselves. :> And I’ll even tolerate that for a while – everyone has a pet hobby horse to ride! – but if its constant and neverending? Yeah….that I’m not so good with. Grins.
Deb, I hate timeline, too. Not only does it have the map/places thing I can’t ditch, but it cut my cover off at the waist. :-/
I like Pinterest, but I fear massive time suckage.
Great topic! Congratulations on the new Fan Pages! I must admit, I prefer the fan pages for authors. I always feel weird sending friend requests because I don’t want to take up one of the limited friend spots that someone super important might want…LOL. I feel bad for you guys. I love the social media because it makes it easy for me to know what is going on with things I like, but I would imagine having to post the same thing on about 20 different pages would be extremely tedious. So…BIG THANKS FOR DOING IT!
I have twitter, but don’t normally tweet. I use it to follow shows, authors, bands, etc. I never really got into the twitter phase, other than to help me stay informed. I don’t like the tweets that get put into my feed because they were “promoted by so and so” but it’s not too bad.
Facebook really does change too much. Not a fan of the timeline. The inspirational pics are sometimes annoying, but man I love the funny ones. One of my favorites had to do with what really happened at Stone Henge, and they had the Angry Birds in the picture. I found that one hilarious! The political posts are fascinating. I’m always amazed by what people put there. Sometimes interesting, but others, I can’t believe they post it without having a clue what they are posting about.
I have liked a bunch of authors on facebook! It is a giant pain in the neck sometimes, but a really great tool! Great blog!
Hi, Heather–I’m in no danger of having 5000 friends or whatever, but I think a fan page with unlimited likes makes sense as a place to keep in touch and, maybe, a forum for discussions. I’m still learning Twitter.
I do wish FB would stop changing things all the time. I tend to scroll past a lot of cute pictures, with slogans, but sometimes they catch my eye.
Thank you for liking author pages. I just got a fan page, as Jeanne said,, but the likes on it make me feel like I’m not shouting into the wind, y’know?
Woo! More partying!
Alas, I’m on neither Facebook nor Twitter. No LIKE-ing from me, sorry!
But you “like” us here by showing up.
And there will continue to be prizes available in the Lair, of course.
I tend to tweet daily, but I am not one of those that tweets every little thing I am doing. Those people I tend to unfollow quickly. I am not a fan of the new FB timeline. Im getting used to it, but I do prefer the old way. And I follow quite a few author pages. I think they are great ways to find out about new releases and other things.
I tweet daily or at least check very frequently. I try not to follow too many people or else I won’t know what’s going on.
I don’t check Facebook nearly as often, maybe three times a day. Ever since they changed things around, I haven’t like it so much. Pics of hot guys, I like. Some of the cute animals, okay. Inspirational/political pics, I skip. I don’t necessarily unfriend people due to their content but I’ve learned not to look at their entries.
Most of the people I friend/follow are authors; do they count as “famous people”?