Facebook marketing for authors is an excellent tool for self-published authors. Follow these steps to help you use Facebook to raise awareness and increase your book sales.

Create a Fan Page:  When you create the website for your book (read more about creating a website for your book here), you should also create a Fan Page or a Facebook Author Page specifically for your book. Having only a personal account on Facebook is not optimal because unless you have decided to become "friends" with everyone who might be interested your book, you will lose out on having a way to share news and connect with potential readers.  A Fan Page allows you to interact with people who are not your "friends"; by becoming a "fan" of your page, they are opting in to messages from you that are centered around your book. (Please note that it's definitely a good idea to talk about your book on your personal profile as well as your fan page.)

When you go to build a fan page, first choose the “Entertainment” category and then the “Book” category (here's a link to create a page here. You will need to create a Facebook account if you don't already have one). You'll need to just follow the directions to finish the page. The name of your page should be the name of your book, or you can add your name, such as "The Greatest Book in the World by John Author."

Add complete information about your book, upload a photo of yourself and your book, and spend some time thinking about what to put on the large cover image at the top of your page.  There is no right or wrong cover image, but many authors will share photos of book readings and signings or an image that evokes the genre of the book. You can change this cover photo any time you want.

Start posting and interacting, and be persistent: Write content that engages people. You've written a book, so you must have more to share about the book's topic, story, characters, writing process, future projects, book readings and signings, burning questions, quotable quotes, and more!  Post several times per week, and keep it going, even if you feel like giving up.

When a fan does post something to your page, make sure that you respond as quickly as possible.  That means you'll need to check into your fan page at least once, if not twice, per day.

Ask your friends to spread the word: Unless you're already a known author, you'll need the help of your friends, family and current fans to let others know about your book. Ask them to share your Facebook page with their friends.  Get creative- some authors have even started promotions, such as photo or haiku contests, or free book giveaways (such as offer a free book to a random fan when you get to 100 fans), to get people involved with the page.

Connect with other authors.  Look up your favorite authors and books and become a fan of those pages.  Chances are, they're return the favor and help spread the word by liking your page.  You'll also be able to watch what other authors are doing on their pages.  

Promote your book signings, readings and speaking engagements. As mentioned earlier, your Facebook fan page is a good way to talk about all things related to your book and its promotion.  You can even invite people to a book release party, reading or signing by using the Facebook Event app- just type "Events" in the search bar at the top, and you'll get a page that allows you to create an event and invite your friends. Ask your friends to share the event as well.

Put your Facebook page link on your website. Cross-promotion is the name of the game. Whereas people might visit your website one time, they'll see your content often if they become your Facebook fan.

Consider creating a Facebook ad. See those ads on the right side of your personal newsfeed? You can create one of those ads, too. You can choose your ad's target audience by age, sex, interests, location, interests and other characteristics.  Many authors will create ads that include the covers of their books and a question or provocative statement. You can set your daily budget for the ad and monitor it through the Ads dashboard.  To get to the Ads area, just type "Ads" in the search bar at the top of the page and then choose "Facebook Ads" to get started.

There are almost 1 billion people now on Facebook; make this tool part of an overall marketing plan.