Today you did it sitting on the bus, the hood of your jacket thrown over your head as you tapped your foot along to nothing. Yesterday it was on the couch before work, and an hour ago it was in your cubicle (you may or may not have been on lunch break).

You know what I’m talking about: Facebook.

It’s the one social media site that’s been around long enough to make you comfortable, and just updated enough to keep you scrolling through your newsfeed in a quiet moment that you’d otherwise spend staring at the wall. Or, you know, conversing with your neighbor.

Not only are you spending about forty minutes a day liking posts and sharing content, but so is the person sitting next to you. Oh, they aren’t on Facebook? Keep staring — except for Tumblr, Facebook’s main competitor for time spent at 34 minutes per viewer, the next social media site drops to twenty-one minutes with Instagram leading the pack.

So here’s the thing:

If everybody is on Facebook, why haven’t you set up an author page there yet?

Maybe it’s because you already have a website. Maybe it’s because you hate the drama on Facebook and have sworn it off. Maybe it’s because you think that you’ve already missed the boat after Facebook’s multiple changes to limit fan pages in the past few years.

Sure, maybe. But among all of those popular internet theories and queries, we can’t help but wonder if the real answer isn’t because of something much more simple.

Like, maybe you haven’t made an author page because you haven’t been published.

You frown, confused. “Why on earth would someone make an author page if they aren’t an author?”

Too many reasons to count. But here are three…

Building Your Audience

Things take time to grow–even your audience. Don’t wait until you are published to get out there! Make a page and let in your friends and followers come along for the ride as you update them on the progress of your work. This builds a trust and community and when your book is out in the world, your Facebook pals will be the first in line to buy.

Being Human

Forget about the sales pitch. People respond to people. Let your fans get to know you are a REAL person, not just a name on a book. If your fans feel like they know you, they are more likely to support a friend than just another writer.

Boost Your Page

While Facebook is basically free, it does offer a rather nice feature. Boosting your posts. For a small amount (as little as $5), you can boost your posts to reach others who may not be on your friend list. This helps build new awareness and bring in fresh faces to your author’s page which would haven’t happened otherwise.