Authors and Publishers, have you added Facebook Milestones?

Timeline, one of Facebook’s big announcements at f8 last year is quickly becoming the norm on the social network. While users can still hold off switching to timeline, back in March page owners were prompted to switch to the new format.

Alongside the slew of new features, such as easier access to Insights and a messaging service, brands have the opportunity (and have been encouraged to) build out their timelines through milestones. Page owners can now port their company;s unique story onto Facebook, offering users the ability to scroll through key moments in the brand’s history. Early studies have already suggested that timeline pages are proving more engaging than the older style, meaning it’s a fantastic time to invest in building out your milestones.

Book publishers are arguably in a strong position to capitalise on this new feature. Companies such as Penguin and Virago, which have a rich history of publishing can now surface key moments to users. Academic publishers can also get in on the act, as a timeline representation of say, the history of modernism, would not only encourage greater stickiness on the page, it’d prove incredibly useful to students on the social network. Given the very nature of Facebook, they’d also be able to easily share your page with others.

Publishers looking to surface their history through Facebook should take a look at Spotify’s timeline milestones: As Spotify is just a few years old, the company has opted to focus on the history of music, stretching way back to 1001 and the first ‘Organum Experiments’: Proof that even young publishing companies can build out a unique and engaging timeline.

If you’re wondering how to get started on timeline, here’s just a few milestone ideas we’ve developed based on Faber and Faber’s history.  Remember, whatever your brand, you’ll also have some fascinating milestones you can surface for visitors.

• 1878: Sir Maurice Gwyer, a co-founder of Faber and Faber, is born.
• 1889: Geoffrey Faber, the namesake of Faber and Faber, is born.
• 1925: Faber and Faber begins, first known as Faber and Gwyer.
• 1928: Siegfried Sassoon’s Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man is reprinted eight times.
• 1929: Faber and Faber publishes its first catalogue.
• 1930: T.S Eliot’s first title for Faber and Faber, Ash Wednesday is published.
• 1936: Djuna Barnes Nightwood is published.
• 1939: James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake is published, a novel which has been described by Anthony Burgess as “one of the few books of the world that can make us laugh aloud on nearly every page.”
• 1944: Faber’s directors reject Philip Larkin’s Jill. It was eventually republished by Faber and Faber.
• 1946: The Poetical Works of Rupert Brooke edited by Geoffrey Keynes is published.
• 1949: Ezra Pound’s The Pisan Cantos is published, while the poet is confined in St Elizabeths Hospital, Washington DC.
• 1954: Faber publishes William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, after it was rejected by several other publishers.

Faber and Faber could effectively recreate the timeline they have available here and recreate it on Facebook. Unfortunately, the company’s current timeline is quite curmudgeonly to navigate, but moving it to Facebook timeline would arguably introduce the feature to a larger audience. So, in need of more ideas for milestones? Here’s a few to get you thinking:

• The first book published by your company.
•  Milestones for each publication & notable event.
• Trivia/fun facts related to your industry – e.g, first typewriter/PC.
• Industry awards and accolades you’ve won.
• Archive assets such as newspaper clippings, vintage book covers, reviews from the era.

Pair these ideas with engaging images and you’ll offer visitors a comprehensive and engaging view of your company, which they can easily share with others.