IMPORTANT CHANGES TO ‘THE WRITE PATH’
If you’re an author, unearthing ever new ways of promoting your brand and your books is tough. I‘m always looking to try out new things. Some work, some don’t. But I’m sure we can agree that effective author promotion relies not on industry experts or Kirkus reviews, but on the humble reader.
So how do you know what readers want? Do you analyze Amazon stats or devour essays written by experts? Well, I thought I’d ask the readers themselves.
As a rule, before I initiate anything, I carry out a survey to see if the demand exists. So what insights did my recent opinion poll (involving nearly fifty avid readers and reviewers) yield? Lots. And I’ll overhaul my popular series THE WRITE PATH in August as a direct result.
In the words of one blog visitor,
“I have the author’s official blurb and reviews from independent reviewers to guide me in what books I might like to read, but what I really want is some background on the story from the author’s mouth. Why did they write it? You know, that kind of thing. […] I want to see writers engage with and enthuse about their own work.”
I listened, and starting next month, the focus of my five author questions will switch from the author’s writing life to the books they’ve written. I’m very excited about this change, and hope you are, too.
If you want to see which questions got the most votes, please get in touch. I’m taking bookings for mid-August and beyond. You can contact me by leaving a comment (at the top of this post) or by using the contact form (see the link for THE WRITE PATH).
FACEBOOK PARTICIPATION
In addition to THE WRITE PATH, and its sister series THE READ PATH, promotion takes up a huge chunk of my time. I recently set up a facebook page specifically for my book “Divide and Conquer.” Getting twitter followers is easy, but on facebook, you build relationships one by one. A personal approach is needed, which suits me perfectly. Whether you’re building a new page like me, or already have 5,000 likes, what you really want is to connect with the RIGHT people. In other words, you want to connect with fellow readers and fellow authors.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could combine our efforts in some fun way? Once again I surveyed some of my regular blog visitors, and an idea formed. A story chain. A short story written by multiple authors. The reaction to this idea has been nothing short of enthusiastic. Only a trial will show whether this is simply something readers would like to see, or if I can convince other authors to run with it. Many writers are solitary creatures, who are naturally more comfortable doing their own thing than accommodating readers. Fingers crossed.
But a story chain gives authors and readers a chance to interact and to create something wonderful together. Readers can leave comments and influence the story direction. facebook is the perfect medium, since it connects readers having a genuine interest in discovering new reading material with authors to whom those readers may otherwise not have been exposed.
If you’re interested, please let me know here (see “Comments” at the top of this page), on twitter (@authorcarmenfox) or on facebook. If I get at least four writers to start the chain, we’re a go.
Here’s how it works:
Each author reads the previous instalments, then writes a few paragraphs to further the story. By including the relevant links, readers can read the story chain by following the links as if they’re merely turning the page. facebook makes leaving comments and feedback easy. Authors can take part more than once, but let’s wrap this up within around twenty links of the chain.
That’s it.
To those who’ve taken the time to answer my questions and to brainstorm, my sincerest gratitude. I will do my best to make this happen, but please be aware that writers are busy, so this is a long shot.
If you have any original ideas for building relationships with readers, why not share them?