Let’s talk about reaching out to your readers and potential readers.
Remember once the reader reaches your author page on Amazon or Smashwords, they look at the book’s cover, the description and then the reviews.
Reviews are what authors crave. We indie authors do not have a publisher to tell us how great our current book is and most of us do not want to hit you over the head with the “please read me” tweets. It is so wonderful when someone reviews you and you can quote them as saying you are well written, clever, prolific, a multi-genre genius, whatever.
We live for reviews and are thankful to those who give them. A tip I picked up by reading other indie authors’ books is to insert an “author’s note” in the back of each book, calling for a few words and a sprinkle of stars on any social, media or platform site. It works.
I believe interviews are the next best thing to reviews. An interview allows me to show some of my human side and to talk about my books. Sometimes I even take “Farloft,” my dragon, along with me. He is a great asset as long as he doesn’t break something or set off the smoke alarms. I have done blog interviews and radio interviews and even a YouTube appearance. They are all good for tweeting and letting folks know more about you as a person and an author. Besides, they are just fun to do.
How do you get the interviews? Make a connection. Don’t simply push the follow button on Twitter; take a moment to check out the person you are following. If they are a blogger, reviewer, or media personality, try to cultivate a friendship. Take the time to retweet them and chat with them. Many are looking for someone to interview. They do this to pull folks to their own site. You can use the opportunity to chat about your work. If you keep retweeting those lovely interviews and they see how clever you are, they will eventually start coming to you. My goal this past year was to do an interview or guest blog post each month. I have done that and, in several months, had more than one interview.
A while back a fellow author and follower decided to change direction in his career. He wanted not only to write, but to try doing book trailers, bios and voice-over work. He put his heart and soul into it. The results are on my author page on Amazon, my blog, and my YouTube channel. He did a fine job and I am honored to have been among one of those he chose to be his firsts. For your reference, his Twitter handle is @Hamburger_Fry.
Radio interviews and podcasts are great fun and lovely items to post. I was lucky enough to be chosen for a radio interview based on my association with VoiceCatcher. The radio station caters to authors, readers, publishers and librarians. Since then I have done more interviews, one with the Effortless English group and one with Cherrie McKenzie of CoActive Dreams. I had one with a CBS affiliate in March and have another this Monday with Ron Shaw from Artist's First. Interviews of this type are more difficult to come by, but well worth it because they are geared specifically to your reading audience.
What does all this get you? It moves you closer to your readers. Readers want to get to know you. They want to feel as though they have a personal connection to you. It makes them feel as though they have shared in your experiences and makes them want to support you in your desire to make a living as a writer.
Remember once the reader reaches your author page on Amazon or Smashwords, they look at the book’s cover, the description and then the reviews.
Reviews are what authors crave. We indie authors do not have a publisher to tell us how great our current book is and most of us do not want to hit you over the head with the “please read me” tweets. It is so wonderful when someone reviews you and you can quote them as saying you are well written, clever, prolific, a multi-genre genius, whatever.
We live for reviews and are thankful to those who give them. A tip I picked up by reading other indie authors’ books is to insert an “author’s note” in the back of each book, calling for a few words and a sprinkle of stars on any social, media or platform site. It works.
I believe interviews are the next best thing to reviews. An interview allows me to show some of my human side and to talk about my books. Sometimes I even take “Farloft,” my dragon, along with me. He is a great asset as long as he doesn’t break something or set off the smoke alarms. I have done blog interviews and radio interviews and even a YouTube appearance. They are all good for tweeting and letting folks know more about you as a person and an author. Besides, they are just fun to do.
How do you get the interviews? Make a connection. Don’t simply push the follow button on Twitter; take a moment to check out the person you are following. If they are a blogger, reviewer, or media personality, try to cultivate a friendship. Take the time to retweet them and chat with them. Many are looking for someone to interview. They do this to pull folks to their own site. You can use the opportunity to chat about your work. If you keep retweeting those lovely interviews and they see how clever you are, they will eventually start coming to you. My goal this past year was to do an interview or guest blog post each month. I have done that and, in several months, had more than one interview.
A while back a fellow author and follower decided to change direction in his career. He wanted not only to write, but to try doing book trailers, bios and voice-over work. He put his heart and soul into it. The results are on my author page on Amazon, my blog, and my YouTube channel. He did a fine job and I am honored to have been among one of those he chose to be his firsts. For your reference, his Twitter handle is @Hamburger_Fry.
Radio interviews and podcasts are great fun and lovely items to post. I was lucky enough to be chosen for a radio interview based on my association with VoiceCatcher. The radio station caters to authors, readers, publishers and librarians. Since then I have done more interviews, one with the Effortless English group and one with Cherrie McKenzie of CoActive Dreams. I had one with a CBS affiliate in March and have another this Monday with Ron Shaw from Artist's First. Interviews of this type are more difficult to come by, but well worth it because they are geared specifically to your reading audience.
What does all this get you? It moves you closer to your readers. Readers want to get to know you. They want to feel as though they have a personal connection to you. It makes them feel as though they have shared in your experiences and makes them want to support you in your desire to make a living as a writer.
For a sampling of my interviews check out my Interviews & Guest Blog Posts Link
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