We’re In This Together: How To Help Other Authors Succeed

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From Writers Helping Writers:

A common query Becca and I get is, “Why do you do what you do?” It’s a fair question, because in order for us to coach writers through our books, speaking, and our One Stop for Writers site, we’ve had to temporarily put our fiction-writing on hold. Not an easy decision. But the fact is we love to see dreams realized. This is why we do it. As writers ourselves, we know the power of THIS particular dream–a book in hand, our name paired with the title, and the knowledge that readers are losing themselves in a world we’ve created.

We celebrate each time someone we know achieves this dream–and how could we not? It’s so wonderful to see all that hard work pay off! Today, we are celebrating because our friend Kristen Lamb has just released her first mystery thriller, The Devil’s Dance.

. . . .

When an author releases a book, it’s all smiles and excitement…on the outside. What we don’t see is the anxiety going on within: will this book find its readers? Will it become lost in the glut of fiction available? If I share my excitement too freely, will people see it as unwanted promotion?

These worries are universal among authors. And, with the saturation of promotion these days, it’s important we don’t push a book too hard ourselves. Inside, we hope others will step up and help.

. . . .

1: Ask your local library to bring the book in. Many libraries have an online form and they often pay attention to requests. Click here to find a library near you…and why not request Kristen’s book while you’re at it?  If it is an ebook release, first encourage your author friend to make the ebook available to a service like OverDrive.

2: Leave a review. This is the clear obvious one, but often people stop at only submitting it to Goodreads or Amazon. Please cut and paste the review to all the main sites the book is being sold (Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, and if it applies, Smashwords.) For example, you can review The Devil’s Dance on Amazon and Goodreads. It wasn’t at LibraryThing, so I added it (if you’ve read this book, please give it some review love?)

3: Place the book on appropriate lists. If you loved reading the book, help others find it. Goodreads has many great lists you can add books to, or start your own. Using Kristen as an example, you’ll see her reviews are excellent. Think of how much it will help her if reviewers add The Devil’s Dance to some of the “best” lists so others also find it.

Link to the rest at Writers Helping Writers and thanks to Julie for the tip.

7 thoughts on “We’re In This Together: How To Help Other Authors Succeed”

  1. We’re all in this alone. — Lily Tomlin

    .

    Don’t let your mind wander – it’s too little to be let out alone.

    The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them. – Mark Twain

    • Yes, if it helps grow the market.

      Other writers are only a very small part of your competition. Your real competition is in movies, TV, games, and Youtube. Successful writers bring in a bigger potential audience for you.

      • And the tradeoff is between an small increase in competition vs the expansion of the industry and a bigger pool of readers. Also, it is not a zero sum game – the Author you encourage may attract readers who then find your work, and vice versa, subsequently buying books from both authors.

  2. So, this is basically an ad to get that book picked up places?

    I help other writers when I can, by pointing them to resources I’ve used, and trying to get them to actually research and learn about writing first, and then publishing when they’re ready. It’s pretty much a pointless endeavor, because people want the “secret” that no one is telling them to make instant sales on Kindle.

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