Are you an author seeking to connect with readers? Then you’ll definitely want to attend the January 8, 2021 Facebook live in the Shortcuts for Writers: Editing Made Simple group. Nan Jenkins of The Author Encounter will be chatting with me about that very topic. The event will be held at 12 p.m. CST and a replay will be available. If you’re not a member of the Shortcuts group, you can join here. I am honored to be a supporter member of The Author Encounter. Below, Nan shares three tips for building reader engagement. You’ll also learn about another special event The Author Encounter has coming up and how you can get more information.
As writers we want to tell a story and have as many people as possible read that story and love it. Whether you’re an established author or just an aspiring one, a key component to reaching as many people as possible is engagement.
Engagement, or the relationship between Author and Reader, is not always easy to establish and can be a lot of work, but is key to spreading the word about a book or book series. There are three simple keys to establishing reader engagement that every author should think about and implement when building an audience. Those keys are Engagement, Consistency, and Follow-through. Using these keys will help create an audience that not only loves your creative works, but shares and engages with them.
How Do You Establish Engagement?
The first step in establishing engagement with readers is to engage with them. They can’t engage if there is nothing to engage with. Figure out the most comfortable method for you whether it be some type of social media or email communication. Then once you set up your profile or build your email list, the next key begins.
What Does Consistency Do For You?
Consistency lets people know where they can find you or expect to hear from you. At first when establishing an audience it can feel like you’re doing so much and no one is listening. However, most fans are excited when they know exactly where they can find and communicate with you. Which brings us to the next key: Follow-through.
How Does Follow-through Help?
Follow-through is key to establishing engagement because it lets the people know that they are communicating with a real person, not a bot or automatic system. So when a person asks a question on social media or in an email, a response is always important. Responding and following through on statements, comments, and questions not only establishes engagement, but it builds the bonds that tie your fans to your work.
Recap From Nan
Using these three keys of engagement, consistency, and follow-through in establishing engagement with your audience will give you a strong base to reach as many people as possible. Although the keys sound easy, they can be a lot of work to actually implement. This is one of the reasons I was so excited to help found The Author Encounter.
The Author Encounter is dedicated to increasing the visibility of authors and boosting fan engagement.You can find more information about The Author Encounter on our website.
For more information on increasing fan engagement, join me for a live discussion on the topic January 8, 2021 at 12:00 p.m. CST in the Shortcuts For Writers: Editing Made Simple Group With Stacy Juba.
But Wait, There’s More! New Year, New Mindset
Two publishing industry innovators, The Author Encounter and D.C Gomez, will join together to bring you a new workshop for professionals in the publishing industry, “New Year, New Mindset” on January 15 at 6 p.m. CST. This is a rare type of workshop for authors, covering the harder parts of being an author. The online educational and inspirational discussion style workshop will focus on three critical issues that publishing industry professionals face: professional jealousy, imposter syndrome, and professional rejection.
“New Year, New Mindset “ is part of The Author Encounter’s professional development series that collaborates with publishing industry professionals to create career enhancing events. D.C. Gomez, a member of The Author Encounter, professional author and speaker, will be hosting this workshop. D.C.’s Dare series, Dare to Believe: A 4 Week Devotional to help you see yourself in a new light and start believing in your inner strength and Dare to Forgive: A 4 week devotional to help you heal the wounds of the past by forgiving yourself and others, are available on Amazon.
The inspiration for this workshop came in part from D.C. Gomez’s Dare series and the vision of The Author Encounter to create intimate uniquely themed events that engage and enhance the author and reader experience. It is our hope that by presenting these professional workshops and more like it that authors will have a safe environment for dealing with the real issues in the publishing industry. Registration is required, and space limited.
Stacy Juba has written sweet and sassy chick lit novels, mysteries about determined women sleuths, and entertaining books for young adults and children. She has had novels ranked as #5 and #11 in the Nook Store and #30 on the Amazon Kindle Paid List. Her books include the Storybook Valley chick lit series and the Hockey Rivals young adult sports novels.
Stacy is also a freelance developmental editor, online writing instructor, and an award-winning journalist. Her signature course, Book Editing Blueprint: A Step-By-Step Plan to Making Your Novels Publishable, empowers fiction writers to think like an editor so they can save time and money. She also runs the Shortcuts for Writers: Editing Made Simple group on Facebook, an international community of more than a thousand members. Join her Facebook group and download the free toolkit 7 Simple Steps To Nailing Your Book Blurb.
