Keeping in Touch

How do you communicate with your readers? (And please don’t say ‘with my books’.) To keep readers engaged between books, as well as letting them know when to expect your next one, it’s important to have a reliable method of communication.

There are a number of different ways to keep in touch with your readers. The best one is the one where your readers will be paying attention and where you feel comfortable. Are your readers on Facebook, but you can’t stand the site? Either find a way for you to bear it — perhaps by skipping your “feed” altogether and just sticking to your own page or group.

Or maybe your readers skew younger and can be found on Tumblr and you’re sitting here saying “what’s Tumblr?” You’ll either want to find out ASAP, find someone to post for you, or find another way to reach those readers.

Social media not your thing? Or perhaps you’re not sure what to post or how often. You might consider writing a blog.

The two key factors in that is 1) knowing what people want to read; and 2) letting them know it’s there. Sadly, this is where we might need to circle back to social media. Another alternative would be to have a page in the back of your books telling readers about the blog, what they might find there, and either the URL (in a print book_ or a live link to your blog (in an ebook). Do note, it may take a little while to…