Oh two more I thought of in line at the grocery store. Trade book reviews with your author friends; read and review theirs on one or more sites like the local library, amazon, B & N, and Goodreads. Some people feel strange asking others to review (though you shouldn't), so exchanging is one way to address this. Don't have a lot of author friends? No problem, trade something else! Watch their kids, walk their dog....
Second, and this is a BRAND NEW HACK so don't ruin it for me, but if someone zooms all the time, and has a bookshelf in their background, offer to give them a book if they would be ok putting it on their shelf.
These are both great ideas. I think that deliberately banding together with a group of allies can help in every way. It can lead to feedback and accountability while you're writing, then mutual promotion and support as books come out. I love the zoom background hack. When I recommend it to authors I'll call it the Lopez Maneuver.
This was a great piece, and I can testify to a few of these myself. Robin's fifth piece of advice, "Drop In," was actually the one that surprised me most. I had no idea having good relationships with local bookstores could be so beneficial, but knowing the staff, knowing the bookstore, and agreeing to sign copies and speak there, it creates goodwill all around. You bring in more customers and they can recommend your book. Plus, it's fun.
On "Where do your target readers congregate," yes, write for those typical blogs, etc, but part a big learning curve for me was that you don't have to pour your whole soul into every essay you do about your book. A few paragraphs, gestures to and tags of other writers, sometimes just "Happy to shout out... who gave some good advice while I was writing" is all it takes. Keep writing yawl!
"You don't have to pour your whole soul into every essay..." is spot-on. I'm as guilty of this as anyone. I'd even say that a lot of the time when I sit down to do something as simple as tweeting I need to remind myself of this mindset. Sometimes saying "hey, I like your ideas" is better than a 15-tweet thread on how I'm right about something.
Oh two more I thought of in line at the grocery store. Trade book reviews with your author friends; read and review theirs on one or more sites like the local library, amazon, B & N, and Goodreads. Some people feel strange asking others to review (though you shouldn't), so exchanging is one way to address this. Don't have a lot of author friends? No problem, trade something else! Watch their kids, walk their dog....
Second, and this is a BRAND NEW HACK so don't ruin it for me, but if someone zooms all the time, and has a bookshelf in their background, offer to give them a book if they would be ok putting it on their shelf.
These are both great ideas. I think that deliberately banding together with a group of allies can help in every way. It can lead to feedback and accountability while you're writing, then mutual promotion and support as books come out. I love the zoom background hack. When I recommend it to authors I'll call it the Lopez Maneuver.
This was a great piece, and I can testify to a few of these myself. Robin's fifth piece of advice, "Drop In," was actually the one that surprised me most. I had no idea having good relationships with local bookstores could be so beneficial, but knowing the staff, knowing the bookstore, and agreeing to sign copies and speak there, it creates goodwill all around. You bring in more customers and they can recommend your book. Plus, it's fun.
On "Where do your target readers congregate," yes, write for those typical blogs, etc, but part a big learning curve for me was that you don't have to pour your whole soul into every essay you do about your book. A few paragraphs, gestures to and tags of other writers, sometimes just "Happy to shout out... who gave some good advice while I was writing" is all it takes. Keep writing yawl!
"You don't have to pour your whole soul into every essay..." is spot-on. I'm as guilty of this as anyone. I'd even say that a lot of the time when I sit down to do something as simple as tweeting I need to remind myself of this mindset. Sometimes saying "hey, I like your ideas" is better than a 15-tweet thread on how I'm right about something.