Being a New Author
One of my favorite authors when I was a teen was Joan Wolf. She was my favorite because she was consistently involved with her readership on a direct level. She wrote a blog, had a newsletter where she shared details about her life and writing tips and she offered up chances for her readers to suggest character names and other details for her next book. Probably one of the most exciting parts about being a new author has been the process of building readership. Each new reader is precious and brings with them a wealth of information that a growing author like myself can tap into in order to improve at my craft.
Giving Readers a Voice
I recently offered my followers on Facebook and Twitter the chance to suggest names for a cat that would appear in my current work in progress. The response was large and a lot of my readers have creative genius on tap. I was very pleased to have so many great suggestions to pick from. There were so many good responses that I selected some spare names for a contemporary novel that I am working on that should be released after the release in March 2018 of my next Regency Historical.
The winner for my March release was Sabrina Sanders with her suggested name of Horus. The winners for my contemporary novel were Heather Davis with Heughan, Kris Borgen with Skoshi, Erin Shaw with Starling, Nicole Schoonover with Beatrice and Erica Silva with Percival. I have not explained how I will use the names for my contemporary, but I know everyone will be pleased with what I have planned.
Recognizing the Importance of Your Audience
Every day that I spend working on a manuscript or interacting with my readership teaches me new lessons about my craft. The most important lesson I am learning is that your readership is your success. You may gain new readers as you go but losing a loyal fan to a book that did not live up to their expectations is an unacceptable risk as an author. I know all too well how hard it is to forgive a disappointing book, especially when you have had good experiences with the author's work previously.
I cannot express enough how grateful I am to everyone who has purchased the book, told someone else about it or shared the links to information about my work in progress. Being supported in this way allows me to share the stories I have been day dreaming about for years with everyone. My only regret is that I did not have the bravery to start self-publishing sooner.