The Importance of Keeping in Touch with Fans (and how to find them in the first place)

Have you ever seen authors sell well with their first book and then disappear from the radar with subsequent titles? I’ve seen a lot of that in the e-publishing world over the last year. Independent authors would pop onto the Amazon bestseller charts with a bang and sell thousands of copies a month of their first book or series, but then fizzle into nothingness. When they published new titles, nobody noticed.

Why is that? They failed to turn one-time readers into fans.

Now, I wouldn’t necessarily assume that’s a quality-of-writing issue (after all, something got them to sell in the first place), but you’ll probably agree that, in most cases, it takes you more than one exposure to an author to turn you into a rabid fan who will constantly check back to see if that author has published anything new.

So how do you start the process of turning a one-time reader into a fan? Naturally it helps if you have multiple titles out and the reader can go on to enjoy them all, thus cementing your name in his/her mind. But what if you’re publishing your first book?

You need to make an effort to get readers who enjoy the story to come find you online as soon as they finish. Most e-readers have web capability, so this is more of a possibility today than ever before. With ebooks, you can easily add your website and social media links to the end of the story and encourage the reader to stop by.

That’s not all you have to do though. You need to be doing something on those sites to get the reader to stick around and subscribe to your newsletter or blog feed.

Remember those successful-then-but-not-now authors? When I’ve looked at their online presences (what can I say… I have stalker tendencies), I’ve seen some common threads:

  • Though they’ve been publishing for a while, they don’t have a substantial blog built up where they post often. Or they blog about things nobody cares about.
  • They don’t have a newsletter (a way to email fans all at once).
  • If they’re on Twitter and Facebook at all, they’re just digital billboards, constantly trying to sell you something.
  • They may post often in some of the author-centric forums and communities out there, but they don’t seem to be out there where they can interact with their readers (Goodreads is one such place where it’s good to have a presence).

In short, these authors haven’t done anything to turn one-time readers into fans who want to follow their books and connect online.

If you want to have a career, then you need people to keep buying your books. I know, duh, right? But you can’t just assume this will happen. One key truth from the business world is that it’s easier to keep an existing customer than find a new customer. But you have to keep in touch with those customers, periodically reminding them that you exist and that they like doing business with you.

With those thoughts, I bring you…

How to Keep in Touch with Your Readers

Note: Before you start reading my suggestions, I want to point out that everything mentioned below is designed to let you write one message for many people, so you’re keeping in touch without spending hours a day doing it. I’m always happy to answer readers who send email (getting fan mail never gets old!), but I tend to direct folks to my blog, newsletter, and social media pages first, because lots of answers to potential questions are already there, and posting information in these places is the most efficient use of my time.

The newsletter

If you do nothing else I write about here, I suggest starting a newsletter and putting a sign-up form in a prominent position on your site (I have mine on my “book news” page and also in the side bar of each page — honestly, it could be even more prominent, and that’s something I’ll do when I get around to redesigning the site).

Why a newsletter? You can email your subscribers and let everyone know at once when you have a new release out. You can also ask your subscribers for a hand if you ever need it for something special. I wouldn’t do that often, but these folks are most likely going to be some of your most dedicated fans (the types of readers who not only buy your books but tell others to do so as well), and they may be open to helping you out. In return, you can reward them for signing up for your newsletter by giving them coupons or insider information on your books.

The best thing about newsletters is that messages go right to a person’s inbox, so your subscribers are almost guaranteed to see it. The other methods I’m going to list can have their place, but they aren’t quite as special as a newsletter (not only does a letter to your mailing list go right to someone’s inbox, but with some mailing-list services, you can even personalize it with the person’s first name). You won’t find a successful internet marketer in the world who doesn’t have a mailing list.

That said, there are other ways to keep in touch with people too. The newsletter may be king, but you’ll find that some readers prefer other ways of following you, so these methods can be worth pursuing as well.

The blog

I think most authors start a blog, but many fail to update it often (or at all) because they’re not certain what to write about. Others post less than scintillating material, such as positive reviews about the book the visitor has already read. Guys, you hang those reviews on the fridge; you don’t copy and paste them to your blog. You post interesting things to your blog (things that are interesting to other people, not just you).

The way to get blog followers is to inform or entertain. Maybe you can even do both.

I used to say that you should write posts related to your books (i.e. if you write science fiction, then you might review SF books and movies, interview genre authors, or talk about fun science stuff), and I still think that’s a good idea, but I also believe you can keep people interested by writing about less obvious topics as well, so long as your posts have value to people who buy books.

For example, in the beginning, my blog here was all about e-publishing and nothing about fantasy. Oddly enough, I did sell quite a few of my fantasy novels through the site (I use affiliate links so I can track which sales originate from my blog). As I sold more books and actually started having fans stop by who wanted to hear about my upcoming projects, I grew worried that those readers wouldn’t be interested in the e-pub talk, so I tried following my own advice and started blogging about fantasy-related topics. What happened? I started getting less traffic to this site and was selling fewer books!

Now I do a mix of posts. Some are about fantasy and my books (I’ve got a contest going on right now where readers can help me name a character), and some are about e-publishing. Book sales from my blog are back up again.

You just never know what kind of blog posts might work for you, but the important thing is to a) make sure there’s something in it for the reader and b) be passionate about what you’re talking about (maybe that’s part of why I didn’t do as well blogging about fantasy — even though I’ve been a fantasy reader for more than twenty years, I’m more obsessed with e-publishing and book promotion right now, so it’s more fun for me to blog about this stuff).

No matter what you do with the blog, make an effort to get people to subscribe (I need to be better about this myself). You can’t assume that people will remember to check back often, but if they have your blog in their feed aggregator, they’ll see any new headlines you post.

If you pay for web hosting and have your own WordPress blog, there are numerous plug-ins you can get that throw in a tagline, suggesting people subscribe to your feed. If you’re on a freebie blogging site, you can choose a theme where the subscription buttons are prominent.

The Twitter account

I’ve been a fan of Twitter for a long time. Something about only being able to type short messages appeals to me. I can make updates quickly and check on people without spending a lot of time on the site. And (this is what matters) lots of other people like Twitter too. You might find, as I have, that you’ll find readers who follow their favorite authors on Twitter even if they don’t necessarily go into subscribing to blogs or newsletters.

Once you have followers there, they can help you promote your books. Because people can “retweet” your updates, and those RTs can spread far and wide, Twitter can be a great way to drive traffic to your blog or get the word out about freebies (I hardly ever plug something that costs money, as I figure people are there to socialize, not to whip out their credit cards, but I’ll often link to free ebooks or excerpts). I know I’ve gained blog readers and book buyers that way.

Note: if you find yourself overwhelmed as your Twitter followers grow, try sorting people into lists. I’ve been using lists forever, but it only recently occurred to me to start one specifically for “tweeps” who have read my books. I should have been doing that from the beginning, because it’s easy to use a program like Tweetdeck (I prefer this for my iPhone) to watch the conversations on a certain list. Then I can send someone an @ message if they say something that brings a comment to my mind. (I don’t know about you, but I’d be tickled if my favorite authors sent messages to me!)

The Facebook fan page

I wasn’t a huge Facebook fan before I got into publishing, so I was slow to get involved on Facebook, but I’m glad I finally did create an author page there. I have people who comment and “like” my updates there who aren’t newsletter subscribers, don’t follow my blog, and don’t know why on Earth anyone would want to “Twitter.” Facebook is their chosen place to hang out and interact. By being there, I can keep in touch with them. If I wasn’t there, I’d miss out on a certain group of fans (Facebook has hundreds of millions of members!).

By the way, did you know that you can run advertising campaigns on Facebook that only target people who have liked your author page? If you get a lot of fans there, but find they’re not checking back often, a quick advertising campaign would be a way to let all of them know about your latest book or series. (Advertising within Facebook — i.e. sending folks to a tab on your author page instead of off-site — is quite affordable as well.)

I could go on about places to be and ways to keep in touch with your fans, but these are my main ones. Also, this post is getting long, so let me address one last concern:

How do you get people to subscribe/follow you to start with?

If you’re just starting out, this may be what’s on your mind. Of course you want to do a newsletter, blog, social media, etc., but how the heck do you get people to follow you or subscribe to your feeds?

Lots of folks try to do this in a backwards way. They try to build the online presence (i.e. building a platform) first. That can work fantastically if you write non-fiction. But with fiction…the proof is in the pudding, eh? It’s possible to get random readers to follow your blog (especially if you’re writing useful posts), but most people have to read your stories before they can decide whether or not they’re fans.

If you write fiction, you can try to post some stories or do a web serial, but I think the fastest way to find fans in this day and age is to put your stuff out there in ebook form and get it out on Amazon, iTunes, B&N, Smashwords, etc. Those are the huge marketplaces where people already are, where they’re actively looking for new things to read.

I also think you’ll find the rows much easier to hoe if you have at least something available for free (short stories are fine). At the end of that freebie, you can plug your other non-free books, and you can also encourage readers who enjoyed the story to visit your site and subscribe to your blog, newsletter, etc. Remember, not everyone will be into doing each thing (some might follow you on Twitter while others want to subscribe to your newsletter while others want to track you on Facebook), so it’s good to be follow-able in a number of places.

All right, now I know I’ve talked for too long! If you have comments or questions or want to see me cover something in more depth, please let me know below.

 

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28 Responses to The Importance of Keeping in Touch with Fans (and how to find them in the first place)

  1. Jon Mac says:

    You always have a great way of making order out of internet chaos 🙂

    What do you think of using a “normal” Facebook account versus a fan page?

    • Lindsay says:

      I like to keep my personal and author account separate, if only because I talk about tennis and family stuff and silly things most fans aren’t interested in on my personal one. Also, you can do more business-y stuff with a fan page (add tabs with lists of your books, excerpts, mailing list sign-ups, etc.).

      And if you choose to try the advertising, having a fan page can make things great for targeting the right folks (you can have your ads display only to people who’ve liked your fan page or to the friends of people who’ve liked your fan page, for example).

  2. Tnx for this post. Your Twitter avatar was what caught my attention the first time. Funny how that goes.

  3. Keri says:

    This is an EXCELLENT post for beginners to social media marketing! Lots of great info in here.

    It’s easy to get overwhelmed with all the places you “have” to be. I’d suggest if you’re overwhelmed to just start one thing at a time, get a hang of that, and move onto the next platform.

    You mentioned in passing advertising on Facebook — this is a GREAT idea for authors. Facebook, because it gathers so much info from its users, offers incredibly targeted advertising. If you know your audience, you can target by age, gender, interests, etc. I just read a blog post today that mentioned Facebook advertising that you & your readers might find helpful on SmartPassiveIncome.com. That post also mentions that you can specifically target ads to friends of your fans, which would be a great idea for authors, I think.

    • Lindsay says:

      Yes, it can be a long to-do list when you’re getting started! I started with the blog and Twitter, then added the newsletter a few months later, and started a Facebook page a few months after that. Eventually you get it all going. 😉

      And, yes, Pat Flynn knows his stuff! I was in an internet business course with him at the same time a few years ago. He makes $30-$40,000 a month now, and I… decided to focus on my fiction. 😀

      I think he has some videos up on YouTube on how to start a Facebook fan page too. (People can look up Smart Passive Income there.)

      • Pat says:

        Hey Lindsey! So this is where you’re at now! I was always wondering what happened because I hadn’t heard from you in a while, and you were always such an amazing writer.

        Great to see an awesome community you’ve built here, and I wish you and your audience continued success!

        And thanks to Keri for the mention here!

        All the best! 🙂

        • Lindsay says:

          Hi Pat,

          Thanks for stopping by. I know you’re a busy fellow, these days! I stumbled across your podcast last summer and subscribed, thinking, “Hey, I think I remember that guy…” Glad to hear that you’re doing well!

  4. Tonja says:

    Thanks for the information! Very helpful.

  5. Cathy Keaton says:

    I’m not sure you can answer this one, but I see authors doing the Amazon Prime free thing with their ebooks, then three days later, the book is free to everyone. Do the authors who sign-up for that program get to decide to make their books free on Amazon?

    • Lindsay says:

      Cathy, if you enroll in KDP Select, you get five days per quarter where you can list your ebook for free. It’s also free for any Prime members to borrow, and you get paid a little bit for each borrow.

      I’d do it if Amazon didn’t require exclusivity.

  6. Paola says:

    Hi! I just wanted to let you know that your posts are always so informative and helpful to me. I recently decided to try my hand at self-publishing, and while I’m still editing and don’t have a book out yet, I’m so glad I found your blog because your posts have taught me a lot and I feel more prepared because of it. This was a great post too, I had been wondering about the best ways to eventually reach fans. If you have time to answer a question, do you have a recommended program for newsletters? I know there are several out there. Thanks again!!

    • Lindsay says:

      Hi Paola,

      I’m glad the posts are helpful! I used Aweber, but only because I already had an account there and have more than one list. It’s $15 a month, so that’s a little overkill for what authors need.

      I know of authors using Mailchimp.com and ymlp.com and being happy with the service. Both have free options (usually you can stick with that until you get something like 1,000 subscribers).

      Good luck!

  7. Mary says:

    If you’re not publishing yet, you can still connect with other writers by blogging, who are a boon when starting out.

    Great tips, Lindsay. I was unaware we could do tabs on a fan page. I’ll have to look into that.

    • Lindsay says:

      Thanks, Mary. Yes, it’s weird calling it a Faceback “page” because with the tabs, you can actually make a little mini site with a bunch of pages on it.

  8. Kate says:

    Really great post. I’m solely a devoted reader (to all kinds of books) and I’ve noticed that often with new authors (either self-published or not), they seem to forget about the importance of having a solid readership. Rather than trying to reach out to readers, it’s almost like some of them start to feel entitled as A-U-T-H-O-R-S. They’ve written a book. The end. People that don’t read their books are idiots.

    Recently, I discovered a new author that I liked and I looked forward to reading the next novel in her series. It, unfortunately, was… well… errrr… unexpected? I’ll just spit it out: it was one of the worst novels that I’ve ever read. Sorry, Author-Who-Will-Remain-Nameless.

    Instead of just shrugging her virtual shoulders, the author went after all the readers that posted negative reviews, called them names, said they were “close-minded” and a whole host of other things through her blog, Amazon and other places where she should be trying to GAIN readers. She argued that, as the author, she can write whatever she wants to write. Which, I don’t necessarily disagree with, but her entire response was interpreted as: “I’m gonna write what I wanna write, Reader, so SUCK IT.” This was only her second published novel, I would guess that she picked up quite a few potential obsessive fans… but, she lost me. And, I’d hazard a guess that she lost a lot of future loyal readers.

    When I read this post, I couldn’t help thinking about this author’s response: how she used the very aspects of media and communication to engage and promote a fan-base as a means to attack against her readers.

    Alas! She should know that we, the readers, are a very fickle bunch.

    • Lindsay says:

      Thanks for the comment, Kate. Yes, I’ve seem some authors go whack-a-do online. I just assume they’re doped up on the Standard American Diet and consuming way too much sugar and caffeine. 😀

      Seriously though, yes, that is one of those cases where mom is right, and if we can’t say anything nice, it’s best not to say anything at all.

  9. ReGi McClain says:

    Just the sort of post us baby authors need! Thanks!

    Way the by, I found you via Twitter in a ridiculously round about way. I very much appreciate that your tweets are not exclusively self-promo; neither do they engulf every other tweet with their frequency. =0)

    • Lindsay says:

      Yes, I only talk about important things on Twitter. Like steampunk cakes, Firefly quotations, and old Star Trek vs. new Star Trek. 😀

      Erm, anyway, glad you tried my books, Regi. Thanks for stopping by the blog!

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  11. I may or may not have created a mental list and as I read your post, I went “newsletter, check; blog, check; facebook, check; Twitter, check”.

    It made me feel all good and fuzzy to know that I covered most of the ground. Thanks for the post.

  12. Hi Lindsay,
    Thank you for that great advice. I’m am very new to all this. I finished my first novel last year but have since changed the genre in which I’m writing. The first felt wrong, like I was chasing a trend. However, do you think it would be a good idea to publish this first novel at the same time as publishing the one I’m currently writing? I am on fb and twitter and I have a blog, though I’ve only just started that. Being very new I’m still fumbling my way through it all. With the first novel being a different genre, do you think it would confuse readers? Again this post was great, thank you for the advice.

    • Lindsay says:

      Morgan, if you like the first novel and think it’s a good story, then I don’t see any reason not to publish it. But maybe you’ll throw more of your marketing might behind your newer works, if they’re more representative of your chosen genre. It’s tough to get fans to genre hop, but maybe that one will attract some readers on its own merits. You never know!

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  14. Great post, Lindsay! I’m learning in a class with Dan Blank that it is so important to build relationships. And how lucky are we to have a way to do this right at our fingertips! We could have never had this reach before social media, so embracing it will open many wonderful avenues. I know it has for me!

  15. Nuzha Roy says:

    Hey I know this is off topic but I was wondering if you knew of any
    widgets I could add to my blog that automatically tweet
    my newest twitter updates. I’ve been looking for a plug-in like this for quite some time and was hoping maybe you would have some experience with something like this. Please let me know if you run into anything. I truly enjoy reading your blog and I look forward to your new updates.

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