How Authors Work Together

This week's topic of general discussion is something I thought might give you some new insight into the author world. How authors work with each other!

 

I include my Pay It Forward section in every newsletter, which is my unique way of helping new to you or just new authors get their feet under them and try to help. But there is a lot more that goes on behind the scenes. 

 

I would hazard a guess that you are on more than one authors newsletter. Authors rely on their newsletter as the way to let fans of their books know about releases, sales, and any other promotional tools. This year I decided to do more myself, but I used to be the same. 

 

I was all - "Here's my new release, have a nice day, thank you, see you when the next one is ready."

 

The goal when launching a book is to get as many people as possible to either purchase or borrow it during the first few days of release. 

 

To that end my biggest tool is my mailing list. I think it's the same for any author unless they have tens of thousands (I'm not exaggerating) dollars to spend on paid ads. The next best “free” thing they can do is called a “Swap”. You'll find a swap below in my newsletter this week actually but let me tell you what that means.

 

A swap is when one author (me in this instance) reaches out to another author, usually in the same genre, and offers to “trade” spots in my newsletter for a spot in theirs. We do this to promote our new release/sale to that other author audience. 

 

We all fully realize that there is probably a lot of the same readers on both mailing lists since we're usually in the same genre, but not completely the same. That gives more eyes onto the new release. Hopefully some of those new eyes buys/downloads my book. Hopefully some of you buy /download the book of theirs I am promoting for them.

 

If you are on an author's newsletter and it starts to feel like Bookbub or one of the many other paid newsletters that just promotes a lot of books, this is what they are doing. Working to get as many eyes as possible on their new release. That's the key to making a living in this business.

 

I personally try to do this more sparingly. I limit my swaps per newsletter to no more than two and prefer to keep it at one even if that means I don't get as many swaps. I am not running a promo service, and you didn't sign up for my newsletter for one. That's my own operating theory.

 

There are even more ways that we work together behind the scenes that I'll share with you if there is interest in it, but I think this is enough topic for one week. I tend to get too wordy as it is. 

 

As always, I need your feedback and thoughts so here's my survey, but as a note I'm also going to try out a nifty new feature below where you can click your response. Please do email me though if you have more to say!