How do I share news with readers?

[JayPierce95]

I want to give readers updates on things that I am working on. Is there a way to reach out to the general audience with a post or my followers at least?

 

[AwkwardMD]

Lit does not have a good system for a dialogue between an author and their fans/followers. Most authors who want to do that usually create a social media presence of some kind and pimp it with every new chapter/storu, and from their author page, and in the signature of their forum posts.

 

[JayPierce95]

Thanks for the advice. Lit should really allow each author to have a basic blog. I think people won't follow someone on social media because of anonymity reasons. Maybe at the end of each story I will put an email address and have a mailing list so I can email them with info.

 

[NotWise]

Thanks for the advice. Lit should really allow each author to have a basic blog. I think people won't follow someone on social media because of anonymity reasons. Maybe at the end of each story I will put an email address and have a mailing list so I can email them with info.

I don't think that Laurel will let you post your email address in a story. You can invite people to give you private feedback and build a mailing list of the people who respond.

 

[JayPierce95]

Ok. I guess I can put in a plug that people who give feedback will be put on a mailing list.

 

[ElectricBlue]

If a reader "favourites" you as an author they will be notified on their dash every time you post a new story or update your profile. That's it from Lit though. Everything else is up to you to somehow promote.

Some folk keep email lists, but since so many readers are anons, and you only get an email addy if someone posts you "feedback" and leaves you their email address, that's probably going to be diminishing returns not worth the effort.

The only thing is to write well enough that you (not your stories) get favourited as an author. Otherwise, you've just got to hope your readers spot your next story for themselves.

 

[HeyAll]

A lot of authors save the email adress of people who've messaged them and sent out mass messages every so often.

Many authors also have a twitter account.

or you could leave messages in your author's bio profile and hope that readers check it out.

 

[LeandraNyx]

Deleted

 

[JayPierce95]

Thanks. I'd love to set something up. I have an account for a webpage creator. I think I could maybe make a really basic platform for writers on here to post simple messages to share info, even if it's just bulletins without comments.

 

[NotWise]

Other than that, the best way to keep readers updated is to maintain a posting schedule on your author page and update it on a consistent basis. Alternatively, you could set up a Twitter account and link that on your page. If you wanna get really fancy, set up a website/blog and have a newsletter sign-up.

8letters had a blog with the intent of updating his readers on what he was doing. As I recall from comments on the story feedback forum, he was pretty disappointed in the reader involvement he got that way.

I don't see much reason to engage the readers beyond offering them a story and maybe responding to comments. I know that authors of printed books need to actively market their work, but on Lit self-flattery seems to be the only reason for self-promotion.

I'm not above self-flattery, but I have to realize what it is.

 

[JayPierce95]

It's not about self-flattery. I like to tell them that I will be writing sequels and ask them questions. Like I'd love to do a poll on what story I should do a sequel on next and engage the type of people that leave feedback.

 

[LeandraNyx]

Deleted

 

[StrangeTamer]

I set up a StrangeTamer Facebook page and I listed it on my biography page. Not many people visit it, but I can update it with how a story is doing and what's going on writing wise. The drawback with that is it's not anonymous, so nobody leaves a comment or question.

 

[CyranoJ]

8letters had a blog with the intent of updating his readers on what he was doing. As I recall from comments on the story feedback forum, he was pretty disappointed in the reader involvement he got that way.

With rare exceptions -- usually high-profile political or fashion outlets -- blogs aren't a format people comment on anymore. Commenting is mostly a social media thing now. FWIW I keep a blog where I post updates about what I'm doing and the stats tell me I have readers, but I don't have much in the way of expectation of dialogue on the blog itself. Twitter or e-mail is where most actual interaction happens, to the degree it does.

 

[49greg]

A lot of authors save the email adress of people who've messaged them and sent out mass messages every so often.

Many authors also have a twitter account.

or you could leave messages in your author's bio profile and hope that readers check it out.

I've emailed those who messaged me, but since my output of stories has slowed down to a crawl, it isn't that effective for me. Another tip I gleaned from a previous thread some time ago, was to thank those who comment on stories - well the ones who don't make anonymouse comments. That's resulted in one or two exchanges with readers.