Carolyn doing what she preaches, spreading the word, having the fun!
Connecting to Authors Counts
Carolyn Rants About How to Make Reading
Feel Like the Real Thing
By Carolyn Howard-Johnson, novelist, poet and multi award-winning author
of the #HowToDoItFrugallySeries of Books for Writers
Many years ago when I was beginning to dedicate myself to writing—meaning writing real books and not having other work to attend to, the LA Times reported that Harper Collins had hatched a program to “draw authors and readers together.”
What a wonderful concept! It seems new at the time, a possibility that could be nurtured with the coming of the Internet. And, yes, I’m being facetious.
The giant publisher offered up their big-name authors for an “Invite the Author” program. Authors like Ann Patchett (author of Bel Canto) and Wally Lamb (author of This Much I Know is True) would speak by phone to the members of a very few book clubs—chosen by lottery, no less! It seemed like a great idea to me. I was working on my the first book soon to become part of a series for writers (The Frugal Book Promoter, now in its third edition).
Of course this was a new idea of inspired by the best of marketing’s intentions—to make PR more about serving the public than mere “selling” which was okay by me especially since they publish lots of excellent titles that can be classified as literary, a genre I saw as losing ground since my days as an English major. What T’d me off is that these ladies from one of the chosen clubs, the Digressing Divas Book Club in Michigan, were so excited because they “had never met an author or talked to one before.” Can you imagine? Weren’t bookstores doing that? Libraries? But it me realize there must be avid readers who think that authors are a bit untouchable. It convinced me of what I had started to observe on my own. We all could do more but the newly minted POD authors otherwise known as the self-published had been eschewing marketing of all kinds because from what they observed it was a job for publishers and beneath the talents of creatives—that is, authors!
Today, things have changed. I was a slog to get us to realize that not matter how we publish we are at least in part responsible for our own book’s success, our own relationships with our readers. Many authors of literary works (and other genres, too) had been keeping themselves cloistered but not all. Today even the most literary, most hightly paid ones have websites—even participate on the content we find there. They have easily accessed e-mail addresses. They have blogs and newsletters! They have bared their very souls to their readers in their writing, for heaven’s sakes!
Today it’s easy to find authors. Look up their names on Google. Once found, visit their site and sign their guest books. Most (at least the smart ones) would be pleased to send you a signed bookplate if you ask. Most will answer your note.
Lacking an e-mail address or an interactive feature on their website, authors can be reached by writing to their publisher who passes these letters on to the author. This is not a new process. It has been going on for decades. What a concept! A personal letter with the distinct possibility that a reader will get a personal note back complete with a valued signature!
Oh, and book signings. Well, granted some big chains got awfully uppity about who they allowed to appear on their premises, but most towns, large and small have realized the potential for an author to visit and chat with book lovers. So, if “Digressing Divas” everywhere are all that excited about chatting with authors, maybe they should be telling their bookstore proprietors about their needs. In fact there are lots of ways they can keep that author-reader relationship ball rolling:
~What would happen if B&N invited an author from a small press so their customers could get copy of an autographed first novel, maybe even a honest-to-goodness first edition?
~And what if they actually promoted this new author?
~And what if the people who came actually found a new voice, a new author to adore?
~“Digressing Divas” could also hound their libraries a bit. A former Nobel prize nominee, Dr. Alicia Ghiragossian, Stephen Veres, author of A Light in the Distance, and I spoke on “The Three Faces of Tolerance” at our local library. Other authors like Pat Morrison, Vincent Bugliosi and poet Bart Edelman have spoken to those in our not-so-large community as part of this same series. None of us said “No.” Some of these authors may someday be the Oateses or Faulkners or Roths of the literary world with—or without the help of a publisher.
Here’s more proof: We now have a Literacy Day. This year it’s on Mon, Sep 8, 2025. We might still not have an opportunity to find the world’s most famous authors at every bookstore or featured on every segment of Ali Velshi’s book club (MSNBC), but it’s an opportunity to meet people who write, people with opinions and people with talent.
Our “Diva” book-clubbers could invite authors to come talk to their clubs, these days, especially if one live in their town or even region. I know several authors who have spoken to as few as twelve avid readers cozied around the fireplace at a club member’s home. One of those is Leora G. Krygier, author of First the Raven.
Some authors even teach at colleges in your area. Author Beverly J. Scott even took a road tour in one of her collectible Edsels so she could meet people in small towns!
Real Ideas for Making Readers and Authors Who Read
Feel More Connected
- Write to authors when you’ve read their books.
- Look up an author on Amazon.com. She may even have a link to a special biography page and/or an e-mail address.
- Check out AuthorsDen.com. Wow! What an array of writers!
- Attend book signings. Occasionally attend even if you haven’t ever read a book by the starring author.
- Join groups that invite authors to speak. Even investment groups are known to do that. I know. I was among the 300 guests in the banquet hall!
- Attend your local library’s events.
- Let your bookstore know when you have read something you enjoy, especially if you had to go to Amazon.com to buy it. Ask them to invite that author to visit their store.
- Read your paper’s Book Review section (you’ll sometimes find them in sections labeled “Opinion” or “Voices” these days); use some of the website addresses you find there to contact publishers and authors.
- Most of all, just ask for your bookish little heart’s desire. You might get it. Cross-promotion among authors is known to be one of the best promotions of all.
- If you find an author who isn’t receptive, find yourself another.
MORE ABOUT THE “WRITERS ON THE MOVE” CONTRIBUTOR
Howard-Johnson is the recipient of the California Legislature’s Woman of the Year in Arts and Entertainment Award, and her community’s Character and Ethics award for her work promoting tolerance with her writing. She was also named to Pasadena Weekly’s list of “Fourteen San Gabriel Valley women who make life happen” and was given her community’s Diamond Award for Achievement in the Arts. Carolyn writes nonfiction for writers, poetry, and fiction and has studied writing at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom; Herzen University in St. Petersburg, Russia; and Charles University, Prague. She is also celebrating more than a year of writing this column for Susan Violante’s First Chapter Plus and occasionally contributes to Reader Views’ blog as well. Please follow her author’s profile page on Amazon at https://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile to receive notice of her new books right to your e-mail address.
