Creating a Marketing Team for Authors

By Susan Reichert, Editor-in-Chief for Southern Writers Magazine

Readers love to hear the author read his or her book. It gives the reader a feeling of being close to the author.  For most readers that will be as close as they will ever be to you.  They listen trying to sense every detail as you read. They make a mental note where you laugh, when you get tense, and even when you sigh.  It draws them into your book–the world you created for your readers.  Most important, it draws that reader into you the author. They are hooked. They will go buy that book and any book you write thereafter.

Now, not only do you pick up that reader as your fan, but that reader is going to market your book and you the author to their friends. They’re going to tell their friends, people they work with, family and yes, they are going to get on their Social Media networks and talk about it.

When you finish reading an excerpt from your book, invite the reader to email you and let you know their thoughts about the book. Tell them you are interested in what they have to say about the book. Several things happen here. You pick up an email address, so when your next book comes out you can email him or her to let them know the release date, a 50-60 word description of the book, and a plus would be to send them a picture of the cover. If you have a blog, invite them to join and guest post telling people what they thought of the book or any part of the book you would like them to mention to peak the other readers curiosity so they will buy your book. You could then ask them to review it on Amazon. You are creating a position for them on your marketing team. Word of mouth is the greatest marketing tool an author can have.

At Southern Writers we created “Take Five” for authors to read excerpts from their book. Visit this link and hear authors read. http://www.southernwritersonline.com/take-five.html. You will agree it draws you into the book as well as the author.  For more information about this tool, email staff@southernwritersmag.com.