Today's Armchair BEA daily post topic is author interaction either in the real world or online. Since becoming a blogger my opportunities to interact with authors and publicists has grown exponentially! While I have only gone to a few author readings my biggest interactions have definitely been online.
Probably my biggest avenue for interacting with various authors is through Facebook. By following an author's Facebook page readers can reach out across the blogosphere and ask questions or just geek out and say hi whenever they want. This has allowed me to not only correspond with some of my favorite authors but to find out about giveaways, upcoming books, interviews and blog posts and even how to get signed book plates (which makes any book a keeper, don't you think?). In conjunction with wonderful virtual book tour companies such as Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours readers can also find out about and participate in Facebook launch parties which place fans right in the middle of wonderful discussions with authors, book bloggers and other like-minded readers. These launch parties have become one of my favorite ways to "meet" new authors and readers that I can then interact with in the future.
One of the biggest benefits with being a book blogger (other than getting free books to read, which rocks!) has been getting my feelings and opinions about a book into the hands of the author. Many authors seem to really take the time to read through the reviews not only on blogs but on various platforms such as Amazon and Goodreads. While there have been some horror stories of reviewer trolls and authors behaving badly to negative reviews, I have found nothing but the kindest and most receptive of interactions. I have even had authors post their own comments to my reviews, thanking me for kind words and/or taking the time to read and review their book. I am always shocked and beyond touched to have authors reach out to me personally with their comments. Authors are my rock stars so there is always a lot of squeaking and jumping around when this happens!
My advice to anyone new or nervous to reach out to their favorite authors, either in person or online, would be to JUST DO IT! I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how receptive authors are to fans and how often they are just as excited as you are to talk about their books. Some will even call in to your book club meeting if you're discussing their books! So ask and see what happens....the worst that can happen is no response.
Tell me: Have you had any noteworthy interactions with authors, either good or bad? What authors have you found to be the most receptive to fans? Any additional advice or suggestions to meeting up with authors?
I had Susanna Kearsley writing to me and sending me two of her books. I live in Sri Lanka and access to English print books is both difficult and prohibitively expensive. She had seen a comment of mine on a blog and wrote to me which I thought wonderful and very caring.
ReplyDeleteI love how there are so many different venues on the internet to interact with authors. I use Twitter more than FB but it's all great. Book tours too are a fantastic way to interact with authors. I've never participated in the HFV book tour but the selection looks great and everyone looks like they're having fun; I'd love to participate with them at some point.
ReplyDeleteDay 2 @ my blog
I haven't had the chance to attend a bookish event, but I have interacted with them on twitter. I liked getting the chance to have short conversations with my favorite authors. Great post!
ReplyDeleteHi, Colleen! Glad to see you participating - it's been too long since I've visited. I don't know when you redesigned the blog, but I love the look! I agree with you about author interactions and the opportunities for (decent) bloggers to really engage with these authors. I've interacted with many, now, and have even made "friends" with a few. It's something I never would have imagined!
ReplyDeleteHello and Happy Armchair BEA to you :) I agree I love interacting with authors and it's beyond awesome when they actually comment on your reviews.
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