Blogger Insights (#2) ~ Author Participation

This weeks Blogger Insight post is about author participation. It's not what I had originally planned to write about but I wanted to make a point about how important it actually is after an author encounter I recently experienced.

I take part in a lot of author events: cover reveals, blitzes, blog tours etc, and of course I arrange a number of tours and events for Book Chatter Promotions.

But I've noticed a rise in author participation just recently on these tours. A few comments of thanks have been, and usually are left for me on the blog, but most interesting have been the emails from the authors themselves to say thank you for helping out.

Now, I've been doing this blogging thing for a while now and I'm a huge advocate of authors getting involved with bloggers and supporters. In my numerous talks with friends and other bloggers, it has been the general consensus that authors should take some time to visit each participating blog, or at least send a mass email of thanks after each tour. (Not all authors do - or even like to)

It is my (and others bloggers) opinion that it is much better to pop over to a blog and leave a quick "thank you so much for your participation" comment or send an email of thanks out to all the participants than not... why?

Because bloggers get a buzz out of it!
We are all fangirls (and boys) too, you know!
It sparks our interest, gets us excited, and I'll explain how that translates...

I recently took part in an event for an author I had heard quite a bit about but never read. She writes meaty, slightly grungy erotic adult books that have piqued my interest, but for whatever reason I've never got around to purchasing one.

Anyway, a few days after the event I received an email from the author thanking me for supporting her. I was pleasantly surprised and happy to receive such a nice gesture and so I wrote back, thanking her for thanking me... and we continued to email a few more times back and forth!

And it gave me a buzz - wow, what a great chick, seriously cruisey, funny and sweet!

So I went out and bought one of her books - devoured it, LOVED it - and I plan on purchasing the rest of the series too!

You see, because she made an effort to connect with me, to thank me for supporting her as an independent author - I went out and bought her book.

I'm officially a fan.
I will now continue to buy her books, I will be more than happy to tout her wares!

She has made another link in an ever-increasing chain of support, and that kind of help is invaluable, especially to an independent/self-publishing author.

So yeah, if you've held a virtual event recently, reach out to your bloggers, maybe flick off an email - you just might get a handful of extra sales out of it!!

*sidenote*
If you do this already - good on you - but lets spread the word to all authors... a quick thank you can go a long way!