Thanks for taking the time to reply, but most of all thank you for the great advice. Very much appreciated.

Thank you so much for your time and help. I will check these out.

In my opinion, the biggest reason more authors don’t put on more events and organize them this way is two fold. First, it requires a lot of work. A person needs to build relationships with Influencers and fans, so that when the time comes to put on an event or one needs a bit of visibility help, those people genuinely want to help out (and this also means helping out in return–lots of people want something for nothing, unfortunately, but that’s not how it works). Once an author has build relationships, they have to plan the event. With all the spammy promo out there, this can be disheartening–how can an author make their event stand out? (This again can be done, which is why we’re putting on the webinar!) It takes time to set everything up, organize and then make sure a person is actively participating in their own event–sharing content, starting conversations, generating interest, etc. Many just don’t want to deal with the workload, and that’s their choice. But rarely does a book come about where people just rush out and buy it. We authors have to do some convincing that it’s smomething they want to read and will be interested in. If you skip events, you miss out on a big way to draw attention to your book.

The second big reason is confidence. As you mentioned, wouldn’t we all love to have someone like Kristen championing our event? But the thing is, you can! We all can! I started off as a wet nosed blogger of kidlit. I didn’t know anyone or anything, but over the course of time, I have grown my knowledge, given back whenever I can, and reached out to people and built relationships with them (or had them reach out to me first, but either way, the result is the same: if you put time and effort into someone, you grow closer and form a bond.

The big thing is for you (and all authors) to think about your writing, and your audience. Think about the influencers in your field. If you want one of them to notice you, think about what you can do for them. How can you help them? How can you help more people find their website and books? How can you start getting to know them, and start a friendship?

The writing business is one of the best in the world. Reach out to other authors who write what you do and build relationships. Share knowledge, support one another and together find ways to reach your similar audiences. Look outside of writers too, and identify other people who will have the same audience…people who have interests that tie into your books. Start conversations, visit their sites. Get to know them. Again, support doesn’t just happen here, but anywhere that your audience might be. If your book shows a window into the world of racecars, them people who love racing in general may be a good audience fit. They don’t write racing books necessarily, do they? So get out there and find out where they are, what places online and off they spend their time. These places and communities are ones that type of author should be trying to form inroads to. Make sense?

Anything is possible if you work hard, are passionate about what you write about, and you are willing to share that passion with others. 🙂