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For the last month, I have been taking a close look at what it means to be a visionary, or a future-thinker–specifically as regards self-publishing. (You can read those posts here and here.) We first looked at what future-thinking is, then ways we can become future-thinkers. But I also posed the question, which has yet to be answered, of how we might support future thinkers.
This week I’m here with a couple of possible answers.
But first, why should we care about supporting other self-publishing authors? The simple, moral answer comes from Abraham Lincoln, who I believe was quoting a certain text many of us hold to be, well, super important:
We ought to care about other authors because of the Golden Rule, because we ought to treat others the way we want to be treated. And interestingly, this moral reasoning also has a certain practical result: if you support other self-publishing authors, you create a community upon which you too can rely when needed.
So, the ways:
Networking is crucial. Through networking, you can make important connections with other authors that can lead to new insights for marketing strategies that the two authors, before meeting, may never have considered. Sharing ideas is the first way to join forces with another author.
If, through sharing ideas, you decide that you could benefit one another’s work, start strategizing with them. Two heads are always better than one. Working with someone else can open up possibilities that might seem too daunting to take on alone. If you want to host an event but don’t want to (or can’t) do so alone, joining up with another local author who will help with the logistics, social outreach and hosting of the event, it becomes a much more reasonable task.
Team up when creating discounts and/or giveaways. Strategically place your books on sale and promote one another’s at the same time during the holiday season and beyond! You then both gain access to one another’s readership that you would not have had otherwise. The readers won’t mind … they like having more books to read and authors to follow.
Utilize digital space and host one another on each of your blogs and/or websites, social media pages, etc. You can do this by featuring a review of that author’s book on your blog and then asking them to do the same for you in exchange. Or simply write up a bio of them with a link to their website page as an equally effective means of promoting them (and in turn, yourself). You could also promote a vlog style interview of that author and vice versa, featuring them as an author in general or asking them specifically about their latest or greatest release.
Whatever you do, always make sure that the joining of forces is mutually beneficial, not parasitic on one end or the other. It is equally as important to make sure you hold true to your end of the plan as it is to hold the other person accountable for their own contributions. Support is always a two-way street, isn’t it?
You are not alone. ♣︎
Self Publishing Advisor 