Keeping Your Name in Readers’ Minds

I'm back from the beach and totally relaxed :)

Today I'm thrilled to have M. Pax guest blogging at the Tiki Hut. So I'll just shut up and let Mary take it from here.

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Much thanks to Carol for inviting me to the Tiki Hut. It reminds me of a wonderful bar at Herbert’s beach in Nevis. Just a palm tree shack with wonderful rum punch. A great impression on my mind, but we’re hear to talk about keeping an impression in your readers’ minds.

During the lulls between releases, an author should keep their name in their readers’ minds. One of the easiest ways to do this is to establish a mailing list / newsletter.

Some of you are probably thinking, there’s something else I have to do? Don’t we do enough? Think of it this way, people who sign up for your newsletter are those most interested in more from you. You want to be able to communicate with them, your loyal fans, and you want to be able to do so directly.

Mail Chimp, YMLP, and others offer mailing list services for free up until a certain number of subscribers. I use YMLP and don’t have to pay until I hit 1,000 signups. By the way, that’s a lot. It’ll probably take years to reach that many.

I ask readers to sign up for my newsletter at the end of my books with the direct link, and I also mention it in the front matter. I tell them they’ll be the first to hear when a release becomes available and will be offered a discount on all new releases. I’m very careful to keep my word.

You don’t have to email your list every month, but you should make a notation on your calendar to regularly engage your readers.

So what can an author say between book releases?

Give a sneak peek of the next book. In December, I will inform my list that the third book in my Backworlds series has a set deadline, when they can expect its release, and I’ll give them the first few chapters to read as a holiday gift.

Offer free ARCs to your list in exchange for reviews prior to the next launch.

Send photos or artwork. I’ve sent photos I’ve taken at the observatory where I docent every summer.

Ask for fan input on a story you’re working on. Hold a contest or giveaway for your mailing list only and create a character for the winner. Send a flash fiction. Send an essay.

Anything to make them think of you and to let them know you appreciate them.

What ideas do you have for keeping readers entertained between releases?

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The Renaissance of Hetty Locklear is my latest release, the first book in a New Adult Urban Fantasy.

Graduation from community college isn’t the magic elixir Hetty Locklear counts on for becoming an adult. Her parents, who work the Renaissance fair circuit, insist she spend part of the summer with them. Hetty doubts pretending to live in the Middle Ages will help her find her way.

 To make it worse, an entity haunts her at her dead-end job, warning her of a dangerous man she doesn’t know. The ghost leads her to a lover who has a lot of secrets. He pulls her farther into peril and into a strange, hidden world of genetic experimentation.

Amazon / Amazon UK / Smashwords / Kobo / Other Outlets

Author Bio:

Inspiring the words she writes, M. Pax spends her summers as a star guide at Pine Mountain Observatory in stunning Central Oregon where she lives with her Husband Unit and two very spoiled cats. She writes science fiction mostly, wears a Browncoat, and has a slight obsession with Jane Austen. www.mpaxuthor.com