Find Your Tribe: Authors Helping Authors

 By Wendy Hinote Lanier

​Being part of the publishing world is a lot of fun. But it’s also a bit confusing at times. And frustrating. And overwhelming. And ever changing. Did I mention confusing?
When I first started writing for publication, things were simpler. There was no such thing as platform. The internet was a handy tool for research but not much else. Publishing houses had publicity departments that had actual budgets for each book. And each book was judged (at least in part) on its own merits—and not always on how well your last book had done.

And then things changed. A lot. Suddenly writers were expected to develop something called “platform” and be active in promoting their own books. We had to learn how to use Facebook and Instagram and Twitter and Pinterest and other social media tools to get the word out about new titles. We learned to make videos and create mailing lists. And for the first time we became concerned about something called “followers.”

Some of us gave up. Some of us are still treading water just trying to get a handle on things we don’t understand. (That would be me.) Some of us learned how to use at least one of these tools really well. And some of us figured out pretty quickly we couldn’t do it all and just hired a teenager. Some of us wish we COULD hire a teenager. And we ALL learned that just because you can write doesn’t necessarily mean you can navigate this platform thing—at least not alone.

We’ve talked about the value of a critique group before. Today we’re talking about the value of tribe. Your tribe is larger than your critique group. Your tribe includes your fellow authors. There’s power in tribe.

Even though the publishing industry demands it, we can’t possibly know all the tricks for promoting books and developing platform. In many ways, developing platform is completely contrary to the typical writer personality. But what we CAN do is learn to pool our resources and help out our fellow writers. Here are a few ideas on how we can do that.

• Reviews – Every book needs reviews to increase its visibility. Some people are better at writing reviews than others, but, whenever you can, write a review for a fellow author. (Note: If you can’t give it a 5-star rating you probably shouldn’t.) Reviews can be posted on Amazon, your blog, GoodReads, BookBub, and a host of other places. Every review helps build the book’s audience.
• Blog Posts – A blog is a good thing. It’s also a time-consuming thing. There ARE authors who are good at maintaining a blog, but I’ve noticed that the people who are best at keeping up with a blog aren’t usually writing a lot of books. And the people who are writing a lot of books are too busy writing said books to keep up with a blog. But that doesn’t mean a blog isn’t worth your time. The Nonfiction Ninjas are the group of nonfiction writers who maintain this blog together. It’s a group effort. None of us are responsible for the whole year, and by dividing up the blog writing responsibilities we’ve been able to post roughly once a week for a couple of years now. And a blog is a great place to share information, writing techniques, and promote one another’s books. If you don’t have a personal blog, consider joining a group that has one and become a contributor. Blogs are great places to promote yourself and other authors.
• Social Media – These days most of us are using various kinds of social media. You may have a favorite, but you probably have a presence on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest at a minimum. Whatever your favorite, you can help a fellow author by posting their book cover, release date, and order information on your page. I frequently post book covers and a line or two about a book on both Facebook and Instagram. And I pass along information about book signings or blog posts. There are also ways to promote your fellow authors in social media groups that have nothing to do with writing. For example, I share administrator duties for a group on Facebook called Puppy Dog Tales. (It’s a public group dedicated to all things pawsitively doggy. You are welcome to join.) We frequently feature books about dogs on Fridays. Sometimes we post video interviews. And our Monday Musings posts are inspirational or devotional pieces sometimes written by guest writers. Even though the Puppy Dog Tales group is not specifically for writers, we try to help our author friends who write about dogs as much as possible through this forum.
• Book Purchases – Even if using all the social media stuff or writing a blog isn’t your thing, one really simple way to help a fellow author is to buy their book. At a minimum you can recommend it. And if you really like it, you can buy more than one so you can gift one to someone else.
• Pool Your Resources – Sometimes being a writer is a solitary thing. But there are ways you can enrich your writing life by teaming up with writer friends to promote books together. This past year Michelle Medlock Adams, Susie Kralovanski, and I all had dog themed books out. We brainstormed some ways we could promote all our books, and Susie, who is a whiz at using Canva, made posters for all of us to post on our social media about National Dog Day and Pet Adoption Week (or was it month?). We all used the posters to promote our books on our personal social media sites. In doing this we used a shared theme to create multiple opportunities for promotion. If you have author friends who live in your area, you can set up author events for multiple authors even if you don’t have a common theme. By sharing the cost and the limelight you can increase your visibility to a wider audience. But perhaps one of the best ways to pool resources is to be part of a group of writers with a similar focus and goal to yours. Writing together, brainstorming together, and promoting together is one way to ensure success for everyone in the group.

The writing life can be solitary, but finding your tribe helps you make connections and friends. Helping another writer in ways you would like them to help you is like an extension of the golden rule. And, chances are, as you help others in your tribe, it’ll come back to you—good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over.

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