So someone has asked you to join a group of authors. Let’s do a blog. Let’s do a bookset. Let’s support each other on social media. Let’s cross-promote our works.
What am I getting into? Will I gain exposure and more sales? Is it worth the time?
The Team
A small groups of
like-minded authors.
A good manager/leader
is essential to the success.
Member selection
is a major part of the process.
Established a set
of goals and objectives.
Scheduled set of duties
and projects.
Willing to commit the time and resources.
It was time to do a study of the author groups and the teamwork
needed to succeed. As I usually do, I seek advice from my Spotlight Crew. They
are a group of authors I have interviewed during the years (over 1300 interviews
and book showcases since 2012). I have included some of the information from their
answers related to groups for this study and their interviews.
For authors, there are advantages to joining a group of like-minded authors. Forming a bound to a group of active authors has a great upside. And there is the other side. You are making a commitment to work with the other authors and spent time and resources to aid the team.
QUESTION - Group hug study questions
Authors: Using a Group Hug to Increase Exposure
I am
putting together a study on how author groups work together to gain exposure to
a reading audience. Lately, I have noticed that authors are forming smaller groups
to help sell their books.
I
would like to have a quote from you about author groups and your involvement. I
will highlight your quote with contact information including your name and
brief description.
Here
is an idea of the kind of information I’m looking for.
1.
What individual author support groups do you belong too? Who
put the group together? Who coordinates the group?
2.
What are
the main objectives? (sales, exposure, marketing, etc.)
3. Do you do booksets together? Other activities?
Indie Chicks
The first group of authors I wrote about was the Indie
Chicks in 2012. They were a group of outstanding authors who were formed to
publish a anthology with the proceed going to charity.
Speaking
of synergy, this is a small group of outstanding women writers who are together
for the long haul. They support each other in many ways: keeping a constant
flow of twitter chatter, supporting each other’s books and marketing activities
and doing group writing projects. They keep up a constant swirl of activity on the
social network.
Indie Chicks: 25 Women 25
Personal Stories - B0060ZTM62
M.A. Comley - Katherine Owen - Donna Fasano - Melissa Foster - Carol Davis Luce - Sibel Hodge - Cheryl Shireman
This
exciting anthology contains stories from twenty-five women from different parts
of the world. Their ages differ, as do their backgrounds and locations, but one
thing they all have in common is a spirit of independence and a determination to
not only succeed, but prevail. Whether their struggles are to maintain balance
between motherhood and career, escape from an abusive relationship, or to step
out in faith and pursue a dream, all of these women have forged their own path.
All
proceeds from this book will go to various charitable organizations. Our
prayers and best wishes are with those who are struggling with this terrible
and devastating disease.
Gathered by Cheryl Shireman, the Indie Chicks
are a group of women writers who enjoy supporting and encouraging other women
writers. We have all published in various ways - independently, with
traditional publishers, or by combining both methods. No matter how published,
we have one thing in common - a love of writing and an independent spirit. In
our ranks, you will find much-acclaimed bestsellers and also a few writers who
are just starting out. We live in various parts of the world and come from a
variety of backgrounds.
Cheryl Shireman @cherylshireman
Cheryl is the author of the 'Life is But a
Dream' series and the 'Cooper Moon' series among many novels. She also writes
children's books. She is the founder of the 'Indie Chicks' writing group.
“I love the Indie Chicks.
This is such an extraordinary group of writers. When I first came up with the
idea of the Indie Chicks, I discarded the idea immediately. It seemed like such
a huge idea - fraught with so many logistical problems. But the idea kept
returning.
And, eventually,
I could no longer ignore the idea. I came up with a list of my “dream team” of
women writers and started contacting them. I asked them if they’d like to be part
of a group of women writers who worked together to support and encourage one
another, not only in writing but sometimes in life. Almost all of the women I
contacted replied with a heart.”
Donna Fasano
@Donna_Fasano
Donna
is an award-winning author. She writes Sweet Romance novels.
“I am so lucky to a part this group of talented women. They offer support and a wealth of knowledge, and they're always willing to help in any way they can. I believe the book (Indie Chicks: 25 Independent Women 25 Personal Stories) is successful because we wrote our stories from the heart. When emotion is poured into a story, readers can't help but notice.”
Authors Billboard - https://authorsbillboard.com/
Next is a current group of Romance authors who
have devoted themselves to working together to gain exposure and sales.
Mimi Barbour @MimiBarbour
Mimi is a NYT & USA Today, best-selling,
and award-winning author. She writes Romance, Paranormal, and Suspense novels.
I founded a group in 2016 called The Authors’ Billboard https://authorsbillboard.com with the sole idea of having a joint hashtag #mgtab (stands for Mimi’s Gang the Authors’ Billboard) for Twitter, one we could all use for promoting on social media. It went over so well, the 40 or so ladies in the group, wanted to do more together. From there, we set up two Facebook pages – one private and one public. Then I figured if we could all work together, why not have a website where we would take turns for blogging, have a place to advertise our books, and use the home page for a monthly contest. Of course, we set up a Twitter account, Pinterest, Triberr, and then the newsletter which goes out to a huge audience every Friday filled with freebies, sales, and new releases - not only from our ladies… it’s available for others to submit. Cost is $7.
Dani
Haviland @dani_haviland
Dani is a USA Today best-selling romance author. She writes the timetravel series, The Fairies Saga.
I've been a part of Mimi's Gang for nearly five years now. We're a group of thirty-three romance authors who have banded together to help each other promote our single and cooperative works. Mimi Barbour is our founder and fearless Canadian leader. In 2016, she suggested we start putting together box sets by themes, filling them with our backlist stories that weren't doing as well as we'd like. I jumped in as the publisher (and banker) to help coordinate the finances and contracts. Chill Out! Books has published nearly one hundred titles so far! We've put out so many that now we're pushing ourselves to write more. Tamara Ferguson and her company, Tammysdragonfly Publishing, has lifted some of the burden and taken on some of these sets.
The group has a website they support: www.authorsbillboard.com. We share the responsibility of writing a blog once a month, sharing links to the site (and its monthly contests), and advertise weekly and or monthly on it to support the prizes to the contests. We also list the box sets we write for and promote. @gr8authors, @mimisgang1, and #mgtab are ways to find us on Twitter. Many of our books and box sets can be found by searching 'ABB Chill Out' in the Kindle search bar on Amazon.
The following is a list of some of Mimi Gang’s
booksets that have been showcase on the HBS Author Spotlight blog:
IRRESISTIBLE CHRISTMAS - Unforgettable Christmas Joy -
Dear Santa: A Christmas Wish -
Romance Gems - https://romancegems.blogspot.com/
Next
is a smaller group of hardworking Romance authors with teamwork as the goal.
Joan Reeves @JoanReeves
Joan is a NY Times & USA Today best-selling author of Contemporary Romance.
Writing is said to be a lonely business,
but that was before the internet! In today's world, writing is lonely only if
you choose to make it so. I'll focus on the one that I organized which takes
most of my spare time, and that is Romance Gems which debuted February 1, 2019.
We are now 2 years old and we are 22 great authors strong. We've morphed into
friends who support each other, publish together, and market/promote together.
When I organized Romance Gems, I set it
up with an Executive Team and invited my friends to join in. The marvelous Bonnie
Edwards, Jan Scarbrough, and Nancy Fraser did so for which I'm eternally
grateful. We invite authors to join our group based on their body of work, professionalism,
and personality. We read some of the nominated author's work and discuss
whether she will be a good fit in the group dynamic. We want not only good writers
but also an author who is professional and plays well with others. No drama
divas or authors who aren't willing to work for the success of the group and
each other. That's basically our mission statement. Support each other, support
the group blog, work together, and have fun doing all of that.
We have giveaways, Book Fairs on a
special holiday, and we have Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook accounts. Our
Facebook page "Romance Gems...Where Authors and Readers Meet" (https://www.facebook.com/groups/332592250930075/)
is the most active. Our authors sign up to front a discussion on a certain day.
That way we have a fresh content for our readers…
The friendship and support our authors
extend to each other is priceless. We've had members who have lost family
members, and we're there to help them any way we can. Yes, we're all separate
by many miles, but we're just an email away if someone needs a shoulder to cry on,
someone to lift them up in prayer, or send a caring message. We're there if an
author needs to vent about a bad review or ask for a favor.
Bonnie Edwards @BonnieEdwards
Bonnie writes Romance, Contemporary and Paranormal novels and novellas.
I belong to Romance Gems, a blog group
that formed from a long ago email loop of Kensington Books authors. Some
of us wanted to strengthen our connections and started a group blog of
a previous name. I'm an original member but didn't form the group. Our driving
force is Joan Reeves, but I'm a member of the team that works behind
the scenes. We blog on our specified days and have a readers' group
on FB where members there are updated regularly on our news.
Our main objective is exposure, support,
and marketing. We have monthly themes and sometimes we offer free books or
chances to win.
We've done some box sets and have some
others in the works. These are fun because now that we've created our setting,
we'll revisit and write more stories in the same towns. There's nothing
like having a whole team of us supporting and marketing at the same time.
Nancy Fraser @nfraserauthor
Nancy is a Top 100 Bestselling Author. She writes Romance novels and short stories.
The Romance Gems is a collective of authors,
most who began their careers in the mid 1990s with the Precious Gems line from
Kensington Publishing. Although we all went our separate ways, twenty-two
of us have banded back together to form/support the group. The current group,
in its latest incarnation, is overseen by author Joan Reeves. We are going
through some reorganization pains at the moment in an effort to streamline our
blog and get more bang for our promotion buck.
The main objective of Romance Gems is group
promotion of all the members' books. We have a group Twitter account,
Instagram, and Facebook readers group in addition to the blog itself. We are
quite active in supporting each other on Goodreads and Bookbub as well. We've
just recently put together a newsletter sharing program, as well as a new
listing of our authors' private blogs and days they take submissions.
The Romance Gems have done a couple of
projects together, with more to come in the future. A couple of years ago, we
did a sampler collection of first chapters, although that book is no longer
available. In 2020, we put together a box set titled Last Chance Beach: Summer's
End with fourteen of the Gems participating. Then, later in the year, ten of us
produced a holiday anthology, Christmas Comes to Dickens, which is now available
in both ebook and print. Both collections will be expanding in the coming year.
But, rather than a box set or anthology, each individual author will publish their
own book in the series. The books will be linked to the series with cover
graphics and wording and considered our little "world".
The following is a list of some of Romance
Gems’ booksets that have been showcased on the HBS Author Spotlight blog:
Last Chance Beach: Summer's End - Christmas Comes to Dickens
Tucson Festival of Books
An
event I go to every spring is the Book Festival at the University of Arizona. This
is the ultimate group hug. Many groups have their own booth with the authors
displaying their books, giving their sales pitch, and giving swag to the thousands
of readers that attend the weekend event.
One
of the first booths I attended was Murder, She Wrote. This group was sponsored
by Rebecca Dahlke. What a
great group of authors.
Terry Ambrose @suspense_writer
Terry is the author of the McKenna Mystery series and the Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast Mystery series.
I belong to an author
group called Booklovers Bench. When I discovered the group was now all cozy mystery
authors, I was eager to return. There’s a good division of labor in Booklovers
Bench, so no one person get saddled with the entire load.
Our main focus is
marketing—we take turns with a weekly post and then host a monthly contest. But
it also goes beyond that. We’ll read each others’ works to provide reviews,
help with marketing quotes, and serve as a sounding board for ideas. We’re on the
web at https://bookloversbench.com.
Camelia Miron Skiba @CamiSkiba
Camelia writes Romance, Women's Fiction, Historical Fiction novels. She is the author of the Dacian Legends series.
I had a blast at the Festival! It challenges me to come out of my shell, which is a work in progress for the shy person that I am. I’ve met friends I knew from the previous year, and made new ones. I brought enough books (or so I thought) but by the second day I was sold out of two of my books (the Dacian series, BORN IN VENGEANCE and BORN IN SIN), so next year I’ll just bring more books.
Amigos and Ladies of the West
Doug Hocking @HockingDoug
Doug is the author of Western Mysteries and Historical Fiction.
Many of the members of the Western Writers of
America wanted to participate in the Tucson Festival of Books which used to
draw over 130,000 people by selling their books. This was impossible for the
WWA staff to accomplish. Being licensed as a vendor in Arizona and looking at
the very high expense of obtaining a booth for the Festival, over $800, I put
together a group of 8 authors who know each other well and who enjoy working
together. We share the expense making it manageable for all of us. The group
has come to be known as Amigos and Ladies of the West https://doughocking.com/shop.
One of the original members, Miles Swarthout, who wrote the script for John
Wayne’s last movie, the Shootist, proposed the name and so it shall
remain.
Here are a couple links to some of the Spotlight post on the Festival.
Book Marketing, Desert Style: Tucson Festival of
Books 2013
2017 Tucson Festival of Books – Amigos and Ladies of the West
Indie Writers Unite
Another group started by a Spotlight interviewed Author was IWU.
Cheryl Bradshaw @cherylbradshaw
Cheryl is the New York Times & ten time USA Today bestselling mystery, thriller, and suspense author.
Indie Writers
Unite, a group I founded about ten years ago. It was the first author group on
Facebook.
Most of the
groups I'm involved in are geared around marketing, tips on staying relevant,
growing your brand, and learning what's working and what isn't in the industry
today. In my group, Indie Writers Unite, we focus on helping new indie writers
learn about the industry and offer tips on how to be successful in the business.
… usually get involved in one bookset a year, depending on my availability. I've been involved in sets that have done well, and others that didn't do well. For me to get on board with other authors for a bookset, I am looking to work with authors who have an established group of followers and are willing to promote the set and give it a lot of visibility. I also take part in multi-author book promos each month. It's a great way to gain more exposure with readers who have never read my books before. Cheryl’s Spotlight Interview
Booksets and Bundles
Booksets
are one of the projects most groups are doing. Multi-authors from the group
submit their novel or short story and the books are combined to form a set of
books. Most bookset’s prices are set at minimum with exposure being the main
goal.
Tamara Ferguson @Tammysdragonfly
Tamara is an award-winning author who writes Romance and Suspense novels.
From an interview
The romance bundle for A Touch of Passion is comprised with full-length novels.
When my dear friend Uvi Poznansky invited me into the group, I immediately said
yes. She is the most amazing organizer I’ve ever met when it comes to putting
together an anthology, and setting up promotions and Facebook events, and she’s
very talented graphic designer as well. It takes a lot of patience to work in a
group; particularly when some members don’t have the ability to contribute as much
time as others, because of previous commitments.
The goal, of course, is to boost the sales of books for each author in the group.
And, if in the process, we take it to the next level and become Amazon bestsellers
(which we did), it would assuredly boost our sales even more.
What many authors don’t realize is the category rankings for anthology sales
will also be associated individually with your numbers.
A bestselling anthology can definitely boost your career as an author, and you
should always think carefully before turning an offer down.
Marcia James @Marcia_James
Author Marcia James writes comic romantic mystery and suspense novels, as well
as humorous contemporary romance.
From an interview
I love participating in romance ebook anthologies
(or boxed sets, as many people call them). Not only do I get to work with a
great group of authors, but we each get one of our stories in front of the
other authors' readers. This can and does lead to an increase in sales of our
other books and novellas. So these boxed sets are a way of co-promoting with other
authors. That saves time and money, since we're splitting the jobs (running a Facebook
page, contacting advertisers, coordinating the cover and formatting, etc.) and
the cost (paying for advertising, the cover, the formatting, etc.) And the
boxed sets are a great deal for readers, too, since most of them include at
least ten stories for 99 cents.
It's very important to network with other authors. Most of these boxed set
opportunities come about when a group of author friends decides to join together
to do a boxed set. The group comes up with a theme, like the sports-theme of
this summer's Score One For Love. Each author in the group has to
write a story (or have one already written) that fits the theme. All authors
retain their copyrights and can also indie-publish their stories separately, as
well as part of the set. One author has to be considered the "publisher"
by the online bookstores (Amazon, B&N, Apple, Kobo, etc.), or the group can
hire a company like IndieWrites to handle the publishing, royalties, and tax information
in exchange for a small percentage of the royalties. I think all boxed sets are
a win-win for both the authors and readers.
S.R. Mallery @SarahMallery1
Sarah is the award-winning author who writes Historical Fiction, Women's
Fiction, and Mysteries.
From an interview
Firstly, I cannot claim responsibility for putting together that set. I was
graciously invited in by Uvi Poznansky, who knew my work, and wanted to include
me if at all possible. This was my first bundle experience, and I couldn’t be
happier. All of the authors are far, far better known in the literary world
than I, as well as being savvier regarding social media. The result of that has
brought me the benefit of a wider audience.
Featured
on HBS Author’s Spotlight)
Jacquie Biggar @JacqBiggar
Jacquie is a Romance, Contemporary and Suspense writer who writes the
'Wounded Hearts' series.
From an interview
Author bundles: Dangerous Encounters has been a positive experience all around.
I’ve made new friends, new fans, and best of all, the cross-promotion has
helped my other books get recognized. I met the others in the set through a Facebook
group.
Kindle Unlimited (Select)
A new strategy in group think is the power of Kindle
Unlimited to gain exposure. Most booksets have this as an option for readers to
gain access to their novels. The number
of ebook individual readers and number subscribing to Unlimited is going up
dramatically.
Mimi
Barbour @MimiBarbour
Mimi is a NYT & USA Today, best-selling, and award-winning author. She writes Romance, Paranormal, and Suspense novels.
All along, I’d been submitting my books to multi-author box
collections, and when I was invited to join one where the books would be
strictly for Select so we would earn pages-read as well as sales, it
went over incredibly well. I decided the ladies at the Billboard needed to have
the same experience, and so we started with the first box collection put
together in the group called Unforgettable Romances. What a rush! It still
sells well to this day. That began a landslide of collections in every genre.
If you go to our website and check out the book’s page (https://authorsbillboard.com/book-bites)
you’ll see a panorama of beautiful sets all costing only 99 cents, and all available
in Kindle Unlimited for FREE.
Between us, I often make more on my page-read amount than I do on my sales.
Dream Team
So,
let’s setup a dream team. You know, one that would meet all our expectations. One
that would help us sell more books and gain exposure.
Manager
Everything starts and stops with the manager. The captain of the group.
They must pick the
right authors to join. They must schedule and coordinate the group activities.
The group should have three or four co-captains. Time sometimes can be a problem and managing different task is needed.
Group Members
· Members usually have some connection like they write in the same
genre, Romance, Mystery, Western or Fantasy. They may like to write about holidays
or support cause or charities. A common link between them is best.
·
They must write good material.
·
They must be active and willing to spend the time.
·
They must be active on social media with their own site or blog. Maybe even a newsletter with
a reader list.
· They must be willing to help other group authors market their books
Goals and Objectives
·
Most successful
group are friendship bound. One they develop over time.
·
Establish a presence in their genre.
·
Set goals like selling more books, being
on the USA Today
Bestseller List, and new reader exposure.
·
Creating good group promotions. Find crossover readers between members. Getting your name into places it wouldn't have
otherwise been.
- Work with others blog
posts, blog hops and contests
with giveaways.
Action
· Maintain
the group blog/website with constant activity and promoting it on social media.
Second step: connect the site to your own site. For example, I create a post for
my new release and add it to the groups blog. Great. Now if I could have the
other member promote the release on their social media accounts, I have
explained my reach.
· Create an
email campaign with each other highlighting the groups work.
· Create Author bundles
like Book Sets, Anthologies and a Bookshelf
of new releases. Remember, the books don’t have to be under one cover. The
readers get an inexpensive collection of works and they often find at least a
few stories among the many to like.
· Attend conferences, book festivals like TFOB, trade shows, libraries, book stores and signings as a group.
The group hug “mades marketing easier because it wasn’t just one of us doing all of it.”
To review all the input for this study by author, Click Here.
Created by: James MoushonMystery Author, Industry blogger and Author Advocate
James is the author of the following blogs:
HBS Author’s Spotlight
Indie Author's Corner
Mystery Reader’s Circle
Chasing Amanda
Come Back To Me
Megan's Way
Indie Chicks: 25 Independent Women 25 Personal Stories