Over the weekend, I received a reply to one of my Goodreads reviews. Those always surprise me and I usually cringe a little before I click the link that takes me to the reply - cuz ya never know, ya know?
Anyway, this one was a pleasant surprise. It was a short note from the author of the book I'd reviewed, telling me the next book was about to release. I replied for him to send me a link when it was live on Amazon so I could buy it. (Book 1 was that good.) He did so and I one-clicked it. And I was happy.
Which led me to thinking that his contacting me directly was an awfully good idea. I might never have known it was out if he hadn't given me a heads-up. I mean, enough time had passed since the first book released that it was no longer on my radar, so I really appreciated his bringing it to my attention. (I started reading it as soon as I finished the book I was on and I'm about 30% through already.)
All of this led me to wonder if I am missing sales opportunities by not contacting people who've reviewed my books favorably to let them know those books have sequels.
Then, me being me, began to wonder if it wasn't such a good idea after all. I mean, what if he'd contacted me and I'd felt like it was an imposition? It wasn't and I thought it was awesome, but what if? And what if I contact my readers this way and they feel like I'm imposing on them?
I guess, right now, it's not that big a deal. I have so few reviews and the reviews I have are from people who follow me online somewhere, so they always know when a new book is coming out. But I do occasionally get reviews from total strangers. What if they loved the first book, but then it drops off their radar while I'm getting the sequel publishable? Could explain why my first books always do way better than the subsequent books after them.
It's so hard to get book news in front of the right people at the right time. What's an author to do?
So, what say you? Do you contact readers? Have you ever been contacted by an author? What do you think about it all?
Oh, and in case you're interested, the books are The Krewe (Book1) and Roots of Misfortune (Book2) in the Herbert and Melancon series by Seth Pevey. They're suspense novels set in New Orleans. I really enjoyed book 1 and I'm enjoying the hell out of book 2 right now.
In this case, you specifically stated (if I remember correctly) that you were hoping for a second book and would read it. If a reader says that and the timing is right, then I might drop them a note that the next book is going live almost immediately. If the books have been out awhile and it's a new review, probably not, because that might be weird.
ReplyDeleteWhich reinforces the fact I need to go back, fix typos that have been pointed out and update the back matter in all my self-pubs. THIS is when I wish I could afford "technical" help to do that for me so I could write. Ah well. One more thing on my to-do list.
It's a dilemma that I'm not really sure how to respond to. I only "like" reviews of my books by people I know. Except on Amazon. On Amazon, because my review name is not my pen name, I click if they were helpful. I NEVER click unhelpful. Anyway...I'm rambling because I don't want to go to work. I should schedule things so I write a chapter, run the errands I need to run, then work on tech stuff (updates) this afternoon. *blerg* Happy Monday and Happy April Fools' Day.