by Lindsey Brackett @LindsBrac

You’ve done it! You wrote a book. You found an agent and house. You independently published. Either way, you have a book you can hold in your hands or scroll on your phone and now the question is—how do you find readers? 

Enter reader groups!

One of trendiest places to be online remains one of the most engaging for authors and readers alike, and that’s reader-centered Facebook groups. But keep this in mind, authors and aspiring authors, you don’t simply join a group to promote yourself. Instead, you join a group because you want to engage with likeminded readers—and guess what? Those who share your taste in books probably won’t mind eventually taking a bite of something you’ve written. 

Last summer I joined with a group of fellow authors who write hybrid—in all its forms. We are traditionally and independently published. Writing for the Christian and general markets. Some of us are agented. Some of us are not. Some of us are moving from one space to another. Some of us are starting over. But collectively, we all desired the same thing, true connection with each other and our audiences. Which is what led to the group Her Novel Collective.

Eighteen authors with different platforms, styles, brands, and genres but somehow, this space feels cohesive. How did we do it? Simple. We identified our target reader and sought to know them—not just each other or ourselves. 

From the simplest of questions (Coffee or tea? Ebook or paperback?) to the deepest (What book from your childhood impacted you most?) to fun games (Can you find the entire alphabet in book titles around your house?), we’re hoping to build a space that allows us as authors to share our own stories, but first and foremost, lets us connect with the people who enjoy those type of books. 

Which is why we made book recommending a priority. Weekly an HNC author posts their personal 5 in 5—five recommended reads in under five minutes. It’s amazing how sharing favorite books will connect you with people, but there’s something deeply personal about saying, “I really loved this story and I think you will too.” 

So how can you engage better with reader groups? 

First, find a few groups that suit your own taste. Here are a few recommendations:

• A Novel Bee
• Avid Readers of Christian Fiction
• Wild Sage Books
• The Tattered Page Book Club
• Her Novel Collective (of course!)

Next, engage with the posts. I recommend reading and commenting first before you post anything of your own. This lets you get a feel for how active the group is and what people like to discuss. (Know that some groups are not open to posts from anyone other than admin but you can still engage lots in comments!)

Finally, post your own engaging content (but be sure to review admin rules first). One of the best ways to get conversation going and to learn about this audience is to ask simple questions. You can learn a lot about a person just from their response to easy questions such as:

• Socks or slippers?
• Introvert or extrovert?
• Mountains or beach?
• Summer or Winter?

Once you’ve begun building a relationship with the group, you might even want to use some open-ended questions like:

• What are your reading goals for 2021?
• What’s a recent book that really surprised you and why?
• What fictional characters do you identify with the most?
• How do you keep up with your TBR pile?

Readers love to read but they also love to talk—especially about books! Eventually, there will be space in the conversation for you to self-promote, but remember, that’s actually the last reason to join a group. Building relationships with readers is all about getting to know them, and trust me, when you do, they’ll be happy to get to know you in return. 

Lindsey P. Brackett has taught middle school, read radio obits, and directed musicals but her favorite job is writing women’s fiction inspired by her rural Georgia life and Lowcountry roots. Find her podcasting at A Rough Draft Life, stress baking on Instagram, and writing at lindseypbrackett.com.