When Authors Refuse to Get Personal

Getting personal is very imporant when it comes to authors. I don't mean knowing all the intimate details of one's life. That crosses line in getting personal. I'm talking not keeping keeping yourself at a distance where readers can talk to you.

There is a very famous romance author who I love to read. Well, I used to. On facebook, I reached out to send her a message about how much I loved her books. I heard nothing back. Okay. Then I read where she never responds to the messages from fans. She wants to keep her life separate.

The author refused to get personal. By doing so, she eventually lost me as a reader. She refused to connect with readers. I didn't want to know about her morning routine. I just wanted to tell her that I thought her writing was amazing. I was ignored. That turned me off toward her.

Not everyone reacts in such a way. But not letting your readers reach you will drive them away eventually. Readers want to know that they can touch something real from their world of fantasy.

Another famous mystery writer took time to send my daugther, a big fan, a letter and a free, signed book. Every now and then, he answers her messages. That makes him appear even bigger in our eyes. The result? We read more and more of his books. We promote his work. We do some of his marketing for him because he was willing to get personal.

Again, readers don't need to know TMI details. But don't put up too many walls and keep the readers at a such a distance.


For further reading:
https://writingcooperative.com/author...