🎉 Welcome to The 10K Author Community! > Likes and Comments

🎉 Welcome to The 10K Author Community!

We're excited to have you here.

Whether you're writing your very first manuscript or you've already published multiple books, this community was created to help authors move from their first draft to their first 10,000 readers.

Let's get to know one another!

Please introduce yourself by answering a few simple questions:

📚 What genre do you write?

✍️ Are you currently writing, editing, or already published?

📖 Tell us about your book(s).

🎯 What's your biggest challenge as an author right now?

🚀 What would you love to achieve over the next 12 months?

This is a community built on learning, collaboration, and helping one another succeed. Don't hesitate to ask questions, share your experiences, or offer advice to fellow authors.

We're looking forward to getting to know you and following your publishing journey!

Welcome aboard!

Hi everyone!

I'm T. L. Collins, an epic fantasy author living in the mountains of Panama.

📚 Genre: Epic Fantasy

✍️ Current Stage: I recently published The Arcane Collar, Book One of The Auren Chronicles, and I'm currently writing Book Two, The Veiled Covenant.

🐉 About my books:
The Auren Chronicles follows Auren, an unlikely hero drawn into an ancient conflict between dragons, elves, forgotten kingdoms, and powerful magic. I've spent years building the world of Eldoria, and I'm excited to finally share it with readers.

🎯 My biggest challenge:
Like many indie authors, it's finding the right readers. Writing the book is one challenge; helping people discover it is another!

🚀 My goal over the next 12 months:
To finish Book Two, continue growing my readership, and build a community of readers who enjoy epic fantasy and immersive world-building.

I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone and learning from your experiences. Wishing you all success with your writing!
🌐 Website: tlcollinsauthor.com

Clara wrote: "Hi everyone!

I'm T. L. Collins, an epic fantasy author living in the mountains of Panama.

📚 Genre: Epic Fantasy

✍️ Current Stage: I recently published The Arcane Collar, Book One of The Auren Ch..."
Hi Clara
Welcome to the community, Clara! We're delighted to have you here.

Congratulations on publishing *The Arcane Collar* and already working on Book Two, *The Veiled Covenant*. Building an epic fantasy world like Eldoria is an incredible achievement, and we look forward to following your journey.

Let's tackle your biggest challenge—**finding the right readers**—head-on. That's exactly why this community exists. We're here to support you at every stage and every step of your author journey.

To help us point you in the right direction, tell us what you've already done to reach your audience. Have you explored Goodreads, Bookstagram, BookTok, Facebook reader groups, newsletters, ARC teams, influencer outreach, Amazon optimization, or anything else?

Knowing where you've been will help us figure out the best path forward together. You're among fellow authors who are happy to share what's worked, what hasn't, and help you connect your books with the readers who'll love them.

Welcome aboard—we're excited to be part of your journey!

Hi Syed,

Thank you for the warm welcome. I’m delighted to be part of the community.

Since publishing The Arcane Collar, I’ve been building my presence on Goodreads, Instagram, YouTube Shorts, TikTok, and Pinterest. I share cinematic scenes from Eldoria, world-building, dragons, and updates while continuing to write The Veiled Covenant, Book Two of the trilogy.

My biggest challenges are turning engagement into genuine readers and getting ARC readers to follow through. Finding interested ARC readers has been relatively easy, but receiving feedback or reviews afterward has been much more difficult.

I’d love to hear what has worked for other indie authors, especially when building an audience and managing ARC teams.

Thank you again, I look forward to learning from everyone.

T. L. Collins

Clara wrote: "Hi Syed,

Thank you for the warm welcome. I’m delighted to be part of the community.

Since publishing The Arcane Collar, I’ve been building my presence on Goodreads, Instagram, YouTube Shorts, Tik..."
Hi Clara,

One thing I'm curious about—how did you find your beta readers and ARC readers?

From my experience, it's important to be very selective about who receives an early copy. The credibility of those readers matters just as much as the number of them.

Many authors put their books on Goodreads and attract people who download them out of curiosity. Unfortunately, many never actually read the book, and some leave random one- or two-star ratings without meaningful feedback. That can hurt a book's credibility right from the start.

My recommendation is to focus on building **your own audience** first.

I'm currently the Marketing Director for *Life in Woke America*. Before launch, we invested a lot of time building an audience across X and other social media platforms. We went into the release with relatively few reviews, but we had something equally important—a community of readers who genuinely connected with the book's message and wanted to support it.

As a result, the book started generating sales from day one. The reviews have continued to grow naturally as more people read it, and we're now on our way toward becoming a bestseller.

For me, that's the biggest lesson: **don't just build an ARC list—build a readership.** A loyal audience that believes in your work is far more valuable than hundreds of anonymous downloads.

I'd love to hear how you found your beta readers and what has worked best for you so far.

Many of us think writing and publishing the book is the hard part.

It isn't.

The hardest part is discoverability.

Your book may be the most important thing you've ever created, but if nobody knows it exists, it can't change anyone's life.

Think of your journey in two phases.

Phase One: Write, edit, rewrite, work with beta readers, refine your manuscript, and publish the best book you possibly can.

Phase Two: Build your audience—and this should begin long before your book is published.

This is where I see many authors make a costly mistake. They try to do everything themselves. They spend months writing, editing, formatting, publishing, designing covers, building websites, creating content, managing social media, pitching podcasts, contacting reviewers, and reaching out to bookstores and libraries.

No one can do all of that effectively alone.

If your budget allows, hire someone—even if it's just a freelancer for a few hours a week. There are many talented professionals around the world who provide excellent marketing support at affordable rates. Their job isn't to write your book; it's to make sure people know your book exists.

While you're finishing your manuscript, someone should already be:

Growing your social media presence.
Engaging with readers every day.
Contacting BookTok and Bookstagram creators.
Reaching out to podcasts and reviewers.
Building relationships with libraries and bookstores.
Pitching local media.
Collecting ARC readers and early reviews.

By the time your book launches, you shouldn't be introducing yourself to the market. The market should already know who you are.

Remember, publishing isn't the finish line—it's the starting line.

One final thought: if your goal is to sell 10,000 copies at an average price of $9, you're building a business with $90,000 in gross sales. Businesses invest in marketing because visibility drives growth. Your book deserves the same mindset.

Treat your writing like an art. Treat your publishing like a business. That's where the needle really starts to move.

Clara wrote: "Hi Syed,

Thank you for the warm welcome. I’m delighted to be part of the community.

Since publishing The Arcane Collar, I’ve been building my presence on Goodreads, Instagram, YouTube Shorts, Tik..."

Hi Clara,

Just checking in to see how things are going. 😊

I'm still curious about your ARC process. How did you find your beta readers and ARC readers in the first place? Was it through Goodreads, social media, personal contacts, or another platform?

Also, since your last update, have you managed to receive any new reviews or find anything that has helped with discoverability?

The more details you can share, the easier it will be for the community to offer practical suggestions. Looking forward to hearing how your journey is progressing.

— Syed