Share your process

Photo courtesy of Renjith Krishnan/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

One aspect of the journey of following authors and participating on forums such as this one is how many authors are now sharing their process with their readers. I hadn’t really thought much about it until recently when I heard it stated as an important element in creating authenticity or trust with one’s reading community.

We’ll all be familiar with Narelle’s recent three-part series on the Splash Box set  and Rita’s post last week where she introduced us to her English governess alter ego.

One of the interesting aspects of the world of the Indie author is the number of them who share a lot of their process. I introduced you to Heather Day Gilbert last time who has been very good in doing such in a series of posts which she then accumulated into an ebook.  Certainly much of this information maybe more relevant to an author than perhaps a reader but how many of us have been asked by an author to vote on a cover or a book’s title?

Only last week I received in an email from a non-fiction author I read which had a video of how she went about updating her debut book titled “The Life of an Author.”

Social media and the affordability of technology (e.g., video/podcasting) really have enabled such sharing and participation. It quite changes the dynamic for the modern author.

Think Process not end Product

We authors spend the majority of our time in the process of creating whether it’s writing and editing to then the entire marketing lifecycle.

It’s what we do.

Readers who are not authors obviously appreciate it as well because so many authors are doing it in some way. It provides an opportunity to connect with their favourite authors.

So much so there’s a view that treating your process as the primary engagement vehicle for your readership is the way forward. It builds trust, enables authors to experiment and provides a mechanism for regularly communicating.

Frequency is the new ubiquity (Kevin Kaiser)

For our readers-only members I’d love to hear any thoughts you may have on author’s sharing their process. What interests you, what doesn’t?

And authors what have you seen or done yourself recently that grabbed your eye, had an impact?

Ian Acheson is an author and strategy consultant based in Northern Sydney. Ian's first novel of speculative fiction, Angelguard, is now available in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. You can find more about Angelguard at Ian's website, on his author Facebook page and Twitter