How to keep up with your favorite authors
All the things you can do
Social media is in a real state of flux at the moment, especially Twitter, which is kinda the main social media engine of writers and bookish folks. I mean, here I am on Substack largely because of the ephemeral nature of the Muskfarce. Of course, this one could sink too, but it’s hopefully a bit more stable without Musk shitting all over it. Anyway, with that in mind, people have been sharing all kinds of other sites and ways to stay in touch, but Sarah MacLean really nailed staying in touch with authors in this twitter thread:
I highly recommend heading over to Twitter and following Sarah, but I’m also going to replicate the thread below in case Twitters does go tits up. Twits up? Anyway, here it is:
Ok. Real talk. If (when?) this ship goes down, discoverability for new books is going to tank, too -- especially during a time when stores are carrying fewer and fewer books. So...a quick thread on how to keep up with new releases from your favorite authors:
1) Sign up for author newsletters/substacks/whatever. Do some of us send...let's say a large quantity of these? Absolutely. But needs must. This is the easiest way to know when a book is coming, see new covers, know when you can preorder, and ultimately, know when it's out.
2) Follow authors at http://BookBub.com This is a very cool tool that sends you information on great sales on books and will tell you when your favorite authors have new releases. Sometimes you'll even get preorder notifications. Easy search makes for easy follows.
3) If you're a Goodreads or Amazon user (I know, I know, another billionaire -- can't escape them!), you can follow your favorite authors on there, too. You'll get preorder and new release notifications, so you know when you've got something new to read!
4) Head over to your favorite authors' twitter accounts right now, before whatever happens happens. Most authors have posted (or pinned!) tweets with their other social media locations, links to newsletters, substacks and more. Follow them there, too!
5) For authors: Now is the time to promote (and pin!) your other social media locations and link to your newsletters/substacks/bookbub pages. Make it as easy as possible for readers to find you and follow you quickly -- so they can find your books as soon as there is one!
One more thing for those of us lucky enough to be some people's favorite authors -- our platforms will be more essential for discovering debuts & less well known authors. Help readers find books they will love with mentions in newsletters, bookbub recs, & other SM posts.
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I’ve been pushing my other sites and have a linktree that has everything in one place: https://linktr.ee/alanbaxter
I will also do all I can to promote the good stuff as I’ve always done and hope others will do the same for me. And you really should connect with Sarah - she’s at