U is for Updates

Think of your favorite musical group coming to town, but you missed them. If you knew about their updates, you could have gone.

Now try to imagine that someone cares that you’re coming to town.

We writers area modest bunch. We think, “Who cares what we’re up to? When our next book is coming out? What our next character might turn into?” Yeah, maybe it’s true. But it’s probably not. Think about your audience like you think of your favorite star or band or someone for whom you’d like to receive an update that they have news.

Let them know you’re alive, that you’re busy with stuff, that you’re working on your latest book. I know it’s hard. It doesn’t have to be, in fact, IMHO, it shouldn’t be Twittery/Facebooky update spam about the latte you had for lunch, but something with a little more substance. Are you actually planning your next book? Or maybe you have an article you just got published somewhere? Or you have a new idea for a character? I don’t actually know where to draw the line and what’s interesting and what’s not–but your readers do. They’ll let you know. So let them know and they’ll let you know.

But if you’re not letting them know, they can’t let you know that you’re not letting them know. Updates.

Let your fans know what you’re up to.