Five Ways to Contact Your Favorite Author – Guest Post by John W. Howell…

Posted on by Chris The Story Reading Ape

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Since I have been asked a number of times by readers how to contact authors, I thought it would be good to provide a little reminder information about what you can do if you enjoy a book or author’s work and you want to get to know that author better.

 We all have the times when a book or series of books talk to us as if the author wrote the text for us alone. I remember reading the short stories of John Cheever many years ago. It was almost as if John had entered my life and was telling tales about me as a person. As a result, I wanted to make contact with him but had no idea how. In those days, most authors used their publisher as a shield from their readers. You could pen a note and hope it somehow got through. I did compose a letter and received back a very gracious thank you from John Cheever. I was lucky then. 

Today life is a little different. Most authors welcome feedback from their readers and most make it quite easy for readers to reach them. So, let me list a few ways that you can contact a favorite author if you desire to do so.

1.    Write a review of the book using your real name and e-mail address. I cannot guarantee that every author will respond to every review, but I know that I respond to reviews wth a thank you if I have a way to do so. I know many of my colleagues do as well.

2.    Look in the back of the book for an e-mail address or other contact information. Many authors today place an e-mail address in their book which encourages their readers to communicate with them. Most have blogs as well, which is a good place to have a dialog.

3.    Look up the publisher address and send a note to the author in care of the editor. Publishers usually pass on such correspondence to their authors.

4.    If a favorite author is having a public appearance or book signing, make a point to go. You can bring a book that you have already purchased, and most authors are happy to sign. You can then make a connection with the author.

5.    If you are receiving a newsletter from an author, you can correspond with the author and most are very grateful to have the e-mail dialog. If you are not getting a newsletter go to the author blog and sign up. Most have easy sign-up methods.

If you want to reach your favorite author, I hope these five suggestions are of help.

My thanks, to Chris for publishing this message.

John Howell

Barnes & Noble

Amazon:

UK – USA – CA – AUS

61 thoughts on “Five Ways to Contact Your Favorite Author – Guest Post by John W. Howell…”

  1. Great to have all these ways to contact authors! I first contacted Enid Blyton when she was alive, via her publishers, and got a postcard with a message and her (stamped) signature. I also wrote to J K Rowling (via her publishers) after I’d finished book 7, thanking her for the series, and some time later got a thank you letter from her, too!
    People today can connect so much more easily – and so important for kids 🙂

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  4. John, it’s interesting to me that you mention thanking people for their reviews. I was warned early on not to thank reviewers publicly, but I didn’t consider finding a way to thank them privately. I do, however, thank those whom I know and for whom I have email addresses.

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  7. Reblogged this on Fiction Favorites and commented:
    So honored to guest post on Chris The Story Reading Ape’s blog. I imagine It is like playing Carnegie Hall. A real honor. Thanks, Chris. A visit to Chris’ blog is a must for every serious writer. There is so much information there and an opportunity to let folks know what you think.

    Liked by 1 person

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