A.D. Ellis 

A week ago I was sitting in an Indiana Romance Writers of America discussing connecting with authors and readers on social media. My friend and fellow author, Donya Lynne (find her work HERE) mentioned how happy she feels to see her readers now reading her other author friends. And I couldn't agree more. I have several beta readers who came from Donya's reader list. A few of my readers have moved on to read or beta read for some of my author friends. Many of my very first readers came from fellow author friends I had made when I first started writing.

One day this week I accidentally stumbled across a comment from a person who had to be a new, confused, overwhelmed author. "Why would I ever share other authors' work with my few readers? I don't want to lose my small bunch of readers to other authors."

This question has been running through my head all week. I decided to share the reasons why I share other authors' work.

1) I like to share because I know it will come back around to me. Not every book or sale or page I share helps me out, but it often does. Some of the authors I share don't take the time to reciprocate (or they miss the fact I shared in the first place...eh, it happens in the busy world of social media). But many of the authors I share will return the favor.

2) Yours, mine, ours. I have readers who love my work. I share another author's work, and my readers find new books to read. An author friend shares my work, and her readers discover books they may have never found before. Before long, they aren't "my readers" or "your readers", they are "our readers" and it's a wonderful thing.

3) If I share Blue Falcon by T.C. Winters (fabulous by the way! Find it HERE!) or any of Jillian Jacobs' work (find her work--love it!--HERE!) my readers get the bonus of new authors and books. And in sharing my author friends, some of their readers may come across my work.

4) My thoughts on this are like a comparison of reading and sports. In sports, fans choose a team and stick with it. They don't waiver from their team just because it was a bad game or the off-season. But reading is different. Readers have thousands of genres/authors/stories at their fingertips. Readers don't have to choose one author and cheer for only that person and their stories; readers can devour book after book after book, never giving up on favorite authors or stories.

5) The intricate web of readers and authors sharing stories is an image I love to picture in my mind. I picture a reader excitedly sharing a newly finished book with her family/friends. That small group of readers connect over that book, they share other favorites. Authors find new readers and readers find new authors/stories. And with each share, a new spoke of the web is formed. It's a beautiful thing.

I will continue sharing. I will share sales, author friends, favorite authors, and books I love. These may be books I've adored, authors I love, friends who write, or even books I've not had time to read/didn't love. Why? Just because not every reader loves my books, and I don't love every book I read, doesn't mean that other readers won't connect with that author or story. Who am I to withhold possible favorite stories from other readers just because I didn't connect with them completely.

I have readers who would read the phone book if I wrote it (their words, not mine). They aren't going anywhere, they love my stories. Why would I try to keep them from discovering new authors/books? And I have author friends who love to return the favor of sharing just as much as I love to share their name/work with readers.

So, please keep reading and sharing. Our web of authors/readers connected by stories will continue to grow and thrive.

Since I don't have the time to link to every single favorite book/author I have, I'm sharing one link to a page where I list several of my favorites. Please feel free to check it out! SOME OF MY FAVORITES--CLICK HERE!

Leave me a comment with your thoughts on sharing!