Besides a Rant this Article Give Pracital Advice for Reading Readers

by Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Author of
This is the Place and Harkening

According to several sources, including the LA Times, HarperCollins has developed a new approach to taking care of its readers. They are allowing them to “win” a chance to talk to members on their A list. What a wonderful concept! Is this is hot stuff or what?

HarperCollins is offering up their big name authors for an “Invite the Author” program in an effort to draw authors & readers together.

Conversations with authors like Ann Patchett (Bel Canto) & Wally Lamb (I Know This Much is True) are part of the prize. They will take some of their precious time to speak by phone to the members of a very few book clubs -- chosen by lottery, no less!

I'm sorry but this is a PR ploy, pure and simple. Smart authors have always taken good care of their readers. In fact, emerging writers are often the best at keeping in touch with book clubs & with individual readers; this kind of contact is part of our American publishing tradition. I'm sure that Twain, Hawthorne, Poe, and Faulkner did not bestow their favors upon the reading public as if the author were some kind of royalty.

This plan was hatched to attract more book clubs to the HarperCollins> site, which is OK by me, they publish lots of excellent titles including those that can be classified as literary (yes, I am of the opinion that more readers should expose themselves to literary fiction). What T'd me off is that some ladies from one of the chosen clubs, the Digressing Divas Book Club in Michigan, were so excited because they “had never met an author or talked to one before.” That made me wonder if there are a whole lot of readers out there who think that authors are hard to come by, that perhaps many of our most famous authors (& arrogant publishers) may be responsible for this misunderstanding.

I am here to tell you that many authors of literary works (& other genres!) do not keep themselves cloistered. They have websites. They have e-mail addresses. They have bared their very souls to their readers in their writing, for heaven's sakes!

It's easy to find an author. Look up her name on Google.com. Once found, visit her site & sign her guest book. She should be pleased to send you a signed bookplate if you ask. Most authors will answer your note.

Lacking an e-mail address or website, an author can also be reached by writing to her publisher who will, more often than not, forward your letters. This is not a new concept, it has been going on for decades. Any reader can do it, usually with success. Can you imagine? A personal letter with the distinct possibility that a reader will get a personal note back complete with a valued signature!

Oh, & don't forget book signings. Well, granted some of the big chains get awfully uppity about who they will allow to appear on their premises, but most towns, large & small, have the potential for an author to visit & chat with book lovers. So, if ‘Digressing Divas’ everywhere are all that excited about chatting with authors, maybe they should be telling their bookstore proprietors about their needs?

What would happen if Barnes & Noble invited an author from a small press so their customers could get an autographed copy, maybe even an honest-to-goodness first edition?

What if they actually promoted this new author?

What if the people who came actually found a new voice, a new author to adore?

“Digressing Divas” could also hound their libraries a bit. Recently, a former Nobel Prize Nominee, Dr. Alicia Ghiragossian & author Stephen Veres (A Light in the Distance) & I spoke on “The Three Faces of Tolerance” at our local library. Other authors like Patt Morrison, Vincent Bugliosi & poet Bart Edelman have spoken to those in our not-so-large community as part of this same series. None of us said “No.” If invited, most mid list-to-newbie authors would travel reasonable distances to meet fans or make new ones. Some of these authors may someday be the Oateses or Roths of our nation.

Maybe these book-clubbers could invite authors to come talk to their clubs. I know several authors who have spoken to as few as 12 avid readers cozied around the fireplace at a club member's home. One of those is Leora G. Krygier (First the Raven).

Some authors even teach at colleges in your area. Take a class from Eve LaSalle Caram at UCLA or Aimee Bender at USC. For heaven's sake, Beverly J. Scott even took a road tour in one of her collectible Edsels so she could meet people in small towns!

So, to polish off this rant, what ticks me is that this new program of HarperCollins is being treated as if it is a huge opportunity. Well, how huge can it be? Lottery indeed! Telephone conversations rather than face to face? Besides that, HarperCollins wouldn't even give reporter Renee Tawa (of the LA Times), the number of book clubs that have registered on their site, but they would say they're drawing the names of only two book clubs a month.

Real Ideas for Making Readers Feel More Connected:

1. Write to an author when you've read his book.

2. Look up an author on Amazon.com. She may even have a link to a special biography page &/or an e-mail address.

3. Check out AuthorsDen.com. Wow! What an array of writers!

4. Attend book signings. Occasionally attend even if you don't know the author.

5. Join groups like the Women of Washington or the Women of Pasadena that invite authors to speak.

6. Attend your local library's events.

7. Let your bookstore know when you have read something you enjoy, especially if you had to go to Amazon.com to buy it. Ask them to invite that author to visit their store.

8. Read your newspaper's Book Review section; use some of the website addresses you find there to contact publishers & authors.

9. If you find an author who isn't receptive, find one who will be -- there are plenty to choose from.

10. Most of all, just ask for your bookish little heart's desire. You might get it.

Let's also hear it for those programs that have been putting readers in touch with authors for years. One of those is Book Crazy Radio Network at www.bookcrazy.net. It's one way to make reading real & be sure you are getting in on the fun.

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Carolyn's books, This is the Place and Harkening, are both award winners. Both were reviewed enthusiasticall by the likes of Evie Ebarra, radio talk show host, and Connie Martinson, TV talk show host.