“To be doing
good deeds is man’s most glorious task.” – Sophocles
A few weeks ago
a writer asked me for some advice. Her debut novel is coming out this summer
and she’s understandably full of anxiety and extremely busy in preparing for
this big event in her life, something for which she’s worked long and hard.
She’s been showing up at her fellow writers’ readings and book events and
giving support and promoting them online, but this can be time consuming. “I’m
worried that I just don’t have enough time to do this even though I think it’s
important to be supportive. Do you think this is something that should be a
priority?” she asked. I said yes; it’s all about give and take and offering support.
It’s shouldn’t be “tit for tat” but hopefully these authors will support her in
the future when her book comes out: everyone can help each other. It’s all
good. She should do as much as she can, especially at such a pivotal time in
her writing life.
I’ve found that
networking and being supportive—both online and in-person—is a good thing to do
and I’ve gained many lasting relationships with writers because of it. But you
can’t expect that someone will always return the favor. Six years ago, when my
debut novel was just months away from coming out, I went to a reading at a big
box bookstore for another debut novelist. I’ll call her Ms. Author. Ms. Author
lived locally and I’d heard about her book, which was in a similar genre to
mine, but I didn’t know her personally. I wanted to meet her and see how her
reading would go—maybe I could learn something and support a fellow debut
novelist along the way. So I went to her event on a Sunday afternoon in a
crowded part of town where it was a hassle to park. And I found that the
bookstore had stuck her in a corner where no one would have noticed a reading
going on. Two of her friends showed up—and me. Three people. That was it.
After she read I
introduced myself and we exchanged e-mail addresses (this was before Facebook
and Twitter). She thanked me for coming and of course I bought her book and had
her sign it. We exchanged an email or two afterwards, but she didn’t respond
when my book came out and I never saw her at any of my book events, some of
which could have used a few more attendees! A couple of years later when we
both had second books out, Ms. Author and I were put on the same reading event
for a big book festival in our area. I read before her and she was in the
audience. Did she remember me? Did she recall that day when I first met her?
After the event ended it was crowded. When I tried to catch her glance to make
contact, nothing happened. She was obviously not looking to connect with me or
else had forgotten who I was.
Well, no big
deal. I certainly didn’t lose any sleep over this and I hadn’t thought of her
for several years. But the other day I received an email from her. She has a new
novel coming out next year. She apologized for sending an impersonal mass email
and then pasted in the announcement of her book that appeared on Publisher’s
Marketplace. The next paragraph of the email explained how important online
buzz and word of mouth is to the success of a book. She said she’s “doing her
part” by writing a blog post on a site that gets a million visitors a month.
She informed us that she’s finally getting on social media and wants us to
accept her Facebook friend request when it comes in. She promised to send out
further emails to us so we can spread the word for her. She gave us
suggestions: asking our local library branch to carry her book, coming out to her
local readings, “liking” the book on Facebook, posting reviews on Amazon and
Goodreads. She said she’d continue to send out emails over the coming year with
further suggestions on how we could help her. Then she said she hoped we’d
enjoy the book.
A very practical
strategy. She was doing all the things you’re supposed to. But what was
missing? The right words. Something also about helping fellow authors, or collaborating
on promotion, or offering a guest blog post, or putting together panels at book
events to draw attention to others’ books, etc. Instead this email’s theme
seemed to be what you can do for me.
Another author friend
told me how much she appreciated when I came to her reading at a local
independent bookstore a few years ago. “You didn’t know me,” she said. “But you
came anyway and bought my book.”
“Yes,” I replied.
“It’s all about support and networking. It’s not that I expect anything out of
it, but it does seem to be the right thing to do.”
Girlfriends,
what do you think? What are your experiences with being supportive and
receiving support from your fellow authors?
Wendy
Nelson Tokunaga is the author of the novels, "Midori
by Moonlight" and "Love
in Translation" (both published by St. Martin's Press), and the e-book
novels, "Falling
Uphill" and "His
Wife and Daughters," and e-book short story, “The
Girl in the Tapestry.” She's also the author of the nonfiction e-book, "Marriage
in Translation: Foreign Wife, Japanese Husband." Wendy holds an MFA in Creative Writing
from University of San Francisco and teaches for Stanford University's Online
Writer's Studio Novel Certificate Program. She also does private manuscript consulting
for novels and memoirs. Follow her on Twitter at @Wendy_Tokunaga, friend her on
Facebook and visit her website
at: www.WendyTokunaga.com
