Authors write books. A book is a product.
But authorship entails more than just making a product. Authorship is a service.
Ultimately, writers want their work to be read, and therefore they serve an audience. Please the audience and gain more readers.
The first step is for the content to please the audience, but it goes well beyond that.
Readings, signings, and other events allow authors to engage the audience in person.
Authors engage with fans online through fan clubs, blogs, and social media.
And let’s not forget one major service that most authors provide: marketing. Many writers spend several hours per week helping readers from the target audience find their books. This is a concerted effort that the author makes to help readers become interested in books that may be a good fit for them, but which they may have otherwise not discovered.
Feedback leads to yet another service: revisions. With the technology of e-books and print-on-demand, a book has become a dynamic product that can be updated anytime. It’s not just to correct issues, but in nonfiction is vital for keeping content up-to-date.
Our aim is to please readers. That’s why we sit at the keyboard typing for several hours per week for months or years. It’s why we revise, edit, and format. It’s why we try to find a cover and craft a blurb that will help the target audience find the right book for them. It’s our motivation to market our books. To serve our readers.
Good evening, Mr. or Mrs. Reader. Thank you for stopping by. We hope you’re having a wonderful time.
We’re at your service. Let us know if you need anything.
— authors everywhere
Chris McMullen, Author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers
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chrismcmullen 
Excellent point. Indie Authors especially need to be open and approachable to help with marketing. It’s probably the hardest part of the job.
It’s a hard change since writing typically involves months of seclusion, then you need to be extroverted and approachable to help attract an audience.
Though couldn’t one take an hour out of the day to say hello?
A whole hour? Well, maybe. 🙂
I try to be social when eating lunch. Helps avoid getting stuff on my notes.
This is a great read and reminder, and I think it has always been true, of authors article writers, even today with blog writing. The audience is the most important element.
Even the tree’s fall in the forest is lost without an audience. 🙂
Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog….. An Author Promotions Enterprise!.
Thank you. 🙂
Although I enjoy writing, the marketing and everything that goes along with self publishing is hard work. It is so rewarding when a reader says they enjoyed your book, makes it all worthwhile.
It sure is (and it’s a good reminder for us when we’re wearing the reader hat, too). 🙂
Reblogged this on The Writers' Workshop Blog and commented:
Thanks Chris for pointing out how important readers are to writers. It means a lot to me when a reader connects with my style of writing and enjoys it.
Wise words. I find the marketing really hard – and this from someone who comes from a background in branding. However, I do try to put myself in my readers’ position. What would I want? How would I expect an author to behave? To me that’s a no brainer. I can’t make people read my books. I can’t make them like my books.. All I can do is keep writing and keep on being myself in the hope that if people like who I am they’ll have a look at what I write.
Cheers
MTM
Those are good questions to ask, both when buying books and when writing/marketing them. Thank you for sharing your experience with this. 🙂
It’s a pleasure.