Saturday, January 20, 2007

The Way to an Author's Heart

Because I'm new at this (sheesh...am I the newest of the contributors at Muse/News? I think so!), I thought I'd share the things people have done or said to me that made me feel all wiggly/excited/thrilled in relation to my book. (Which is out in stores now!!)

1. Tell the author you couldn't put her book down.
2. Tell the author you read it in one sitting.
3. Tell the author you stayed up wayyy past your bedtime to read it.
4. Tell the author you can't wait until her next book comes out.
5. Quote a line from the book back to the author.
6. Tell the author you were late getting back to work from your lunch hour because you were reading her book.

Things that haven't happened to me, but that would really, really make my day (and might even score the person an Advance Review Copy of the next book....):

1. Give the author chocolate.
2. Send the author flowers.
3. If you also are an author, offer a great quote about the author's book.
4. Offer the author a night with Johnny Depp.
(Or Clive Owen.)
(Or Gerard Butler.)

Jus' sayin'.

6 comments:

Eve Silver said...

Colleen, I'm with you on this. There is nothing better than hearing that a reader loved the story. I felt honored when a reader sent me an email to let me know that she was going to use a character from my debut book, DARK DESIRES, in her acting class. Every email from a reader is a thrill for me...just tha fact that they took the time to write gives me the warm and fuzzies.

Sally MacKenzie said...

You may be the newest "loose screw"...hmm, being a regency writer, I didn't think women...well, I'll leave it at that... So, you may be the newest pubbed of us, Colleen, but I think we're all still new enough to be thrilled when a fan likes our book. I'm still shocked that someone who doesn't know me (read...someone I haven't guilted into buying the book) has read one of my stories.

Here was a thrill--I was at a booksigning (okay, this is a special booksigning at Turn the Page Cafe before the Washington Romance Writers' retreat) and a reader saw me, raved about my first book, and wanted her picture taken with me! I don't consider myself photogenic, but I guess I'll have to get over that.

Colleen Gleason said...

What? No offers for a night with Johnny or Clive yet????

Wendy Roberts said...

Sorry, Colleen, I can't send you Johnny or Clive but I'd gladly buy you a drink or three next time we see each other!

Kristi Cook said...

I'm with you, Colleen! I LOVE getting e-mails/letters from readers--really, it's what makes it all worthwhile, knowing that someone (besides my mom) has enjoyed my characters and their story as much as I enjoyed creating them. The only thing better is actually meeting a reader in person and having a discussion about one of my books--like many authors, one of my guilty secrets is that I LOVE to talk about my books with peple who have read them!

Before I was an author, I NEVER would have written to an author to tell them that I loved their book--now, I do it all the time, because now I know just how much it means!

tetewa said...

As an avid reader of all different genres. Whenever I finish reading a book I always try to go to the authors website and tell them what I think about the book. I've even done some reviews for a few books to let other readers know what I feel about the book. Now that I have a computer I'm addicted to author websites and blogs. Just your everyday reader saying keep up the great writing in 2007!