Last week we discussed marketing and branding your book and I provided tips for targeting your audience. Now that you’ve gotten the reader’s attention, how do you keep them involved?

Here are four easy ways to gain continuous support:

1.) Say thank you – This seems obvious but sometimes we forget that something as simple as a thank you will help when we’re looking to rally continued support.  As a self published author, you likely have access to everyone who purchases a copy of your book from your website. For Internet purchases, send a quick email thanking the customer for their purchase and you can even include a request for a review on Amazon.

As a traditionally published author, you don’t have the same access, but using the name provided for an autographed copy at a book signing and saying thank you can leave a lasting impression.

“John, thank you so much for coming out and showing your support. I hope you enjoy the book and I look forward to reading your review on Amazon.”

2.) Acknowledgment – Like saying thank you, acknowledging your supporters should also go without saying but I see this happen often and not acknowledging your supporters can affect future support.

Just last week one of my Twitter followers, tweeted an author whom she supported and received no reply. It was implied that this had happened on more than one occasion. Her follow up tweet confirmed she would no longer support the author.

Obviously, depending on the number of people you interact with on social media, you may not be able to acknowledge every tweet, email or comment. However, in the early days, when your followers are small in number and your blog supporters are like family, this small gesture can definitely create a personal relationship with your supporters and make you stand out from your peers.

On the flip side if a supporter sees you have a few followers, you’re tweeting to your friends and family, retweeting compliments, but won’t respond to their question or comment, they will feel like you don’t appreciate them and will withdraw support. Or better yet, send out a tweet to all of their followers as to why they won’t be supporting you any longer. Ouch!

Sidenote – If you follow someone who has a private Twitter account, they can’t see your tweets to them unless they are following you too. So it may not be that they’re ignoring you, but they really aren’t receiving your tweets.

3. Post good content – Whether you are posting on your blog, Twitter, Facebook or any of the other social media sites, posting good content will help you garner support. Your supporters are tuned in but to KEEP them tuned in, you have to provide them something of VALUE.

And let’s not forget the obvious, a great follow up book!

4. Support other authors – I could do a whole blog post on this one (and I may in the future) but it sometimes gets overlooked as a way to gain support. I think we’ve all heard the saying what goes around comes around. Normally there’s a negative connotation involved, but we forget that it can be something positive as well!  It really can be that simple when it comes to showing support to other authors. If you support your fellow author by retweeting their tweets, commenting on their blog, purchasing their book, and going to their events it creates a team environment and their supporters can likely become a supporter of yours and vice versa.

Please share your experience with gaining supporters in the comment section below.