Aloha to Sarah M. Anderson and A MAN OF PRIVILEGE

Please join me in welcoming today's special guest blogger - Sarah M. Anderson!

Reaching Out to Authors 

Thanks so much to Kim for hosting me this week! I met Kim through a guest blog at Limecello. Kim won the blog prize for commenting, so I shipped her out a copy of my debut, A Man of His Word. She was so appreciative that she sent me the cutest little Hawaiian shirt card with a bag of tea in it as a gesture of thanks.

I could tell right away I liked her. Tea! My favorite!

And now I’m here on her blog. To me, this is the best kind of reader/author interaction—the reader makes contact (commenting on a blog), the writer provides a positive experience (free books!), the reader shows gratitude, and the author loves her forever.

You know what that makes me? One happy author.

I’m sure that there are authors who find readers irritating, who look down their noses at the common folk. But the thing is, I don’t know a single author who takes her readers for granted—and I know quite a few authors. If one goes out of their way to let us know how special our book was?

You’ll find almost every author out there on Twitter or Facebook, gushing about the awesome reader letter they got that day.

Authors are people, too. These days, they’re even easier to ‘socialize’ with than ever. Most every author has a webpage and also one or more of the following: a Facebook page, Twitter handle, Goodreads page, Pinterest and probably a few others that I haven’t even heard of yet. Not to mention Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online booksellers that utilize reviews.

If you would like to make friends with an author (and of course, we’re all keeping this a polite, positive, non-stalker, non-creepy kind of thing, right?), make the first step. Comment on their blog—comment on several, and that author will remember you. Leave a nice review on Goodreads or Amazon—we remember that, too.

Several years ago, before I was even close to being published, I left a positive review on Rebecca Hale’s first book, How to Wash a Cat, (it’s still the third review down) then I emailed her to ask her a question. Not only did she know who I was, but she told me she’d printed off my review—her first—and showed it to everyone who stood still long enough to read it. Our authorial friendship continues to this day—and I buy her books for my mom for Christmas.

Now I’m on the other side of the fence. I wrote a blog about cover hunks last month and promised to pick a winner for a free book. And then I forgot, (dang short-term memory of mine!) until Laney emailed me to ask who had won. Oops. But she took the time to email me and tell me how excited she was about A Man of Privilege. Even though she wasn’t the lucky randomly drawn winner, I sent her a book, anyway.

Not every author will become your friend, but a positive set of interactions makes everyone happy. We seem to have lost a lot of civility within the Internet. Remembering that authors—and readers—are people, too, will go a long way towards building a truly wonderful book-loving community.

Readers, have you ever had an author go above and beyond? Tell me about it! One lucky commentator will get a copy of A Man of Privilege! Plus—bonus—every week I’m giving away one of these handcrafted (by me!) book necklaces from everyone who commented throughout the week! Check the Authorial Moms blog every Sunday to see if you were the winner!

A Man of Privilege Blurb: She isn’t what he expected.

Blue-blood lawyer James Carlson is working on the case of his life. After winning this trial, his career will be set. He won’t let anything...or anyone... alter his course. Then he meets his witness.

Maggie Eagle Heart makes him question everything--his family, his goals, his future. Because she’s the one woman he wants, and she’s the one woman who is completely off limits. Yet even as he struggles to keep their relationship all about business, he can’t deny the attraction is mutual--and irresistible.

James has always done what is expected of him…until now.

A Man of Privilege is available! Visit your favorite bookseller, at Amazon, or for the Nook.

Bio: Award-winning author Sarah M. Anderson may live east of the Mississippi River, but her heart lies out west on the Great Plains. With a lifelong love of horses and two history teachers for parents, it wasn’t long before her characters found themselves out in South Dakota among the Lakota Sioux. She loves to put people from two different worlds into new situations and to see how their backgrounds and cultures take them someplace they never thought they’d go.

When not helping out at school or walking her rescue dogs, Sarah spends her days having conversations with imaginary cowboys and American Indians, all of which is surprisingly well-tolerated by her wonderful husband and son.

This post is brought to you as part of the A Man of Privilege/Distinction Blog Tour. For a complete tour schedule and rules, visit www.sarahmanderson.com.  Comments on this blog will be entered to win a signed copy of A Man of Privilege.

Next tour stop is July 9: Get Lost in a Story at this link.