You’ve seen it in movies or TV programs, read books, and maybe even witnessed it in real life: fans swarming a best-selling author. Well, if you’re a celebrity that already has a big fan base, or wrote a mega bestseller like Harry Potter, it’s to be expected that adoring fans will mob you just to touch your sleeve.

Photo by Wendy Wei: https://www.pexels.com/photo/high-angle-photo-of-people-3159595/

No Love

But when it comes to midlist authors… like me… and so many others, well, let’s just say there has never been a screaming fan. Now I’ve been lucky enough to have people ask me to sign my books at events like the Poughkeepsie and Collingswood Book Festivals, and even at Book Expo America (which used to allow non-celebrity debut authors do signings).

But you know what’s the greatest thing? (And something you ALL can do…) Talk to the author. At the recent Poughkeepsie Book Festival, which is one of my fave events, a young man about twelve came up to my table and told me he bought my Evolution Revolution trilogy and loved it. He wanted to know if I’d written a sequel. I’d recently finished my MFA so writing anything other than class papers and my thesis novel was shelved. But when I saw the disappointment in his eyes, well, now I have to write a sequel JUST. FOR. HIM. Because he asked. Because he believed in my story. Because my story meant something to him. I had an idea for a sequel, but now my mind is churning with possibilities.

All because he talked to me. We midlist authors are starved for attention; every scrap is manna for our writing souls. With all the attention they receive, famous authors probably don’t have the time or interest to respond to the many emails, notes, or other contacts they receive. Any correspondence of book love to midlist authors will probably get a response.

Do Your Party

You can make a midlist (i.e. non-famous) author’s day, month, year, career– just by talking to us when you enjoyed our work. It helps dispel our insecurities. Most of us will never get on Jimmy Fallon to discuss our books, or be in Oprah’s Book Club, or get the success that allows us to hire a parttime personal assistant who will work for next to nothing just to be near us. And if you really want to help, leave a good review, ask for our books in your library or school, tell others how you enjoyed them. If you SUPER want to be a great fan, do a TikTok or Instagram spot for us. And for the brave, if you know our books well and have skills, make friends with the author and volunteer to be a beta reader- it allows you to get in on the next book before anyone else and help shape the narrative.

On That Note…

You can drop me a note or simple comment (and do this for other authors you love). My books are all listed on My Books page but here’s a quick link: https://charbennardo.wordpress.com/my-books/