Places Writers and Readers Should Hang Out

WRITERS! COME out to PLAY!!!

This is one of the hardest things there is to do for some authors. We love to create worlds and characters, but actually getting out there to talk about them...uh, well, we are a shy lot.

However, once you start this journey as an author, getting out to NETWORK with other authors is a MUST DO! Why? It builds your team of like minded people. Others who understand this addiction to sit for hours and pound out stories that hey, some may never see. But we do it because we love it.

READINGS
Yeah, I do these. I go to open Mic's for authors. And guess what? You don't have to be a published author for a lot of them. It's fun, gets your heart pumping and allows you to share a taste of your work.

BOOK FESTIVALS
Doing these take a bit more of an aggressive approach. I usually sell a lot of my books at these events. Mostly my Middle Grade series flies this way. It does require me to put myself out there, say hi to passerby's and generally give my elevator 'Pitch' for the book. But I hardly ever return home with book products.

BOOK CLUBS
I'm a reader first - then a writer. So I've joined several book clubs to get an idea of what the reader really wants from me in a book. The great thing about it is, most of the clubs ask me for my book even though I don't outright mention that I'm an author.

WHERE ARE SOME OTHER PLACES YOU RECOMMEND MEETUPS with Authors and Readers?