And his name is JOHN CENA!
I’m dead. I saw the opportunity to use that phrase and couldn’t resist. š
But the real author’s name is James Zerndt. Never heard of him? Neither have I. He’s from Portland. And two lucky readers have found $100 in a couple copies of his books in the area. They come with a note that reads:
This book is free. If you need the money, please keep it. If you don’t, please give it to someone who does. You are not a leftover. None of us are!
It turns out the author’s five-year-old son is behind the whole thing. The note is signed by a character in the book. So it wasn’t too difficult to figure out who was behind the mysterious money.
I think this is awesome. So many authors today are inaccessible. No tours. No tweeting @ readers. No signed books. A whole lot of nothing. They’re content with writing. And who am I to say there’s anything wrong with that? This author is reaching out to readers in a unique manner I think other authors should take note of. No one says money needs to be involved or books signed, but readers are the ones who keep the whole publishing mechanism afloat. I don’t think it’s too much to ask that authors do something out of the ordinary once in awhile to show some readers how appreciated they are. But that’s only my opinion.
What do you think authors should do to reach readers on a more personal level?
Johnny Reads 
That is so cool!
I interact with a few authors on Facebook and Twitter; one of them even used my initials (with my consent) in the dedication of the book I helped beta for her! None of them go to that extreme though. At least that I know of.
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Do you have a link for that? I’m doing a blog hop at the end of the month about good news and this falls within the guidelines, but I want to verify it and give my readers the original link when I can.
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I just read it in a local news story. http://www.kgw.com/mb/features/100-bills-found-inside-books-by-portland-author/421624008
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Thank you very much š
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It’s an interesting question you pose. I’m not sure if I have an answer, but if people begin writing with any idea at all of being published, there is a certain unwritten, and sometimes written, understanding that interaction with readers is necessary. If an author wants to be successful, especially over time, I think it’s almost required. If they don’t like social media, then do tours. If they don’t like tours, then back to social media. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but I think all authors should take this into account when they get published. Unless they’re only writing for their own pleasure and don’t at all care about anything else. If it’s only for the art, I guess it might not matter as much. But I don’t think the majority of writers think that way. Thoughts?
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Hm. I’m obviously no expert, but what I’ve noticed is that the ridiculously popular authors are often all over social media and also do tours with new releases. But we know there are a lot more authors who have thousands or tens of thousands of readers who don’t do anything. Obviously these authors aren’t making their publishers millions of dollars, so one could easily argue that the support behind any marketing is minimal at best. I guess my point is that authors don’t necessarily need the backing of their publisher to do something to reach out to readers. I will also say I know of quite a few authors who have no social media. I’m just surprised by that. Of course I also know of an author who let’s people bid to name a character in each of his new books. He then donates that money to charity.
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Ooo!!! That bidding is a great idea! I agree with you, and I’ve noticed similarly trends and situations.
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He does it every year. He usually raises a few thousand dollars for charity. All because his readers want to see their name in one of his books.
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