Tuesday, May 27, 2014

2014 Armchair BEA - Author Interaction



Author Interaction 
Let’s talk interacting with authors IRL (in real life) or online. This is your opportunity to talk about your favorite author readings that you have attended. Or, you can feature your favorite author fan moment (i.e., an author sent you a tweet or commented on your blog). Maybe you even want to share how your interactions have changed since becoming a blogger or share your own tips that you have learned along the way when interacting with authors as a blogger. 

I've been lucky over the years living close to Atlanta to have met a few authors in person that I've really enjoyed. Anne Rice, Douglas Adams, Terry Brooks to name a few. That was when Oxford Bookstore was still in business and used to get some of the top authors in to sign books and sometimes read as well. Oxford is a thing of the past now and I find I attend fewer readings/signings. That may change now though that I have become more dedicated to my blog, but it still needs to be someone I am interested in meeting.

DragonCon and other cons are also a great way to meet authors, but the cost can be prohibitive. One time though, when I was working for Media Play, I won VIP tickets to DragonCon in a contest for employees. The author the company was sponsoring was Brian Froud. So I got to meet him and hang out with him for a little while. He signed my book and drew a little fairy in it for me. That was one of the coolest interactions I've had offline.

Has becoming a blogger changed anything about these sorts of interactions? Being a blogger makes me think a little more before I go to one of these events about what kind of questions I might like to ask. 

What I've found has changed my interactions with authors more is twitter. I interact more frequently with authors on twitter and more confidently sometimes than I would in person. I've found they really want to know what people think about their books and like to read your reviews if they have the time. Some authors will even retweet links to your reviews. I find this sort of interacting fun.

Looking forward to reading about other bloggers interactions with authors!


5 comments:

  1. I'm so under-utilizing twitter I know! I wouldn't have thought to interact by tweeting right to them. I will now. But hadn't before!! Living near a hub like Atlanta would be great! We get some amazing authors here (here being within 2 hours of Iowa City & the University of Iowa) but Douglas Adams!! too cool :)

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  2. You got to meet Douglas Adams?! Crazy jealous. What was he like in person?

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    1. He didn't do a reading because there were just too many people there waiting to get books signed. He was friendly, but sort of reserved. He listened to whatever the fan had to say and said a few words back. That's all we really had time for because the line was so long. But he was cool.

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  3. I would be stupid if I met Douglas Adams... you lucky duck!

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  4. My sister would be so jealous that you got to meet Brian Froud! She is such a big fan. I love the design of your blog- I've never seen another blog like it.

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