I received the nicest email a few days ago, and it really made my day. The writer was working on a non-fiction book and began struggling with the writing as she was wrapping up. She said she was unable to write for weeks at a time. My emails inspired her to push through. She actually ended up finishing the manuscript two weeks before her deadline!

I was so excited to hear that I made a difference! But often, we don’t know what impact we have on others’ lives because they watch and respond quietly. They listen and apply. They learn and grow. They observe and are inspired. We don’t always have the pleasure of hearing about the effect that our own work has on others’ work.

Sometimes as authors, we have to push through this void of non-response and know that people are really watching, listening, and being inspired. It can be tough, especially in the writing stage of our manuscripts, to think of what impact we will have or even hope that we touch one other person and help them out.

If you find yourself wondering if it’s worth it to even write your book, just remember that you are impacting people, even if they don’t tell you. Every word you write is important.

One thing you can do is make sure that you are providing opportunities for people to connect with you on your writing journey. Here are a few suggestions to help you get a feel for how you are impacting people.

1. Blog – On top of writing a book, doing a blog can feel like a lot of extra writing, but it really isn’t. This can give you a place to test out ideas and talk about the background of characters or what’s going on in your book, things that you may not actually discuss in your book. And it can be a place to test out passages from your book. Engage your audience by presenting a couple different ideas or parts of your book, and ask opinions. Find out which they are more drawn to. Discover things about the text that you didn’t see before. Others’ perspectives can be incredibly valuable.
2. Provide an initial chapter to readers – You can offer the chapter on your Facebook page, your blog, or a landing page (my favorite for collecting emails and building a list). If readers have something to start with, they will want to know more about your work. You can ask questions about the free chapter and engage your audience, discussing revisions or expectations.
3. Video – This is a really powerful tool, and it can be used in several different ways. Going live on Facebook, creating video blog posts, or posting on your YouTube channel will all give you a way of directly speaking to your audience. Why video? Readers get a feel for your personality and feel like they know you more than just by reading your work. Have you ever felt like you personally know a TV show host or a character in a TV series? It’s the same concept. To follow up, ask questions in the video, and ask viewers to respond in the comments.

Connecting with readers can not only motivate us to keep writing, but it can also help shape our work based on what they like, want, or expect. Just remember that by selecting a medium aside from your book to connect with your readers, you have to actually encourage the conversation. Ask them questions and encourage them to respond. THEN, you should respond, too. Build the relationship!