Welcome to the Apple Hair CANON!
Here, I’ll explore creating a fictional universe, and I’m hoping you’ll follow along with your own world. I’m by no means an expert, so let’s discuss how to create a believable, magical, and captivating world. Let’s be storycatchers together!
Want to read Apple Hair, the boy band fantasy novel, from the very beginning? You can start here! Apple Hair is a fictional, Asian American boy band from Hawaiʻi.
Welcome to the newsletter, and I’m excited to lay down the foundations of our storyworlds together, one word at a time.
Hi, storycatchers! In the last edition of the CANON, I talked about hard lessons I learned while indie publishing. It wasn’t meant to be a post to dissuade anyone from publishing on their own, and I hope that there were some nuggets you could keep for your own creative endeavors! This week, we’re bringing more light to the conversation about authors—how to support and encourage those who are publishing. Don’t worry, I have more posts planned for storyworlds and story building for the CANON! But for now, let’s dive right in.
The first thing is to leave reviews. I know. I’ve been there—too exhausted to even think about opening Amazon or Goodreads. But if you leave a five-star review for someone, that has the potential to boost their visibility greatly, causing others to look at the book with interest. This one is such an impactful one for authors, so much so that many authors will spend months before launch trying to get those early reviews. Reviews after launch are vital as well.
The second way is to interact with their posts on social media. This one can be just a repost or an encouraging comment. Although it might seem like you’re just sending a virtual wave, this can make an author’s entire day to know that you liked their book. If you’re shy, you can try an email or a direct message with an honest word of support.
The third is to subscribe to their newsletter. I feel you—we are often bombarded with emails. But if you can, join your favorite author’s newsletter and show some support by opening their life updates, behind-the-scenes, and more. This one is special because I know that you guys are subscribed to me. Thank you so much! It feels like a fun way to connect. Don’t be shy to leave comments or even to reply to an author’s emails.
A way to support authors that I absolutely love is to enter their giveaways! This one is such a fun one, and there is honestly nothing to lose—if you win, you’ll probably get a signed copy and some other goodies. There are multiple giveaways going on—on Goodreads, for example—but there are also self-hosted giveaways on Instagram. These will have some simple instructions from the author. Usually, you just need to follow their account, retweet or repost, and then leave a comment. The rules are usually easy to follow, and a signed copy will give your collection so much more life.
And I’ll leave a last one for you—tell your friends, or at least one person who would enjoy the novel or story you read. This can be as simple as forwarding a post or telling your friend the title of the book that you read. Trust me, this is one of the most powerful ways an author will feel your support. The trickle-down effect is real, and the power of telling one person means that there’s an opportunity for dozens to learn about an author’s books.
Here is the part where I ask you to leave a review for Apple Hair! I appreciate you so much. If you want to follow my socials, I’ve been very active on my Apple Hair TikTok. You can find it here: @ahairen. I’ll be happy to see you there. But just that you’re subscribed to me already means the world. Thank you for being part of the AH universe!
Thank you very much for joining the CANON this week. What would you like me to discuss in the next post? Comment below. Or jump into my Chat or on one of my Notes, and I’ll be happy to hear your input. Let’s support our favorite authors this week, both indie and traditional!