With nearly two years under our belt, the Hometown Reads team has definitely learned a thing or two about how to serve local authors in a prolific and meaningful way. In case you aren’t familiar with Hometown Reads, it was founded by Weaving Influence CEO, Becky Robinson, and it’s a community dedicated to serving local authors across the country by helping them connect with readers in their hometown, through what we call the Read Local movement. We currently showcase over 4,500 books in nearly 100 locations on our virtual bookshelf!
With our sights on the future and ambitious goals always on the horizon, there is one goal that is a constant in our day-to-day work — growing and nurturing our authors’ connections. We believe that Hometown Reads is more than just a place to list books, it’s an active community where authors can build their networks, learn about local marketing, and create lasting partnerships in their hometown.
Here are 3 reasons why authors any stage should consider joining Hometown Reads.
Community-Based Collaboration
Hometown Reads spreads its influence not only to authors, but into the doors of local organizations who share our same vision of supporting local authors. We are building a community of local bookstores, libraries, publishers, writers groups, and more, who will partner will us to raise awareness of reading local. We call these organizations our Read Local Champions.
These relationships are key to our success in every community. With their support, we can make each author’s book stand out among the noise of a flooded book market. We have Hometown Reads branded shelf-talkers for these organizations, which we hope will result in local author shelves across the country.
By becoming an author on Hometown Reads, you are joining an extensive movement and a community atmosphere. We believe that each author has a special role in our community!
In-Person Partnerships
Although our author community is created online, our desire is to foster in-person gatherings so authors can develop true connection with one another and with readers. We’ve been encouraged and amazed by numerous locations that have coordinated events under the umbrella of Hometown Reads. These group gatherings are a combination of efforts by our team and each location’s Ambassador volunteers.
It’s amazing what can happen when authors meet up — that’s where the magic happens. Together, authors can open up crucial conversations, share marketing successes and failures, combine marketing efforts, and much more. At Hometown Reads, these in-person partnerships are what make our community unique and valuable to authors at any stage in their journey.
Range of Resources
Our website features authors from all walks of life. We have first-time authors, traditionally published authors, and even ones with their own coaching/consulting firms. We have authors who are Twitter experts, while others are struggling to grow their Twitter influence. Some are outgoing and active at writer’s groups, while others prefer to keep a low profile.
Well, in this diversity, there lies the opportunity to learn new ways of expanding your book’s reach. Each has skills and talents that should be shared between one another, especially in the realm of today’s local marketing where an author IS also their own marketer. At Hometown Reads, you can connect with authors, share ideas, and learn what strategies can help market you book more effectively.
The Hometown Reads team encourages the idea of generosity among our author base. Drawing reference from author and global speaker, Jennifer Kahnweiler, it’s a myth to view authors in your same genre as you competitors. She recently shared her experience with collaborating with an author in her field that yielded fantastic results! If authors can share resources and embrace the idea of collaboration, together they can accomplish great success.
Have you joined Hometown Reads yet?
If you’re interested in joining Hometown Reads as an author, you can join here.
If you have questions about our other programs, please contact us.
Kristin is lives near Houston, Texas, and dedicates her time as a single mom to her daughter, Grace. She enjoys downtime with her family, good Texas BBQ, and has a passion for international missionary work.