I was searching through Amazon today for an interesting book to read, and came across one with a great cover and intriguing title. I clicked on it and read the description of the book. It sounded good, but I wanted to know what other people thought about this author’s writing. The book had just recently been published, so it still had no reviews, so I clicked on the author’s name to see what other books he had written.

This is where I discovered two things. First, there were a lot of books under this author’s name. Second, this author didn’t have an author page set up on Amazon, so it was unclear how many of these books actually belonged to him, or if they were from another author of the same name.

Still curious, I did a Google search of this author’s name. The only thing that came up was a Goodreads list, and it wasn’t even created by this author. There was no website, no social media, nothing to help a reader find our more about this author and how they can read more books this author wrote.

How are your readers finding you?

Every author needs the following:

Website/blog: This is the part of the internet that you own. Here is where you can create a page for all of your books (complete with what they’re about and where to buy), share a little bit about yourself, and list every place readers can find you on the web. With a blog, you can draw readers in with occasional essays, thoughts, and stories. A blog also makes your website more searchable, and helps new readers to discover you.

Online retailer author page: If you sell your books on Amazon, you must create your own author page there. Same goes for other online retailers where your book is for sale. Readers who enjoy your books are going to want to know a little more about you and what other books you have written. Wouldn’t you like to control the information they find? Creating an online retailer author page is very simple, and is an absolute must.

Goodreads author page: Goodreads is where the readers are. Give them an easy way to find your books, and also to share news about your books to other potential readers by owning your author page and making sure all your correct books are listed under your name.

Social media: Having a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. helps you to brand your name as an author. It’s incredibly important for these social media channels to be under your author name, and not as a book. You are branding your name. You want people to read everything you wrote, not just a particular book. Also, having social media is just one more way for your name to be near the top of online searches. With social media, think about which ones you will honestly update, and go from there. At the very least, you should have a Facebook page, which you should try to update regularly.

What are some ways you’ve made it easy for readers to find you? Leave your suggestions in the comments.