I was at the 20Books Vegas Conference recently.
It’s a staggeringly wonderful event run by Craig Martell and company, along with a ton of dedicated volunteers.
And I had this great experience where I gave a talk and said, “Hey, anyone who wants me to look over a book description, just wait in the hallway for me.”
So there I was for two hours answering questions!
Which made me think a lot about when you should try to meet expectations, and when you should try to go above and beyond.
Just what is the expectation of our readers?
Personally, I think our readers expect that we are going to respond to emails.
I think readers expect that we are going to answer their social media posts, or their comments in our Facebook groups.
I think that readers expect that, but as an author you have an opportunity here.
Because a lot of authors don’t respond to every email, or every social media comment.
So if you just do that, you’ll definitely be going above and beyond the average.
And you’ll be taking every opportunity to connect with your readers.
But what else can you do to really exceed reader’s expectations to go above and beyond?
Can you give them a free short story every so often that gets them excited?
Can you stream a live video?
I’ve seen great authors like K.M.Shea do this with Facebook live.
Can you do something a little bit extra to set you apart, so that readers can’t wait to read your next book?
That’s something you have to decide.