Hello all! I’m so excited to be here as a regular contributor to Love Bytes Reviews! Every month on the 24^th you’ll find a new post from me where I’ll chat about anything and everything.

One question I’m often asked is on how long I’ve been writing. Well, I’ve been writing stories since I can remember. When I was little, my parents used to buy me those big boxes of Crayola crayons which I would then spill and rearrange by colors, much the way my accessories are arranged today (yep, my need to be organized was prevalent even then), and I would create my own characters, give them names and short backstories. As I grew up, my stories got longer and more complex.

Of course I knew nothing about structure then. I just knew I enjoyed writing about these characters and seeing what mischief I could get them into. I started reading romance in my teens, and in high school I wrote my first full length novel. I say novel. I loved the characters and world so much it just went on and on and holy donut holes, Batman! It just went on! Many moons later when the idea of getting published crossed my mind, I naively believed that being a published author would simply require me to write.

I can hear my fellow authors cackling away.

Obviously the most important part of being an author is writing because what would you have without the story? A whole load of nada. And maybe once upon a time in a land far far away, an author could get by with just writing and editing, maybe answering their fan mail. As Bob Dylan so famously sang, The Times They Are A-changin’.

In the age of social media and eBooks, an author’s job doesn’t end with the writing. Unless you’re Stephen King with a readership who will buy your books regardless of what you do, authors need to connect with readers. Book promotion has changed and continues to change. I remember a time when I had no idea what the heck a blog was. I had a Facebook account I used maybe once a month. No Twitter, tumblr didn’t exist, no Pinterest and what the heck is an Instagram? I’ve got all of those accounts and more. It certainly took some getting used to. And that’s just the social media. There’s also the book promotion. Cover reveals, blot tours, guest posts, interviews, blitzes, blogging, videos, conferences, swag, and… wait, where are you going? Come back. It’s okay. Shsh. It’s okay. Don’t be scared. I know it sounds overwhelming, but it’s okay.

The most challenging part is balancing and making sure not to let it stop you from writing the next book. I always try my best to embrace change and find the good in it. I simply take things in small steps. It’s up to you whether you want to walk or run to get to where you’re going. I was terrified of attending my fist conference as an author. I had a fabulous time. I moved onto my first panel, and recently my first video author reading. This GRL I’ll be a Featured Author. Why? The simple answer is that I love to connect with people. Then there’s the part of me that wants to go above and beyond.

As someone who’s always been a big movie, TV, and book geek, I love finding all sorts of little extras from stories I love. I want to know more. It makes me excited and happy. I’ve used that same fangirl excitement and applied it to my own books. I try to provide those types of extras for my readers whenever possible. My first real venture into this was with the THIRDS and THIRDS HQ. I had a chance to go big with this series and so I did. Yes, it was hard work that spanned nearly two years and that’s not including the actual writing. But you know what? I’m having an amazing time.

It’s up to each author to decide which path to take with not only their writing, but how they connect to their readers, but I think we can all agree, it’s a whole new world out there.

Authors: What’s your favorite way to connect with readers?

Readers: What’s your favorite way to connect with authors?

About the author

Charlie Cochet is an author by day and artist by night. Always quick to succumb to the whispers of her wayward muse, no star is out of reach when following her passion. From Historical to Fantasy, Contemporary to Science Fiction, there’s bound to be plenty of mischief for her heroes to find themselves in, and plenty of romance, too!

Currently residing in South Florida, Charlie looks forward to migrating to a land where the weather includes seasons other than hot, hotter, and boy, it’s hot! When she isn’t writing, she can usually be found reading, drawing, or watching movies. She runs on coffee, thrives on music, and loves to hear from readers.

photo credit: kdonovangaddy via photopin cc | photo credit: caribb via photopin cc | photo credit: bookgrl via photopin cc