Hi, everyone. We're glad you're here. This is the Three Lesbians and a Pen podcast. Get ready to have your world rocked. As we dive into the wild and sometimes wacky world of self-publishing. We are three fabulous bestselling authors. I'm your host, Kimberly Todd with my best friends.

K. C. Luck

and Jamey Moody. 

Join us as we discuss the joys of writing, challenges of self-publishing, and anything else that tickles our fancy. 

Hey there, and welcome to episode 28 of the Three Lesbians and a Pen podcast. I'm Kimberly Todd, and I'm here with my fabulous friends, KC Luck and Jamey Moody. Today we're talking about, Relationships with Readers, but before we start, how is everyone's week, KC?

My week has been magical. It's a winter wonderland here. I'm in Sun River, Oregon, which is a big resort area, and it has snowed a foot and a half since we got here.

Oh man. 

So, it's a little bit like, whoa, are we ever gonna leave? But it's been really beautiful and I've had a great time. So, I've kind of had a week of leisure because my novella was at the editors, so I didn't have to worry about that. So, yeah, it's been a really good time.

Nice. 

Wow. So, have you done any skiing? Are y'all just hiking? I saw a picture that you were out in the middle of a bunch of snow.

Yeah. There's a couple trips out. I didn't bring skis. I don't have skis, so it'd be hard to bring them. But my girlfriend has skis and she did a little cross-country stuff, but I just, played around.

Were you having scotch by the fireplace kind of thing.

Exactly. Yes.

Perfect.

Cool. Well, I've had a great week too. This goes perfectly with our topic today. I got to meet, one of my readers in person and it was just a special experience and I'll tell you all about it. Once we get on the podcast. 

It's spring break and I got to see my newest little nephew that's six months old. Good old Giuseppe, y'all know Giuseppe. 'cause we had to learn how to spell his name and, he would like to see more of me. He said, but we had a good time. He's a cute little kid.

Nice.

Mm-hmm. 

I had, two of my good friends, over for dinner on, Saturday night, and that was so fun. We haven't seen them in months, so I love catching up with people and I've just been writing, so it's been a pretty quiet week here for me.

Oh, that's good.

Yeah. KC, do we have any texts this week?

Yeah, we had a couple of them. CeeJay wrote and said she has a quote, "Fate fights to Itself," and when she was publishing it on Wattpad, a reader asked if she could use it to make a tattoo. So, talk about a cool reader interaction. That'd be a first for me too. And then Cheryl says it's our nice interactions with her. So, she reads all her books and will continue to do so. So, that's really good feedback from both of them. You know, readers are cool. Mm-hmm. 

Cheryl also emailed us and she wanted to know who started the boycott? Which is a great question.

Well, it wasn't in our niche. 

Yeah, it wasn't, in our niche. I think it was, people that, are tired of billionaires, for lack of a better way to explain it. But she thanked us for interacting with readers too, and she said that she doesn't think there's anything that could make her not read our books.

Awe.

Except, maybe if we turn straight. Fat chance. Yeah. Like that's gonna happen. CeeJay also emailed us and said she has met other authors before. She's met Stephen King twice. You know, she lives up in Maine.

Really? How exciting that is.

It was pretty cool. But she said that, anytime that she has met other authors, they've been just, lovely. And that if you treat them like a normal person, you can fan girl a little, you know, and they'll treat you great too. So, most authors are very gracious and I would agree with her. I think so. Did we get anything on Instagram?

Yeah. Jules had a question from our last episode about conferences and she just wanted to know yay or nay and I think, yay. You, should definitely do it, especially if you're a new author like we talked about. And then she said, if you had to pick one, which one would you go to? So, I've only been to GCLS and I do recommend people try that, you know, go a couple times 'cause you meet a lot of different people. But do you guys have any input from any other ones that you went to.

I would highly recommend the one that I did this weekend that I'll be talking about a little bit, later on, the Lesbian Review does a virtual conference. So, all you have to do is be on your computer. It doesn't matter what you're wearing or how you look or where you are, which I think appeals to a lot of people and you can ask questions in the chat, and I really enjoy it. I'll tell you more about it, but I just really do.

I think GCLS is a good one too, but if you don't wanna spend a ton of money, the virtual one is obviously a good option for the authors and also ReadOut, down in Gulfport, I don't think it charges or it doesn't charge much for people to attend. So, if you wanna just kind of get your feet wet and not go to one that's super overwhelming and expensive, you may wanna choose one of these others. But GCLS is of course, the crown jewel of conferences for our niche. Okay, so today we're talking about relationships with readers. KC, do you wanna start us off?

Sure. So, I think if you think of the interaction from both directions, the big thing for me is where people need to be real. You have to be, authentic. So, when you talk to readers. Don't make up a persona necessarily, come from your heart.

They wanted to get to know you as a person, not as this fake celebrity or something that you're trying to pull off. And that comes from the other direction too, for the reader. You know, don't, heaven forbid, catfish us or something. But yeah, so just be yourself. Be real. And I think that's the best way to have a relationship.

Okay, well, I'm gonna be real and say that when I meet readers, I get a little nervous.

Because most of the time they want to meet you because they like your books and that's nice and everything. But I don't want them to be disappointed. And so, I'm always a little bit nervous that, Ugh, I hope you know I'm what you thought I was gonna be. 

Yeah, and I think that goes with what KC was saying, is you really need to just be your authentic self because if you try to be anything otherwise, they will sniff it out a mile away and you don't wanna put people off.

Mm-hmm.  

I think the readers, can also sense that if you're not being real, if you're being fake. 

Right. I personally like to hear from readers. That's why I'm always saying, email me in my newsletters or whatever like that because, I like their input. Because. Yes, I come up with the ideas for these stories and I love the stories, but the readers have to love 'em too. Or why else would I be doing this? So, I like their input. I don't know. I just like to hear from 'em and know that they're out there.

Mm-hmm. Definitely. Another thing I like about readers is honest reviews. That's a big thing. When you're interacting with your readers. You don't wanna try to coerce them to giving you a good review. But it is always nice when they do so because they feel the book is really good. So that is a big one. As far as my relationship with readers is reviews.

Yeah. You hate to ask, but you have to, you know, in a way. On, my newsletter, I do, especially when I put out a new book, I'm like, please, would you review, and especially my ARC team, because that's part of the deal being on an ARC team, but I think sometimes they just need reminding is all it ends up being, we think we're asking all the time and we feel bad about it, but they're like, oh yeah, I do need to review that book. So, I think readers don't mind us maybe asking as much as we do.

Yeah, I agree. I think a lot of times they have busy lives too. They're not like thinking, oh, I need to make a review for, Jamey or Kimberly's book. You know, they just read it and then they're, on to whatever, doing the dishes or who knows what. So, if you just say, I need some help here. If you enjoyed the book, would you mind leaving me an honest review? A lot of people feel grateful to help, they like to be kind, so…

Mm-hmm.

And unfortunately, reviews count so much. You know, we, you just don't realize how much they seem to matter to get your book in front of more readers.

For me, especially the ones on Amazon, those are the most important. 

Yeah,

 mm-hmm.

They are. So, I was saying earlier that I went to the Lesbian Review conference this weekend. It's a virtual conference. there were three to four authors on each panel and you can see everybody on Zoom over in the chat, and on the top of it I can see who's there.

Which is nice. And we had around 80 people, at the different, panels that I did. And in the chat, you can ask questions or do comments and it's just a great way to interact. Sheena, was the moderator of the panel and asked different questions, but it made me feel good to see my reader's names up there, and even my pod pal, Kimberly was there, woot woot, supporting, of course. And so, it feels like even though you're talking into a webcam that you're talking to your readers and to the other authors. It just was really nice. I hadn't been to a con in a while and it made me wanna go to GCLS in, July because it'd be great to be around other authors for a little bit and see some readers.

Mm-hmm.

That's always very cool when you can actually, get on a panel or something and then have people in the audience who you're like, recognize when you have the con and you're like, oh my gosh, yes. We talked a bunch of times on, messenger, or you've emailed me and it's really cool to finally get a face to a name. And I love that, you know, give hugs and stuff, at GCLS It's quite an experience to meet readers.

Yeah, it just kind of validates the person that you've been interacting with because you send out those emails, you know, your newsletter. And for me, and I know you guys do too, you try to put in some personal stuff, usually book related, but maybe you went on a trip and you're gonna use some of that research to write your next book or things like that.

But you also will put in a little tidbit about what's happening in your life - photographs of things that you've been doing, and people start to feel like they know you. But when you're the author, you're just writing your newsletter and you're sending it out. But then the ones that respond, you start to build a dialogue with them and they become your friends in a way.

Definitely. And you do feel like sometimes you're just sending things into a void. 

Yeah. 

Like well, I'll send this to, three or so thousand people and I hope somebody responds outta that. So maybe 10 people. It's not great odds, but those are the ones that really follow you closely. On the negative side, though, yes, they feel like they get to know you, and occasionally you're gonna get a reader who crosses that line and they start asking personal questions. So yeah. Never fun.

That's true and I'd like to remind people that are listening that we're authors and we're normal people and we write fiction. So not everything that you read is real.

Exactly.

Really?

Not based on reality.

I was gonna say, and it's kind of funny that we're doing this topic this week because, I got to actually meet a reader in person. I don't get to do that very often, but this reader has been with me since, gosh, the beginning. She's on my ARC team and so we've emailed, we've had phone conversations and she lives far away from Texas.

She lives in Wisconsin and she came to Texas to visit a cousin, and she had told me that she does this every couple of years and that maybe we could actually meet up, but Texas is huge. And where she was, was far away from me, but we worked out a plan where we both drove and met and it was just lovely.

It was great. We had lunch together and had a great conversation, exchanged goodies, I'll put it that way. She's a crafter and she made some really great note cards for me. And of course, I brought her books and, a little swag.

And along the same lines, I think, one of my readers from early on, liked V.A.M.P. right away and contacted me and I could tell that she had this like really fun personality and we just started like talking through chat and eventually phone calls. And then she came to New York with her wife and I spent a few days with them and it was so nice.

And now they've become real friends, not just a reader that I interact with once in a while. They're actual friends that I text every day. And that's just so exciting 'cause it's just started off as a author, reader relationship, and then it becomes a true friendship, which is so nice.

Yeah. Wow. That is really cool. You guys became such good friends based on your reader interaction. I have some friends that I know really well on Facebook and stuff, and we do email and some of us do text even, but I've never had anybody that close. But I would like to do is at some point in my career, go on like a road trip and go to different bookstores and let your fans know you're gonna be at this location in Nebraska or something. I don't know why I'd be in Nebraska maybe, it's lovely, but I would be at a bookstore and you can come and see me and we will maybe go to dinner afterwards or something, but stop like six or seven places along the way. I think it'd be really fun.

That's cool. That sounds like fun.

Yeah, that would be, because I've noticed on my newsletter, you can kind of see where you might have, quite a few subscribers in one area, and I've thought about going to that area and saying, hey, let's have a little meetup, and meet at a bar or a restaurant or something like that. That would be really fun.

Yeah, that's kind of what I'm thinking too, is I would use my newsletter demographics to figure out what would be the best places to stop for sure.

I have, some funny things. So, well, not funny. One I'm very excited about. Just, it's funny that CeeJay sent in her text because literally I was telling, Jamey that like, I guess two weeks ago or something, one of my readers wrote to me on Insta and told me that she's getting a tattoo, a V.A.M.P. And I am so excited. And I was like, but I didn't wanna get too excited 'cause I was like, maybe she's thinking about it and she's not gonna do it. But then she just sent me a follow up like two days ago saying she's getting ready and then she told me what she was gonna design. I was like, that is so cool. I'm so honored. Like the coolest thing.

Wow.

And then the funny one is, and this is a friend of mine who was a reader, but she, has been working on making, sourdough starters. And so, she sends me a picture of it growing, every day in the jar. And then she turns it and there's a piece of tape and it says Kimberly, she named her sourdough starter,

Kimberly Oh, how funny. That's great. Well, what's the V.A.M.P. Tattoo gonna be? Do you know? Did she say?

Yeah. She's probably gonna use, the V.A.M.P., book cover font, I think, I don't know, I'm embellishing a little bit. And then obviously teeth and a mouth, you know, vampire. 

That's cool. 

Yeah, it is. I can't wait to see it.

Yeah, that's very cool. No one's done that for me. I'm not saying anybody listening should go get a tattoo with Darkness Falls on it or anything... not saying that. But it is cool when they send you, cards and gifts and stuff, but one of our listeners, sent me a cool collection of rocks because of my rock hounding stuff that I put in my newsletter and stuff like that. So, yeah, it's just really cool how they connect with you and they, learn what you like, think of you as a person, very genuine, and we'll actually send you cool stuff like that.

I have a few readers that send me Christmas cards every year. Same ones. Yeah. That always just means so much to me.

Mm-hmm. 

And just in general, most of the readers are just nice people and they realize that we are, and it's just nice to interact with people that enjoy your books and that you can talk to. 

Well, let me mention one other. She will usually email me after a book release, and she always sends me a joke and it always has to be about woolly mammoths, and they're hysterical. And I will occasionally email her and say, Hey, Ashley, what's up? So...

You need to write a book about that. 

So she'll, so she'll email me back a joke. So, Hey, Ashley, hadn't heard from you in a while.

One of your characters needs to be...,

Really I should, I should use those, shouldn't I?

Yeah, the woolly mammoth.

Yeah. Anyway, they're so cute, and I know I'm gonna expect that when I see an email from her. And then I have another, that is March madness time. If you follow, college sports. They've just set the big tournament, and I've got another reader that's very into basketball and so we talk about basketball and who's gonna win the big tournaments. And so, it's just fun because, you get to know each other.

I wanna encourage our readers to email us because, in a way it gives us, a little boost, you know, to keep writing and tells us that somebody out there cares.

And, so I encourage you to email. You don't have to do it all the time. Just email occasionally and say, hey, you know, I like this book, or, how's it going? And... 

Yeah. And that's why, I'm sure you all do the same thing, but you have your email at the back of your books.

Yeah. I just encourage you to reach out to the authors that you like, because we like to hear from you.

And they will respond. 

Most of them. I respond to every email.

Mm-hmm.

But email is the best way to do it, in my opinion. Not digging into the social media conversation we're gonna do next week. But just, don't ping them with, "Hey, Cutie," or something like that. Let's be humble, respectful, and send a nice email.

Okay, so it's hard not to follow that with, but you are cute, KC. 

Okay, so next week's topic is gonna be, using social media. And KC, do we have a question?

Yeah, just what are your top social media platforms to follow, authors for your peers, and then readers what platforms do you use? I'm gonna guess probably Facebook is the number one, but Blue Sky's coming quick, so let us know where you're hanging out and then we'll hang out there too.

I think Instagram too, though. It's certainly become popular since, Twitter has become such a shit show.

Well, we can make a side bet offline and we'll see who wins.

Okay, well that's it for this week. Thanks for listening.

Thank you everybody. See you next week.

Don't forget to email us. Bye.

Thanks for listening. If you'd like to reach out to us, you can contact us by email at contact@threelesbiansandapen.com with the number three spelled out or on Instagram, Facebook and X at Three Lesbians and a Pen using the number three. And finally on our website, at threelesbiansandapen.com, we look forward to hearing from you, see you next week.