By Jamie Dalton
Trying to figure out new ways to engage with readers is always a challenge, but when you take something that is normal and and twist it with a new way to engage with your readers can help you really stand out. But coming up with those ideas is so often such a struggle. Here's a few ideas of tools that you can twist and make your own to connect with your readers in a new way.
Create a virtual escape room. Escape rooms are honestly so much fun and imagine how your current and new to you readers would react getting to know your book by engaging with your book in an escape room setting. The best part is that this can be totally free to do and gives a big wow factor element. I'm attaching a simple tutorial on how to create one so you have it step by step. Struggling to figure out your prizes? You can either do it as an entry into a giveaway of some sort (book boxes, signed copies, Amazon gift card...) or as a way to get deleted scenes or bonus material. YouTube Tutorial
Interactive Posts Have you ever commented on something and had an immediate response from a bot? Sometimes it goes to your inbox and it just feels sort of weird? What if I told you that you could take that element and twist it to make an interactive and fun way to engage with your readers while giving them bonus content. I actually did this for a kickstarter that I ran it helped people get so excited about the project and brought in a lot of new people. I used a site called Manychat which has free options and played a sort of game on Instagram. My book involved newspapers in it from the fantasy world and my posts and ads leading up to the kickstarter gave the audience a word to use to have an article from the world sent to their inbox. Sometimes it was art, others it was a fantasy classified ad... then that included a link to check out the kickstarter. You can do this as a hop on instagram with multiple authors where they comment to get the code words they need for an entry into something or just with elements from your book. This is one you can get really creative and create a game.
Experience PR/Book Boxes. I admit, I adore book boxes and have found that they really help me market my book, but they can get really really expensive. One way that I counter that is by creating a box that is both my PR and something that readers can preorder. The Preorders help pay for the PR boxes and the posting of the boxes then can create even more PR boxes because so often readers comment that they wish they could get the box too. I like to think about the box I want to create as I write. This lets me have the time to insert sensory involved things into the story. Smells that can be roll on perfumes or candles, physical objects that you can grab from somewhere, moments you can create as art... I've personally received a box that had a fake potato in it because the potato was a running joke in the book and it absolutely made my day. Just remember that if you will involve smells or foods you need to ask if they have allergies on the submission forms. It's a great bonus too if the readers who buy the boxes do unboxings on social media! Yay for extra marketing for you.
Create a choose your own adventure part from the story. I know, this sounds like a lot of work, but hear me out. This can be done a few ways. Think of it sort of like #1 from above, but you would create a short story or let the reader experience something from your book itself. You could do it in google slides or on a free website that would let them pick which thing they want to do. There are also sites where you can create this sort of thing as well such as Dorian that you can create entirely free stories where readers choose what they want to do or you can add in specific choices that they pay for. On sites like Dorian, it's not uncommon for the spicy choices to cost money while people can do a totally free run through to get the story itself. Want to drum up interest in your story? Maybe do a short prequel adventure with the main character or even a side character that people can play first.
There's other ways that you can drum up a unique and memorable experience for readers with your book, but maybe these will help inspire you to test out new ways to engage with your readers.
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