Among the best ways to sell more books is to make a personal connection with readers. This can be done in a number of ways, but perhaps the easiest is to simply answer any email from fans.

This simple courteous act will net you a fan with an even deeper admiration for you. He will appreciate that you took the time to answer. You’ve also just netted a buyer of your next book. More importantly, you’ve helped spread a little cheer in the world.

And when people do good, good tends to come back to them. The fan almost certainly will tell his friends and any social media followers, netting you free publicity. Almost certainly some of those people will check out your website, blog or Amazon.com landing page. As friends tend to share similar reading interests, your books likely appeal to their tastes, resulting in additional sales of your current if not your previous books and your next one.

In addition, these fans will come to your rescue when you’re criticized. Unfortunately, there are plenty of trolls out there who will post unfairly negative reviews and cutting commentary. While you as the author ought to ignore such nastiness, you’ll be pleasantly surprised when fast fans don’t.

So what should you write to a fan?

First, acknowledge that their letter was appreciated. It can be as simple as Thank you for taking the time to write; I always enjoy hearing from readers.

Next, use their name. It adds a personalized touch that shows you really did look at the letter. The above sentence could be as simple as Thank you for taking the time to write, Jane; I always enjoy hearing from readers.

Then, answer any questions they might have. The answer ought to be brief or you’ll unwittingly encourage a reply to your response, resulting in a correspondence that takes you away from writing the books your fan wants to read. You also may want to cut and paste the question and your answer into a file; often readers ask the same questions, so you can improve upon and not have to write from scratch your answers in other emails. The Q&A later might even be compiled into a blog entry or page for your website.

Whatever you do, DON’T promo your upcoming book (unless the reader asks when it’s coming out). That turns your response into an advertisement and undercuts the positive effect your could have have from replying a reader. So no Hope you pick up my next book, “Raze and Ruin,” when it comes out Dec. 1!

Among the best ways to sell more books is to make a personal connection with readers. This can be done in a number of ways, but perhaps the easiest is to simply answer any email from fans.

This simple courteous act will net you a fan with an even deeper admiration for you. He will appreciate that you took the time to answer. You’ve also just netted a buyer of your next book. More importantly, you’ve helped spread a little cheer in the world.

And when people do good, good tends to come back to them. The fan almost certainly will tell his friends and any social media followers, netting you free publicity. Almost certainly some of those people will check out your website, blog or Amazon.com landing page. As friends tend to share similar reading interests, your books likely appeal to their tastes, resulting in additional sales of your current if not your previous books and your next one.

In addition, these fans will come to your rescue when you’re criticized. Unfortunately, there are plenty of trolls out there who will post unfairly negative reviews and cutting commentary. While you as the author ought to ignore such nastiness, you’ll be pleasantly surprised when fast fans don’t.

So what should you write to a fan?

First, acknowledge that their letter was appreciated. It can be as simple as Thank you for taking the time to write; I always enjoy hearing from readers.

Next, use their name. It adds a personalized touch that shows you really did look at the letter. The above sentence could be as simple as Thank you for taking the time to write, Jane; I always enjoy hearing from readers.

Then, answer any questions they might have. The answer ought to be brief or you’ll unwittingly encourage a reply to your response, resulting in a correspondence that takes you away from writing the books your fan wants to read. You also may want to cut and paste the question and your answer into a file; often readers ask the same questions, so you can improve upon and not have to write from scratch your answers in other emails. The Q&A later might even be compiled into a blog entry or page for your website.

Whatever you do, DON’T promo your upcoming book (unless the reader asks when it’s coming out). That turns your response into an advertisement and undercuts the positive effect your could have have from replying a reader. So no Hope you pick up my next book, “Raze and Ruin,” when it comes out Dec. 1!