The Secret Superpower for Thriving Authors: Community

As an author, it’s easy to obsess over book sales, Amazon rankings, and marketing. But what if I told you the most important ingredient for long-term happiness and success has nothing to do with numbers?

It’s community.

While achieving your author goals is wonderful, study after study reveals our social connections are the #1 contributor to lasting fulfillment and resilience.

In our increasingly isolated world, it’s tempting to focus entirely on your craft and career. But as humans, we all crave real community on a core level.

Why Author Community Matters

Meaningful connections provide benefits far beyond fleeting accomplishments. A strong author community helps you:

- Find inspiration, honest feedback, and fresh ideas
- Get support through rejections, writer’s block, and setbacks
- Stay motivated during the ups and downs of the writing journey
- Gain confidence in yourself and your voice
- Access collaborative opportunities
- Build authentic friendships with “your people”
- Feel you’re part of something meaningful beyond yourself

Humans are wired for connection. But today’s hyper-individualistic culture can leave us feeling lonely and burnt out.

That’s why nurturing community as an author is so vital for well-being. The camaraderie, laughter, and mutual understanding renew your spirit to keep writing through every obstacle.

You don’t need to walk this path alone. Surround yourself with positive author allies who lift you higher. Discover the secret superpower of community!

8 Benefits of Author Community

Specifically, here are 8 benefits you’ll enjoy by proactively building your author network:

1. Accountability & Motivation

We’re all more successful when others are counting on us. A writing group or mastermind helps motivate you to meet deadlines and stick to goals.

Having a community expecting you to show up consistently builds writing discipline. You’ll draft more and avoid procrastination knowing you must share pages.

2. Feedback & Troubleshooting

Other writers provide objective, constructive feedback to improve your craft and clarity. A community helps refine everything from plot holes to cover design.

You have a safe space to problem-solve story issues, ask publishing questions, run concepts by others, and get unfiltered reactions to your writing.

3. Combat Isolation & Loneliness

Writing requires many solitary hours. Feeling connected to a community combats the isolation of the craft.

Humans need companionship and camaraderie. Your author crew provides empathy, encouragement, inspiration, and laughs when the writing life gets challenging.

4.find Collaborators & Masterminds

Co-writing projects, critique partnerships, joint anthologies, podcasting together — a community unlocks meaningful collaborative opportunities.

You can also form masterminds and accountability groups around goals like launching a book, building an author platform, or self-publishing.

5. Promotion & Discoverability

Fellow authors will organically champion and share your work with their audiences. This expands your reach and visibility.

Promoting each other’s launches, swapping guest posts, coordinating group giveaways — community boosts discovery.

6. Grow Your Craft

Communities provide continuous opportunities to grow as a writer through workshops, talks by experienced authors, and more.

Sometimes the simplest advice from peers on topics like overcoming writer’s block or writing effective query letters proves most helpful.

7. True Friendship & Belonging

The most beautiful benefit is finding your tribe and making lasting friendships. Priceless!

Nothing compares to having “your people” who intimately understand the writing journey and provide mutual support.

8. Wellness & Work-Life Balance

Writing and publishing can quickly consume your life. Community provides healthy connection beyond work.

Laughing with author friends over coffee, commiserating together, and celebrating releases keeps you balanced.

How to Nurture Your Community

If you’re craving the benefits above, how do you cultivate that vital sense of author community?

While connecting online is valuable, studies show in-person bonds nurture the deepest ties. The laughs, hugs, and chats over coffee can’t be replicated virtually.

So attend live book events, talks, classes, and writer meetups when possible. Look for local groups related to your genre or niche.

Here are more ways to nurture community both online and off:

Join Relevant Facebook Groups

For ongoing connection, join Facebook author groups related to your genre, passion, identity, or location. Engage consistently to build relationships.

Attend Conferences & Retreats

Connect in-person at author conferences like ThrillerFest or events through your local writing center. Look for more intimate writer retreats too.

Host or Join a Local Writing Group

Either start your own weekly/monthly group or join one through Meetup.com. Share works in progress, critique, discuss craft, and socialize.

Form a Micro Mastermind

Handpick 2–3 author comrades for an intimate mastermind. Meet regularly in-person or virtually to set big goals, brainstorm, socialize, and uplift each other.

Reach Out Individually

If you connect with someone at an event or online, follow up! Set up a coffee chat or Skype call to continue the relationship. Small gestures go far.

Collaborate with Other Authors

Co-write an anthology together around a shared theme. Swap guest blog posts. Coordinate group Bookstagram promotions. Get creative!

Offer Support Generously

Share others’ launches and news on your platforms. Send encouragement if someone receives a rejection. Mail author friends handwritten notes.

Have Fun Together!

It’s not all business. Plan dinners, hikes, retreats. Share writing memes. Vent together. Celebrate releases. Create traditions like an annual holiday gathering.

Where to Connect with Community

With a proactive mindset, author community is all around you. Here are some prime spots to plug into the writer network online and in-person:

- Local library and bookstore events

- Writing conferences and festivals

- Classes through writing centers

- Workshops, talks, and open mics at bookstores

- Facebook groups for authors

- Hashtags like #WritingCommunity, #AmWriting on Twitter

- Writer forums like Absolute Write

- Local Meetup.com groups related to writing or books

- Online courses like those through Writers Digest University

- Instagram and engagement with other bookstagrammers

- Goodreads and interactions with readers + fellow authors

- Live and virtual events through organizations like AWP

The opportunities are endless. It simply requires showing up consistently and cultivating sincere connections versus mere networking. Don’t just collect business cards — nurture relationships.

Overcoming Shyness & Resistance

If you’re an introvert or shy, the idea of putting yourself out there may feel daunting. But community is worth moving past your comfort zone.

Start small by finding just one or two writing friends you genuinely connect with. Focus on quality over quantity.

Or quietly attend local events first to observe and get familiar faces. Then gradually engage.

Remember, nearly every author feels vulnerable and insecure about their work. We all have more in common than not.

And many of the deepest author bonds start through supporting others. Be generous in sharing wisdom, insight, encouragement, and feedback.

Virtual Community

While online groups alone can’t replace in-person connection, they do allow you to plug into the author network from anywhere.

So be active in Facebook groups, Twitter chats, forums, classes, hashtags, and Instagram communities related to your genre and passions.

But then seek out opportunities to cultivate those virtual connections offline when possible through meetups, calls, conferences, etc.

Making Time for Community

When deadlines are looming, community-building is often the first activity dropped. But prioritizing your author network pays dividends.

Carve out non-negotiable time for things like attending a local writing class, messaging author friends, or having brunch with your writer’s group.

Protect time already on your calendar too. Don’t sacrifice your weekly writing buddy meetup because you’re busy.

Planning ahead and batching community activities will help. For instance, host an author friend for a morning of co-working on Tuesdays. Have brunch with your former MFA buddies one Sunday a month.

Relishing the Shared Experience

While writing can feel like an isolated profession, take comfort in the fact that countless authors are navigating the same journey.

There’s deep solidarity in sharing struggles and celebrating milestones with peers who just get it.

So reach out and be vulnerable. You’ll find a generous, supportive community ready to uplift you on this winding road.

Together, we learn and grow so much more. You don’t need to walk this path alone.

Transform Your Author Experience Through Community

As the African proverb goes: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

While publishing success may come through sheer solo grit and hard work, what matters most is enjoying the journey.

That sense of fulfillment stems from community. Let’s walk together!

Join the Thriving Skinny Brown Dog Author Community

At Skinny Brown Dog Media, cultivating community is central to our mission. We know how vital author networks are.

That’s why we’ve created a one-of-a-kind membership program solely focused on accelerating your growth through community.

- Making genuine connections with fellow Christian authors

- Finding loyal collaborators and advocates

- Getting the feedback and ideas you need to excel

- Staying motivated, productive, and balanced

- Enjoying a spirit of service and contribution

We facilitate:

- Monthly training calls w/ special community guests

- Quarterly small group masterminds

- Ongoing forum discussions

- Virtual coffee chats

- Live meetups at writer conferences

- Resource sharing & member spotlights

- Annual member retreat & more!

If you crave an engaged community to thrive on your author journey, we invite you to join the Accelerator.

Learn more and apply today! Let’s build something extraordinary together.

Find out more at info@SkinnyBrownDogMedia.com