Authors write for a variety of reasons.

We write to please ourselves, because we like to know where our stories go as much as anyone else does.

We write for our readers, hoping to share with them a story that will elicit some sort of emotion or—in some cases—make them think.

We write to further our craft, ever striving to become masters (hah!) at what we do, to beat the English language into submission, to bend grammar rules to our will, to craft that perfect bit of imagery.

We write—let’s be honest, here—dreaming that whatever we are penning will be the next Harry Potter and in three years, we’ll be pecking away on our keyboard while sitting on the deck of a forty-foot Caribbean yacht and sipping piña coladas.

Whenever we finish our latest masterpiece, we of course want to share it with the world, to climb to the top of the [insert name of tall building in nearest large city here] and shout, “Look what I have done!”

Now. Here’s the problem.

The marketplace is crowded. Super crowded. Like $1 hotdog night at Yankee Stadium crowded. There are a thousand other authors perched atop that building with you, trying to out-scream you.

More avenues exist today for people chasing their writing dreams than ever before. Author supply has increased while demand has remained flat or—some could argue—decreased. With the plethora of entertainment options available today—on-demand television and movies, mobile gaming, etc.—finding people willing to sit down and read is challenging.

Cultivating an audience is hard. Very hard.

So, what is my big idea and how will it solve all our problems?

Well, let me answer the second part of the question first: it won’t solve all our problems. Sorry, but I don’t live in a slightly used bronze lamp you bought off a shady character in some dusty, hot bazaar in Saudi Arabia.

Now, about the first part of the question…

We all (hopefully) have a devout readership, fans who anxiously await our next story or novel, scoop it up the moment it’s available, read it in two days, and then ask “When’s the next one out?”

What I’m proposing is leveraging our audiences via a sort of reader exchange program whereby authors spotlight fellow authors using reciprocating guest blog posts. Author A hosts a guest post for Author B on their site/blog. Author B writes something pithy, clever, or awe-inspiring, includes some details about themselves (manners in which to contact or follow them and where to read their work) and in exchange, Author B hosts Author A, tit-for-tat.

That’s it. That’s my giant, not-so-novel-now-that-I’ve-typed-it-out idea.

A lot of authors already do this to some extent, pumping up their buddies or favorite writers. This is a logical an extension of that process, a way to let writers who are otherwise unfamiliar with one another to provide potential exposure to additional readers.

Granted, a post exchange between me—a self-published fantasy author who recently signed with an agent and is shopping his series—and Brandon Sanderson would be unlikely, but nothing’s impossible, right?

Each of us is constantly trying to come up with topics for our own blogs, yes? Ideas for posts to enlighten and entertain our readers and industry-mates. Why not write the article and post it on another author’s site as a way to drive traffic to and from one another?

The guidelines would be simple.

1. No blatant self-promotion. Let the post topic and writing speak for itself.
2. The authors would agree on everything else: length, out-of-bounds topics, level of salty language allowed.

That’s it. In addition to the article, you would include the standard stuff: a short bio, recent works, social media links, and website.

When both articles are ready to go, the authors post on the same day and cross-promote the heck out of one another.

So, then. That’s my giant idea.

Now, I’ll step back and you can tell me why it’s good, bad, or stupid.

--R.T.

PS - If you are perhaps interested in participating in such an endeavor, that’d be useful to know, too.