Join an Author’s Street Team
What the Heck is an Author Street Team?
Back in the days of yore, before the internet, savvy advertisers wanting to go beyond mass media in a particular market hired people to promote the product, service, or brand. The benefit for the “street team” was being the first to know something, or get free samples and special discounts, or prizes and rewards. Street teams found creative methods and venues for pumping the product — chalk message on the sidewalk, business cards at a popular night club, window sign in a car, etc.
Fast forward to the internet age, and the street team concept now has an online community domain, as well as the regional or local ones in the physical world. Ask five authors what they think a street team should, and you'll get five different answers. Some authors want beta readers, reviewers, social media sharers, and people willing to evangelize the author's book. Other others just want a place for their fans to gather and talk, such as an online forum or closed Facebook group.
Some, like me, straddle those ideas, and want a place where our fans can hang out, and we can interact with them, ask them questions, share our progress, but we hope the fans are willing to write reviews in each exchange for free books, or share our new release or 75%-off sale announcements with their friends.
Join My Author Street Team
So, if you want to join my street team, I now have a group on Facebook just for you: Carol Van Natta's Interstellar Corps. No membership requirements, other than asking to join. Hang out, say “hi,” show us a photo of somethine you think looks like one of my characters, share a cool new science story, or just lurk. I'm pretty silly, most days, except when the characters in my work in progress are in desperate peril, and I'm frantically writing so I can rescue them.
Join a Street Team for Your Chance to Win
By the way, if you love the idea of street teams, and you enter by 26 March, you could join some science fiction romance author teams and have the chance to win a prize.
