Reaching and Rewarding Queer Romance Readers

Queer Romance Freebie Fan Club

Today we have a guest post from D.J. Jamison, one of the members of a new queer romance facebook group:

Readers love freebies, and authors love reaching more readers. It’s a formula that you see all over — from blog tours to holiday giveaways to special events to celebrate book releases.

The Queer Romance Freebie Fan Club takes that concept and gives it a regular home on Facebook.

I’m one of 12 m/m romance authors who came together to create the group. It’s different from other m/m romance interest groups in that it’s not an open promo group. We created it specifically to connect with readers and to reward them for their loyalty.

So far, we have 1,200-plus members and we’re adding more every day. Part of the reason the group works so well is because we stand by our name.

It’s a Freebie Fan Club, and that means giveaways every week for readers who join the group and participate in the contests.

The hosting authors are a great group, and I feel fortunate to be among them. They are: Annabeth Albert, Keira Andrews, A.M. Arthur, Eli Easton, Annabelle Jacobs, me (DJ Jamison), Garrett Leigh, Jay Northcote, Sloan Johnson, Posy Roberts, RJ Scott and NR Walker. Each week, one of us steps up and hosts for the week, offering readers a chance to win everything from backlist ebooks to ARC copies to gift cards.

Among our books you’ll find gay, bi, trans, genderfluid and asexual characters. We write about students, doctors, SEALs and athletes, among other things. We mostly author contemporary novels, but a few of us write paranormal. Some of us are US citizens; and others live in the UK and Australia. Yet, we’ve all come together in this genre, which is a pretty amazing thing!

The group is not open to other authors. We’re looking to keep the group really focused and true to its name. We’ve all seen groups lose their purpose under the barrage of too many promo posts. So, we’re keeping this group exclusive.

The Queer Romance Freebie Fan Club is a great way for us to reach out to new readers while also rewarding our followers on a regular basis.

In my mind, that’s a win-win!

DJ Jamison is the author of the Ashe Sentinel Connections series and the spin-off series, Hearts and Health. She spent more than a decade in the newspaper industry before becoming an m/m romance author. She lives in Kansas with her husband, two sons and three glow-in-the-dark fish.

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