As an author, your relationship with your audience doesn't end after they've bought your book. You have to learn to engage your readers and build rapport with them. Engaging your readers is a great way to create a valuable connection between you and your audience base. It's also an excellent way to market yourself and in the process improve the sales performance of your books.

Communication is key to engaging your readers. You need to communicate directly with them. One way of doing this is by building your own website. Your personal website should encapsulate the kind of books that you write, as well as the type of audience that you aim for. Ideally, a quick look at your website should automatically yield vital information about you as an author. Here, you can include your past works, sample chapters, reviews, as well as links on where to buy them.

Incorporating a blog into your website is also an excellent way of creating direct communication with your readers. It's always a good thing to demystify yourself as an author by sharing your personal thoughts on various subjects, including of course the writing process and tips on how to write well. Lending a sense of individuality and humanity to yourself makes you loom larger than you would otherwise be. You also make it easier for your audience to talk to you. This accessibility can be a driver for growth both as an individual and as a business person with products to sell.

An even more effective way to engage your readers is by harnessing the power of social media. Sites like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter, among others, can be great venues to hone your own unique brand and personality so that you don't merely end up as a mysterious writer, but rather a real writer with real thoughts and real feelings.

Be careful, however, in the way you use social media sites. While it is fine to mention your books every now and then, hard selling them or imploring your readers to buy them can be a little off-putting. Preserve an accessible personality in your website, blog, and social networking sites, and you will see that subtlety works wonders.

Aside from the online strategies listed above, a good way to engage your readers is by taking part in offline activities designed to boost your profile and bring you closer to your readers. Attending symposiums, conferences, and seminars both for writers and would-be writers allows you to share your experiences and thoughts before a live audience. Take this opportunity to expand your network, get to know who your readers are, and promote your books.

Other offline activities that you can try are book signings and reading sessions. Most readers get excited at the mere prospect of meeting and talking with real authors. So show appreciation to your readers by signing copies of their books and reading snippets from your works. Moments like these have far more value for yourself and your audience than you can ever imagine.