Follow-to-Read - From Readers to Fans
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Published: 2019/07/18 - Updated: 2020/05/28
Total: 590 words
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About the Author
WriterShelf is a privacy-oriented platform that lets you write using pen names.
Everyone has a story to tell. WriterShelf gives you the freedom to be yourself.
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WriterShelf has an simple way to turn readers into fans to build community and lasting relationships. Follow-to-Read articles give readers a preview of the content of an article but readers must follow your pen name to read the full article. Use Follow-to-Read to build a lasting connection with your readers.
Follow-to-Read is a simple, one-step process. Readers follow your pen name and instantly have access to all your Follow-to-Read articles.
Building an On-ramp for Readers
Follow-to-Read lets you design content to make it easy for new readers to discover your writing. To go deeper, they need to take the next step and follow your pen name.
Publish articles that introduce your topic and yourself as a writer as open and free to read. Share the background behind your subject-area expertise and passion for your subject. Let readers know what the can expect from your pen name.
Public articles grab readers attention to bring them into your universe.
Leave a portion of your premium content unrestricted to give readers a taste of what they will get when they follow. Change articles from unrestricted to Follow-to-Read (or vice versa) at any time.
Unleash the Power of Books
Books are one of the best ways to take advantage of Follow-to-Read articles. It's perfect for fiction. Make the introduction and opening chapters public and open to all. Once the story gains momentum, switch to Follow-to-Read. For readers to continue to read, they must follow your pen name.
The same approach works equally well with non-fiction and technical works. Use opening chapters to provide introductory information. Save more advanced content for followers.
There's no restriction on how you arrange Follow-to-Read articles. Chapter introductions can be unrestricted with subsequent articles Follow-to-Read.
Follower-only Discussions
Comments are hidden for Follow-to-Read articles so casual readers are not able to participate - or view comments others post. That creates a unique opportunity to hold group discussions with dedicated readers.
Summaries Invite Readers to Follow
New readers see a summary of an article when viewing Follow-to-Read articles. That's your chance to tease the content of the article and encourage readers to follow.
You control the content of summaries, so you set what readers see.
Summaries are stand-alone text-only copy blocks you add to articles when you publish. They're used as blurbs for article previews and for the content that readers see when they view Follow-to-Read articles. Summaries for Follow-to-Read articles can be up to 3000 characters so you have flexibility.
Manage Your Followers
Readers only need to follow once to view all the Follow-to-Read content you publish. Return followers don't need to take any further action to read fresh content.
Since they're your followers, the control is in your hands.
A WriterShelf user can only use a single pen name to follow so you know that all your followers are unique. All your interactions with that user will be under a single pen name.
You can see your followers from your Pen Name dashboard. If needed, you can remove any follower with a single click.
Followers Stay Informed of Your Latest
As followers, readers automatically receive email alerts of new articles you publish via WriterShelf Notifications. They also see updates in the WriterShelf Digest section New from Writers You Follow. New notifications are also easy to spot when they visit writershelf.com.
Questions? Join us in this Follow-to-Read workshop to discuss and share your thoughts.