Need a Few Influencers for a New Shaker Book

“The people who influence you are the people who believe in you.” 
    ~Henry Drummond

I am blessed by the influence of so many people who have believed in me through the years. My mother, first and foremost, always believed I could do whatever I set out to do. That’s not to say she might not have been a little surprised when I had the dream to be a writer and actually publish books. 

Sometimes when I think about that, I’m a little surprised! Not that I wanted to write, but that I do have books published that people like you actually read. That is a blessing I don’t take for granted. I’m grateful for every reader. I’m thankful every time any of you tell one of your reading friends about my books. I appreciate every time you read my this-and-that blog posts and when you leave comments here or play my guessing games. (I’m still smiling about finally getting a mystery photo that stumped you last time. I’m also trying to come up with something new that might be fun.) 

Many of you who read my blog are also faithful readers of my books and have followed me from Hollyhill to Harmony Hill to Rosey Corner and to 1855 Louisville. I love how you’ve been willing to read my different types of stories. 

This summer, I’m going back to my Harmony Hill Shaker village for a new book, The Innocent. That’s why I posted this with a Shaker house picture. I really didn’t think I’d write another Shaker book, but then these characters came to mind and it seemed like the thing to do. I guess I’ll see if it really was come July when I find out if readers are ready to go back to Harmony Hill too. The book is already available for pre-order on Amazon. 

So now I’m looking for ten or twelve readers who might like to be what is called “influencers” in the publishing business. These people get a hot off the press copy of the book and in return perhaps talk about the book to their reading friends and suggest it to their book clubs or libraries. They might post reviews on internet sites or their own blogs if they have blogs or talk it up on other social media sites if the story is one the reader liked. Word of mouth really is the best advertisement a writer can get. These are just suggested things. There is no obligation to do anything if you don’t want to other than receive the book and promise to give it a read. 

If any of you would like to give this influencing bit a try, just let me know. If I get more people who would like to be on my influencer list than the list can accomodate, I’ll draw out twelve names. You can leave your e-mail information here in a comment or e-mail me directly at annhgabhart(at)yahoo(dot)com. 

And thanks so much. I am blessed to have you as reading friends.