-
It’s definitely a numbers game. Not just total numbers, but unique numbers – if ten authors start out at the same time, in the same genre, and make a continuous effort to cross-promote within (and only within) that circle, they may end up with 500 readers each; but if they are the SAME 500 readers, there isn’t a great deal of benefit from that. If those authors only had 100 readers in common, that’s a total pool of 4000-odd readers you can then reach.
I think the best growth will rely on members being proactive at growing their readership outside of the ring, at least initially. Ideally, each author would have several circles – standing at the centre of their own venn diagram, if you will.
I’ve networked a lot with other authors and group promos (a multitude of like-genre books hosted on one webpage and promoted to readers); newsletter swaps; reader magnets; and competitions can all be effective ways of growing an audience for multiple people at once. Just gotta make sure that group members are doing this outside of the writers ring as well as within it.