How to Be in Community With Other Authors (Without Burning Out)

In this dumpster fire we call life, community is more important than ever. And if you are an author, one of your first priorities should be to make sure that you are in community with other authors. However, when I say that writers often get up in their feelings about it, because what does “in community with other authors” even mean, and why should I care?

Well, I am going to break that down for you and give you some hacks to make this process a little easier.

What Does It Mean To Be In Community?

Being in a community means participating in the author community. This can mean making friendships, or it can simply mean keeping up with author news and recommending books from other authors.

In short, the easiest way to be in community with other authors is through networking. I think a lot of authors believe that publishing is exempt from things required of different professions, and it isn’t.

Like or lump it, being a professional often means that you have to network, but networking is part of the gig.

Why Is Important?

Being in community with other authors not only gives you opportunities, such as discounts on services or things, such as people recommending you or your book for things like podcasts, panels, or group promotions.

Having a community around can also mean having support when you need it. Let’s face being an author can be isolating. And there are so many times you can go off about your characters or the plot to your books until your friends and family start to roll their eyes at you.

You need people around who can understand the unique struggle of being an author. You need people you can vent to, people who will uplift you in the hard times, and celebrate your wins with you.

This type of community support is often the difference between authors who can burn out and the ones who don’t. From personal experience, I wouldn’t have made it through 2025 without my group chat and my author peeps on social media.

Another reason why it’s important to be in a community is that publishing (like a lot of creative fields) runs on repetition and whisper networks. If you are not in community with other authors, you will miss a lot of the news about publishing or about bad service providers, or hell, bad publishers.

When I need recommendations, I go directly to the author community and ask them for recommendations.

How To Be In Community with Other Authors

1) Follow Other Authors

It is that simple! Go on to your social media and start following other authors, especially if they are authors in your niche or genre.

2) Follow Book Commentary Creators

I follow several booktubers who keep me up to date on book discourse and publishing news. My favorites are Laura Rae Says, Jess Owens, Read with Cindy, and Book Chats with Shelley. There are also author podcasts such as Romance in Colour, Self Publishing Info with the SPA Girls, Draft 2 Digital Podcast, and The Rebel Author.

3) Like and Share Other Authors’ Posts

Just don’t follow authors or creators. A great way to share information and to make sure your own readers keep up to date on what’s going on is by sharing and liking other authors’ posts. It just takes one or two clicks, and then you are done.

4) Recommend Your Favorite Books

No matter how big or small your social media platform. Recommending books you love is always a quick and easy way to participate in the community.

5) Make Friends

The whole point of social media is to be social! I know that if you are an introvert, this can be the hardest part of trying to be in community with other authors, but I have found it the most rewarding. Did you love an author’s book? Tell them that! Tag them in a post or leave a DM, or hell write an email!

As an author, I love those types of interactions! And as a reader, I have made so many friends with other authors this way.

In conclusion

As we deal with this increasing violence and shifting landscape of publishing, community is more important now than ever. This profession is not about competition. It’s about coming together as a community.

And community is how we not only survive this hellscape, it also how we thrive as both people and creatives.

How to Be in Community With Other Authors (Without Burning Out)

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