Updates to my Guild of Adventurers

Recently, I sent a survey to the members of my street team (aka my Guild of Adventurers) in an effort to improve how we do things. What follows are the newly updated details I sent to all current adventurers.

Note: If you’re not in my Guild of Adventurers but would like to join, all you need to do is sign up for my monthly newsletter and provide a link to an honest Amazon review you’ve written for one of my stories.

The Goals of the Guild

The way I see it, the Guild of Adventurers has three main purposes:

1. Increase my fan base.
2. Develop a growing community among my fans. 
3. Spread the social and promotional workload so that I can dedicate more time to writing.

I am humbled and so very grateful to know that I have fans that care enough about these goals to dedicate their time and talents to make them happen. Thank you again for your support!

What a Guild Member Does

Several adventurers said in the recent survey that they weren’t sure what they should be doing as a member of the guild. Here’s a list of some of the things that a typical guild member does:

• Like and/or +1 posts from Lindsay's author accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Google+.
• Share/re-tweet posts from Lindsay's author accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Google+.
• Comment on posts from Lindsay's author accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Google+.
• Comment on Lindsay's blog posts.
• Participate in discussions on Lindsay's fan pages on Facebook and/or Goodreads.
• Recommend one of Lindsay’s books to a friend or group.
• Request one or more of Lindsay's books at a local bookstore, library, or school.
• Recommend one of Lindsay's online writing courses to a friend or group.

A typical guild member does one or more of these types of activities at least a couple of times a month.

"I Want to Do More!"

In addition to the typical types of activities listed above, there are plenty of ways for guild members to take their volunteering one step further. Here are some ideas:

• Approach a bookstore/library/school/writing group about an author appearance from Lindsay.
• Be an admin and/or moderator for a Lindsay Schopfer fan page on a social media platform. (examples include Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.)
• Coordinate/GM an online role-play for Guild members.
• Make/craft something for Lindsay's swag bag.

The Benefits of Being in the Guild

While participating in the guild is a voluntary activity, there are some benefits to being one of my adventurers. Guild members get first look at new artwork, story updates, and “behind-the-scenes” details on my work. They’re also the first to be invited to participate in beta reads and fan surveys. Guild members will receive a monthly newsletter featuring Guild-specific news and updates. All adventurers will also be invited to a monthly, online video hangout where we can all chat together and build friendships and community. For those who are interested, there will also be a monthly online game hosted by a guild member.

In addition to these universal benefits, there will be a special “goody bag” for those guild members that go above and beyond on a given month. Examples of these sort of adventurers include group moderators, blog writers that feature a guest blog from me, crafters and artists that donate their work, and those special folks who set up author appearances for me. These adventurers will receive special mention in the monthly Guild newsletter and will be invited to pick something from the goody bag.

For Those Who Feel Overwhelmed

Several people answered in the survey that they felt like they didn’t have time to participate in the guild. First off, it doesn’t take much to be helpful. Every time you like/comment/share on a post or blog article, online algorithms show those items to more of my fans. This is true of both social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and search engines (Google, Bing, etc.) So, a minute or two to read the post or blog and two seconds to respond to it. Like I said, it doesn’t take much to be helpful.

If this still seems like too much work, then the Guild probably isn’t for you. I’d recommend joining one of my online fan groups instead. You’ll still get regular updates on what’s going on with me from those guild members serving as moderators and admins, and you can participate when it’s convenient for you. I don’t plan on policing the activity of guild members, but if you feel like you’re not able to be a participating guild member, then I invite you to let me know that you’d like out of the guild. I promise that I won’t take offense and that we’ll still be friends!



Again, if you’d like to join the Guild, all you have to do is sign up for my newsletter and link to an honest Amazon review that you’ve written for one of my books. We’d love to have you onboard!