Shawn Amick

Many authors are gravitating to Medium because of its discoverability component — how easy it is for others to find your work. I’m part of this migration, even though I have amassed over 500 subscribers on Substack (though I’m not getting rid of that.) That being said, while most of us are seeking discovery because we may be new to building an audience, or maybe we just haven’t found our audience yet, there still remains one problem. How do you stand out from the crowd? Guarantee success?

Not as a plug, but more as a reference, my name is Shawn Amick and I’m a high fantasy author, and that’s very relevant information to understand how I failed at maintaining the Between the Pages community, but excelled in building it. As an author, artist, or really a creator of any kind, we are all told the same thing. You have to create a community. You can’t just sell a product.

Have you ever wanted to enter a competition or co-author a story, or better yet, wonder why people do those things so often? Well, I know no one is wondering why writers compete in competitions. That one is obvious-win awards. But, what are the main benefits of co-authoring, and should you consider doing it? I’m going to give you my top 3 reasons for co-authoring, but before I do, I really need your help with something.