When it comes to connecting with potential readers online, most social media platforms have specific primary audiences. TikTok is great for the young adult and romance spaces. LinkedIn can be perfect for business, self-help, and journalism. What if there was a website with a curated space for every audience? Reddit may be the answer.
For twenty years, Reddit has been the premier social media site for forum-based discussions. These individual forums, called subreddits, can be about anything, from world news to photos of cute cats and their toothy smiles. There are more than 100,000 active communities, which means there is a lot of room for authors to inhabit the platform comfortably.
The Community (and Its Guidelines)
What can you expect from a community on Reddit? The point of the app is that every hub is different, but some features tend to apply across the board. For example, likes and dislikes are replaced by upvotes and downvotes, which position comments higher and lower on the page based on user engagement. Users can give each other awards for helpful and engaging posts and comments. These cost real money, but some of them are specific to a subreddit and others grant the recipient temporary access to Reddit’s ad-free subscription service, Reddit Premium.
Each subreddit has its own moderators, who uphold rules for the group. Not only do they make sure the space is used for its intended purpose, but they protect users from unsavory experiences like harassing comments, trolling, and attempts to derail conversation. Failure to follow community rules can get posts or comments taken down and in extreme cases users can be banned from the subreddit. So it’s wise to review these rules before posting.
Because the rules are designed to keep discussions casual, conversational, and organized, traditional self-promotion isn’t always welcome. Instead, a strategic approach works best. Focus on establishing a recognizable, reliable presence, whether by sharing bits of your creative work, offering insights in your area of expertise, or giving a behind-the-scenes look at your life as a published author.
Writing Forums
One interesting aspect of Reddit is that authors can build their reputations as creators on the platform before getting published. This usually happens through writing- and reading-focused subreddits.
Some of these spaces revolve around writing challenges or prompts and are best suited for fiction writers. An incredibly popular one is r/NoSleep, where horror writers are challenged to tell a scary story like something that really happened to them or someone they know. There’s also r/WritingPrompts, a fun place to flex your creative muscles.
Other communities get into the technical side of writing, reading, or being an author. These spaces often welcome a bit of self-promotion, such as sharing excerpts of your work, illustrations, or insights into your creative process. They can also be a great place for inspiration. Genre-specific subreddits include r/YAWriters, r/FantasyWriters, and r/Mystery. r/Writing is a simple forum for writers to talk about all aspects of their process. If you ever need ideas for comp titles, r/SuggestMeABook and r/BooksThatFeelLikeThis can be great places to look!
AMAs
A major hallmark of Reddit’s culture is the classic AMA or Ask Me Anything. In these threads, thought leaders can introduce themselves and open the comments for viewers to ask questions and get answers. These can be hosted by anyone: celebrities, politicians, people in specialized professions or who have unique experience. They can be an excellent source of research and inspiration, but they are also an opportunity for an author to seamlessly share knowledge and establish their name in a space where people will value their insights.
AMAs don’t have to be limited to writer-focused spaces or even to the r/IAmA subreddit where most of these are conducted. For a more engaged and targeted audience, you may want to try a space specific to your area of knowledge. For example, if you wrote a book for expecting parents or about parenting, you could check out spaces where parents seek advice, like r/newparents or r/beyondthebump. Spaces like r/AskHistorians or r/AskScience can be great places to answer questions (just be ready to cite your sources!).
Keep in mind that each space has rules (especially around self-promotion and ads), as well as specific times when users are most active. To set yourself up for success during an AMA, ask the moderators for permission first! Since each subreddit has a list of its current moderators, it’s as simple as clicking on their profile and sending them a DM. They may ask you to verify your identity, as they want to avoid trolls or misleading information. Moderators can ensure that people in the group are alerted about when the AMA is happening, and they will make sure the conversation isn’t derailed.
Other Pointers
If you are a new user, simply entering a subreddit and beginning to post may result in low engagement. Start by browsing the community for a while, upvote/downvote comments, leave your own, and get to know the format that users there prefer. A lot of subreddits have their own lingo, so it can help to get familiar with that as well.
If you’re conscientious about your digital footprint on this site, you can use that to your advantage. Reddit makes users’ previous posts and comments visible to others. You can drive engagement by encouraging people to click on your profile to look up other posts you’ve made.
Finally, not every subreddit is open for every type of post. If you find one community doesn’t welcome what you are hoping to bring to the group, there is a high likelihood that another community exists to meet your needs. You can DM the moderators for advice or check their pages, since some keep lists of adjacent subreddits.