In order to grow their readership, authors must optimize their online presence and email marketing, per W Publishing Group Senior Marketing Manager Katherine Hudencial. The best indicator of the "health" of an author's following is level of engagement. On social media, engagement is measured through likes, comments, and shares. In email marketing, engagement is measured through open and click-through rates. Having a huge following can be beneficial, she says, but if engagement with the author's content is low, the author is likely not growing their readership or seeing an increase in book sales. The key to improving engagement is creating content that is authentic and interesting. When compelled, followers will share your posts or emails with friends and coworkers, growing your readership organically over time.Hudencial also recommends authors have a content-rich website to let potential readers know who you are. She encourages her authors to maintain a blog to draw people to their website. This blog content can then be shared in all marketing efforts, driving more traffic.