Many, if not most, readers have a few go-to or auto-buy authors. Readers support their go-to authors by buying almost everything they’ve released, keeping their name top-of-mind to suggest and recommend to others, and generally feeling a sense of loyalty.

As authors, we long to be on readers’ auto-buy lists. We want readers who support us, share the word about our books, and love what we do.

As readers, we know how we feel about our go-to authors. I don’t expect their every book to be a five-star, keeper-shelf story of perfection, but I know I’ll get a consistently good story that hits my buttons.

And that brings us to today’s topic. Just as we have go-to favorite authors that we know we can depend on for delivering a certain type of story, readers are evaluating us for what we can deliver: What’s our promise to readers when…