Many authors have groups for their readers. While some of that groups are a useful source of information, others are pure presentations of ego. If the author shares invitations around to people who never read his book, he did mistakes.
To be someone's fan, you don't need to be invited. Also, nobody should beg you to read his books.
Famous authors like Stephen King and Agatha Christie have a huge reader base. Their fans are attracted by their books. So, if you are a lion, you don't have to brag you are a lion.
Now, why this manifestation of ego happens?
Authors want to sell their books. A fan base would be welcome.
Every author dreams about the life of a bestseller's author. It is annoying and expensive to do promotions, wasting money and building connections. If you are famous, it happens spontaneously. You can afford an agent who will do all this for you.
Authors want to reach visibility, and if you gain a big number of group members, they will know about your group.
Building a group with the title "John Doe fan base" could have negative effects.
People could delete you from your friend list. It is a normal reaction if you force invitations on people you never have had conversations with before.
People can accept invitations, but they will post their books in your group.
People can use your group to build their connections and not to brag about your books.
You might sound amateurish and egocentric.
I prefer spontaneous connections that would result in engagements. If you like my books, I would be happy. I would not use the word "fan" because I am not a bestseller author.
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