When I got my first book deal, I definitely had the misconception that it was the publisher's job to find my readers! I've since realized how much that's actually my role—for better and for worse. And working with you a few years ago taught me how much benefit there can be in pitching myself and my books to websites, podcasts, schools and libraries, etc. Just because people don't know about me (yet), doesn't mean they aren't a perfect fit for what I write!
Makes sense to me, Kathryn. Also just because they don't know about you yet, doesn't mean you don't have the book they can't wait share or order.
For example I just went to your website: http://www.kathrynholmes.com/ Fortunately you had a website and it was easy to see that it's the same KH here in the comments. I happen to have a kid in 4th grade that loves to read. Hooray! Also, having a 4th grader who likes to read presents me with a challenge, because even though it SEEMS like Stuart Gibbs and Dav Pilkey have each written an endless number of books, the number is indeed finite. I am ALWAYS open to new series of books for my 4th grader. You solved a problem for me just by having a good website (and saying something interesting here).
Love this one -- spot on with each bullet. If someone were to give a class on HOW NOT TO MARKET my writing that would be me. Blogging for a decade with no face or name, a tree for my avatar, and remaining invisible kept my work just that, invisible. Using Dan's advice and Jane Friedman's I put my face out there and began sharing my writing, my process, and pix of the TreeHouse. Subs to my letter went up 10X this year. Book hopefully out next year. Thank you, Dan!
Wow! What a slap on the side of the head! One paragraph rang so true for me, I think it’s worth repeating:
“I don’t want to look desperate by seeking them out.” To me, this translates as fear of shame and embarrassment at the mere idea that people might see you caring about your work connecting with others. It reinforces the concept that one can’t advocate for the ideas and stories that they desperately care about. That they can’t connect with others or bring people together around this work. That if you make an effort, that this means you have “sold out.”
Yes- readers might see me caring about my work, which I am proud of. Thank you. I’m not selling out, I’m providing young readers with entertaining stories, sometimes with what I think is a life-affirming message.
It’s just that I see that so clearly now, thanks to Dan’s comments.
I hope I’m permitted to share an animation of a book that recently won a Gold from The BookFest to show you what I mean—
It took me a while to figure out exactly what I write and the audience I connect with. I write military political techno-thrillers and found the audience I connect with the best are people with some connection to the military. This can be anyone who has ever served in the military or had a personal connection like a family member who served, often a parent, spouse, or sibling. These folks have a better understanding of the reality of being in the military and often already read military stories.
The other big discovery is how long it takes to find and develop an audience. I had a Facebook author page for years where I posted and it’s hard to get noticed. Recently I started a Substack weekly newsletter and have had more consistent engagement. I’m reminded every week that connecting with an audience is one person at a time. I’m always happy to get a single like, comment, or new subscriber. It’s a marathon. My focus is consistently showing up every week. Some weeks I get better engagement than others but I keep showing up and slowly I’m getting more followers. Best of all, I’m reaching the right people.
One big shift I have made includes posting selfies on my Instagram. (I should backtrack and say I joined Instagram just a few years ago, which itself was a huge step for me.) In the beginning, I posted photos of my desk, my writing space at a favorite cafe, my laptop ready and waiting for me. But I have since learned (and I'm sure I learned this from you, Dan, so thank you!) that my ideal readers, my community, want to see me and not just my stuff. So now when I go out for Wendy-writing-time, I don't just post a photo of my blended mocha and laptop. I make sure I'm in that photo, too.
I found it much easier to wrap my brain around all this when I picked someone I know in real life who I realized was a pretty dang good representative of my ideal reader. She doesn't know I've been mentally strategizing with her in this way haha, and I'm still figuring all this out, but it's been helpeful as I'm making platform and post content decisions to ask myself how she would find and respond to it.
Great post & points, Dan. It reminds me of @SusanCain's recent post (by guest author psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman) on what he calls "Wild Introverts." Or to put in layperson's terms - people like to nerd out on something. We want the readers to want to nerd out on our stuff. Readers who not only like our stuff, but think it would make someone else's day better to know about it, too. Perhaps for some creators (e.g., Beyonce) that is a large number of different kinds of people. For most of us, it's a more specific person - like Sarah's friend or in my case, a friend I'll call Jean. Because, her name is Jean. ;)
Understanding Strategy and Tactics, Sarah, is as important as the creation itself, and learning how to apply them is, early days, often more consuming than the actual writing. Love the way you use your creativity to deal with the issues.... Bril ! Maurice
Super cute photo of your youngest, Dan. He resembles you a lot.
I love what you wrote today, because I realized not long ago that my voice as a writer speaks to ordinary people, the person next to me in line at the store, my neighbor across the street, the frazzled mom who occasionally reads, etc.
I've never cared much for chasing money or power. I always knew in my heart I just wanted to share what I have and who I am with those who need it. And in knowing that the people who connect with my writing are everyday, hardworking people helps me speak to them better.
I am not aiming for influencers. If they show up some day to my Substack, great. But I'm not pursuing them. I want to reach those who feel overwhelmed, forgotten, invisible. Those are the people I truly care about.
Robert Irvine's Restaurant Impossible on The Food Network focused on helping failing restaurants. One key area was often the too large, unfocused menu. Focusing and streamlining the menu was necessary to attracting customers, like you mentioned with readers.
Not doing that was often part of the path to going out of business.
These series of posts have changed how I am in the world as a writer. Hardly an all star promoter but weekly am getting a new reader of my 7 yr old novel. Had coffee yesterday with yet another friend who never knew I wrote a novel (your work is helping me see how I allowed that to happen). He's 74 and going back to spend winter in FL. Texted me that he bought my novel to be his read this fall. Before incorporating your advice, this wouldn't have happened - thank you!
All of this resonates with me. Mostly, "Don't wait until you have a finished work to start building an audience." There is SO much to learn with regard to writing, publishing, and marketing a book! I am truly overwhelmed! Having found Dan Blank though, I feel very grateful to have a caring guide to lead me!
Thank you for this post! I write about mental health recovery and since I started sharing my stories with friends, coworkers and relatives, many of them have become my readers. It was scary at first to come out and share: “hey look at me I have mental health issues”, but so many people deal with anxiety and depression-- they love to connect with others who wants to talk about it.
I especially loved the ordering-at-a-restaurant-that's-comically-vague bit! Maybe because I was listening to the audio of this post but it really brought to the surface how widening our audience in hopes of reaching more is such a disservice, and confusing! I'm learning a lot about self-promotion, marketing & positioning for my writing here on Substack because of resources like yours—Thanks Dan.
This is why it's so important to be clear on the genre you are writing in, even if it's just the large umbrella genre to begin with. Genre informs who and where your readers are likely to be.
When I got my first book deal, I definitely had the misconception that it was the publisher's job to find my readers! I've since realized how much that's actually my role—for better and for worse. And working with you a few years ago taught me how much benefit there can be in pitching myself and my books to websites, podcasts, schools and libraries, etc. Just because people don't know about me (yet), doesn't mean they aren't a perfect fit for what I write!
Aw, thank you Kathryn!!!
Makes sense to me, Kathryn. Also just because they don't know about you yet, doesn't mean you don't have the book they can't wait share or order.
For example I just went to your website: http://www.kathrynholmes.com/ Fortunately you had a website and it was easy to see that it's the same KH here in the comments. I happen to have a kid in 4th grade that loves to read. Hooray! Also, having a 4th grader who likes to read presents me with a challenge, because even though it SEEMS like Stuart Gibbs and Dav Pilkey have each written an endless number of books, the number is indeed finite. I am ALWAYS open to new series of books for my 4th grader. You solved a problem for me just by having a good website (and saying something interesting here).
Well done.
Thank you so much for looking me up, Kelly! If your 4th grader reads any of my books, I hope they love them. :)
Yes, indeed. Specificity rocks. Here's a corollary: Tape this on your bathroom mirror so you can be reminded of it each and every day:
DON'T BE AFRAID TO ASK FOR WHAT YOU WANT.
Thanks, Dan.
Thanks Lisa!
Love this one -- spot on with each bullet. If someone were to give a class on HOW NOT TO MARKET my writing that would be me. Blogging for a decade with no face or name, a tree for my avatar, and remaining invisible kept my work just that, invisible. Using Dan's advice and Jane Friedman's I put my face out there and began sharing my writing, my process, and pix of the TreeHouse. Subs to my letter went up 10X this year. Book hopefully out next year. Thank you, Dan!
Yay! Thank you Mylinh!
Dan-
Wow! What a slap on the side of the head! One paragraph rang so true for me, I think it’s worth repeating:
“I don’t want to look desperate by seeking them out.” To me, this translates as fear of shame and embarrassment at the mere idea that people might see you caring about your work connecting with others. It reinforces the concept that one can’t advocate for the ideas and stories that they desperately care about. That they can’t connect with others or bring people together around this work. That if you make an effort, that this means you have “sold out.”
Yes- readers might see me caring about my work, which I am proud of. Thank you. I’m not selling out, I’m providing young readers with entertaining stories, sometimes with what I think is a life-affirming message.
It’s just that I see that so clearly now, thanks to Dan’s comments.
I hope I’m permitted to share an animation of a book that recently won a Gold from The BookFest to show you what I mean—
Link to animation of The Mayfly and the Methuselah Tree: https://youtu.be/9SYUvwU_iEs
Thank you so much Bob!
Thank you, Dan, for your insights.
It took me a while to figure out exactly what I write and the audience I connect with. I write military political techno-thrillers and found the audience I connect with the best are people with some connection to the military. This can be anyone who has ever served in the military or had a personal connection like a family member who served, often a parent, spouse, or sibling. These folks have a better understanding of the reality of being in the military and often already read military stories.
The other big discovery is how long it takes to find and develop an audience. I had a Facebook author page for years where I posted and it’s hard to get noticed. Recently I started a Substack weekly newsletter and have had more consistent engagement. I’m reminded every week that connecting with an audience is one person at a time. I’m always happy to get a single like, comment, or new subscriber. It’s a marathon. My focus is consistently showing up every week. Some weeks I get better engagement than others but I keep showing up and slowly I’m getting more followers. Best of all, I’m reaching the right people.
Yay! Thank you Bruce.
One big shift I have made includes posting selfies on my Instagram. (I should backtrack and say I joined Instagram just a few years ago, which itself was a huge step for me.) In the beginning, I posted photos of my desk, my writing space at a favorite cafe, my laptop ready and waiting for me. But I have since learned (and I'm sure I learned this from you, Dan, so thank you!) that my ideal readers, my community, want to see me and not just my stuff. So now when I go out for Wendy-writing-time, I don't just post a photo of my blended mocha and laptop. I make sure I'm in that photo, too.
Thank you Wendy!
I found it much easier to wrap my brain around all this when I picked someone I know in real life who I realized was a pretty dang good representative of my ideal reader. She doesn't know I've been mentally strategizing with her in this way haha, and I'm still figuring all this out, but it's been helpeful as I'm making platform and post content decisions to ask myself how she would find and respond to it.
Agree with Maurice. Love your strategy, Sarah.
Great post & points, Dan. It reminds me of @SusanCain's recent post (by guest author psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman) on what he calls "Wild Introverts." Or to put in layperson's terms - people like to nerd out on something. We want the readers to want to nerd out on our stuff. Readers who not only like our stuff, but think it would make someone else's day better to know about it, too. Perhaps for some creators (e.g., Beyonce) that is a large number of different kinds of people. For most of us, it's a more specific person - like Sarah's friend or in my case, a friend I'll call Jean. Because, her name is Jean. ;)
https://thequietlife.net/p/do-you-have-a-nerdy-dopamine-pathway?r=4dcfg
Happiest birthday wishes to Puppy.
Thank you Kelly!
Understanding Strategy and Tactics, Sarah, is as important as the creation itself, and learning how to apply them is, early days, often more consuming than the actual writing. Love the way you use your creativity to deal with the issues.... Bril ! Maurice
Nice! Thanks Sarah.
Super cute photo of your youngest, Dan. He resembles you a lot.
I love what you wrote today, because I realized not long ago that my voice as a writer speaks to ordinary people, the person next to me in line at the store, my neighbor across the street, the frazzled mom who occasionally reads, etc.
I've never cared much for chasing money or power. I always knew in my heart I just wanted to share what I have and who I am with those who need it. And in knowing that the people who connect with my writing are everyday, hardworking people helps me speak to them better.
I am not aiming for influencers. If they show up some day to my Substack, great. But I'm not pursuing them. I want to reach those who feel overwhelmed, forgotten, invisible. Those are the people I truly care about.
Thank you Jeannie!
As one of your readers, I feel you do that beautifully.
Thank you kindly, Doreen. You made my day!
You are so welcome!
Another helpful essay, Dan.
Robert Irvine's Restaurant Impossible on The Food Network focused on helping failing restaurants. One key area was often the too large, unfocused menu. Focusing and streamlining the menu was necessary to attracting customers, like you mentioned with readers.
Not doing that was often part of the path to going out of business.
These series of posts have changed how I am in the world as a writer. Hardly an all star promoter but weekly am getting a new reader of my 7 yr old novel. Had coffee yesterday with yet another friend who never knew I wrote a novel (your work is helping me see how I allowed that to happen). He's 74 and going back to spend winter in FL. Texted me that he bought my novel to be his read this fall. Before incorporating your advice, this wouldn't have happened - thank you!
Nice! Thank you Maria.
All of this resonates with me. Mostly, "Don't wait until you have a finished work to start building an audience." There is SO much to learn with regard to writing, publishing, and marketing a book! I am truly overwhelmed! Having found Dan Blank though, I feel very grateful to have a caring guide to lead me!
Thank you Tracy!
Thank you for this post! I write about mental health recovery and since I started sharing my stories with friends, coworkers and relatives, many of them have become my readers. It was scary at first to come out and share: “hey look at me I have mental health issues”, but so many people deal with anxiety and depression-- they love to connect with others who wants to talk about it.
Nice! Thanks Ann.
Some really good thoughts to ponder here. Thank you for the links also to author Jessica Lahey. I look forward to checking those three links.
Thanks Marsha!
We have a Puppy with frequent birthdays too!
Thank you for sharing these thoughts, Dan.
Yay! Thank you Anie.
I especially loved the ordering-at-a-restaurant-that's-comically-vague bit! Maybe because I was listening to the audio of this post but it really brought to the surface how widening our audience in hopes of reaching more is such a disservice, and confusing! I'm learning a lot about self-promotion, marketing & positioning for my writing here on Substack because of resources like yours—Thanks Dan.
Thank you so much Elyse!!!
The end of this post is priceless! 🥳
Thanks Allison!
This is why it's so important to be clear on the genre you are writing in, even if it's just the large umbrella genre to begin with. Genre informs who and where your readers are likely to be.
Thanks Jodi!