Who is Your Audience?

Tags

authors, book marketing, books, marketing, readers, reading, reading a book, reading books, writing a book, writing a novel, writing a story, writing advice

Whenever an author sits down and works on their WIP, there are many important aspects that go into the project. From knowing the beginning, middle and end, to character development, and an idea of what the theme might be, it is imperative to have a few things in mind when working on a book (or script, or play…).

One of these other must-haves is…who is your audience?

Meaning, who are you writing for?

Image via Flickr via Creative Commons. Photo by Sam Greenhalgh.

You’re not really writing for yourself when you work on a book. It may feel like it, especially since writing a book is a one-person project – at least, until an editor gets involved. But yes, being an author is a solo project. So that is why it may feel like you are writing the book for you. After all, it was you who came up with the story idea. It was you who found the perfect names for your characters. It was you who can foresee how this story would end. Sounds like you are your own audience, right?

Nope!

Whether you know it or not, you are writing for other people. And these people are the ones you’d like to read your book. You can’t say that your book is for everyone because it is not. Yes, anyone could read it, but not everyone is going to like it. You want readers to like your book, and not for the sake of your ego. When someone reads a book, they are on a journey created by you, the author. So, who do you want to go on the journey with you?

That is when you become aware that you have to have a target audience in mind when you set out to write a book. Is your book for men or women? Young or old? Those are the basics.

Then you have to consider what your book is about and its theme. That’s when you begin to narrow it down to who your audience is. Writing a dark thriller? Your audience are people who can stomach it. Writing a sexy romance? Your audience are women who enjoy such stories. Writing a sci-fi/fantasy? Your audience are probably are what some call “nerds” who consider “The Lord of the Rings” their favorite trilogy and movies.

Then comes your theme, what makes it unique and what stands out about it. Take my first book for example. A young woman tries to cope with her vampire boyfriend forcing her to become a vampire, or else. So, that means my target audience is mostly young and female, those who like vampire stories and prefer evil vampires over the softer ones, and may enjoy a thriller-type of story. There you go. That was my audience.

Now, that is not to say other people who are not on that list would not want to read your book. I’ve had male readers, those who aren’t really into thriller-type stories, or one that does not have a happy ending. Anyone can read your book, but not all will like it – although there is always room for surprises!

Come to think of it, learning and understanding who your audience is, is the first step towards marketing your book. And all authors – whether indie or traditional – must be aware of the marketing aspect of their books. Since selling book is a business, you have to know who your audience is as you write your book.

And you cannot create your audience or force it. It comes naturally at times, as naturally as you writing your story. Meaning, as natural as it was for your own story to form in your mind and then on paper or Scrivener, your audience will be as organic. There’s no controlling aspect to it. You cannot control who your audience is. All you can do is write what you feel is in your instincts, and your audience will take shape along with it.

Those are my two cents 🙂

Lessons One Year Later: Marketing & Promotions

Tags

authors, books, eBooks, marketing, New Adult, novels, paranormal, promotions, self-published authors, self-published books, self-publishing, urban fantasy, vampires

As summer came to a close earlier this week and the first fall chills came over the area where I live, I realized something: this month will be one year since I self-published my first book.

Wow! A whole year has gone by since I officially became an author! It was my life-long dream to publish a book and I finally did it last year. I was thrilled and excited when I got the email on the morning of September 14th from Amazon Kindle, telling me “The Dark Proposal” was live. A new era in my life had begun.

But I had much to learn about being an author, publishing books and getting the attention of readers worldwide. And I think I still do. Although I researched like crazy on how to promote my book, I was not sure if I was doing it right. There seemed to be a million different ways to do promotions and marketing, and some I wasn’t so sure would work but tried anyway.

Here’s what I’ve learned about marketing and promotions, one year later:

Blurbs are so important: Duh, right? Blurbs give readers a summary of what the book is about, while using the correct words to lure the readers into at least reading the preview. I thought I had a good idea on what was a good blurb, but boy was I wrong! I actually rewrote my blurb a few times after my book’s release once I realized that a few words made “The Dark Proposal” sound like a paranormal romance, something is definitely is not (one reader has called it the “anti-Twilight’). I was embarrassed that I probably misled my audience and I totally regret not having my blurb checked with my editor. Lesson learned, painfully learned.

Choose the right sample to display: When I did my blog tour upon my book’s release, I chose the first chapter to be used as a sample. I wanted to show potential readers what kind of person Claire was, what motivated her to first speak to Daniel, and what kind of person he was when he first appears. I figured this way people would have a good understanding on what was going on, and understand Claire before all hell broke loose, plus not give away any spoilers. But I think I should’ve gone with a different scene then. I realize now that any sample I use needs to give the reader a good idea of what the whole book entails, not a more innocent time. The sample I use now is enough to show who Claire is, as well as what goes on in the story.

Social media is not the only way to promote: So many self-published authors say promoting your book on social media is the best way to spread the word about it. That maybe true for some, but I didn’t sell numerous copies on Twitter, Facebook and Goodreads. I got some buzz on my blog tour, which was only for five days. But nothing stellar happened. So when some author swears social media is the best way to sell books, be skeptical. Especially when they say to flood Twitter with the same tweets every 15 minutes saying “buy my book! buy my book!” I never did that, thankfully, because I saw a few authors do that before I released my book and saw how tasteless it was. Oh yeah, no DMs on Twitter when you get new followers.

Be careful who you ask to help promote your book: Because I so dearly wanted word to spread about my book, I searched for various avenues to do that. I found some indie book promo company – if that’s the right word – that promised to tweet indie books for a whole month and feature it on its website for a fair price of $20. So I signed up and paid, but nothing came of it. Even worse, the tweets they did were embarrassing. The tweets included the line, “not your grandmother’s vampire story!” Oh boy. I asked for them to change it, since after all I was paying them. They were a little reluctant but they finally did. So that was $20 wasted. Learn from me: research like crazy to make sure anyone who can help promote your book will actually do a good job and be worth every penny.

Be flexible when it comes to giveaways and free days: Even though I signed up for the Amazon KDP Select, which allows five free days, I was reluctant to give my book away for free. I had worked hard on it and I wanted some compensation for all the money I spent editing, getting a book cover, copyrighting, etc. But when I read about how free days and giveaways can help spread the word about your book, I gave in. For the sake of Halloween, I made “The Dark Proposal” free on Amazon on October 30th and 31st. Whoa, did I get a response! This is when I got the vast majority of my downloads. I was amazed and excited to see my book do so well. I saw a boost in sales this past June when I re-released “The Dark Proposal” – sans typos – and had it on sale for 99 cents. These days my book is back at $2.99 on both Amazon and Smashwords, and I’ll put it on sale again soon. Hey, this is the sacrifice self-published authors have to make. We all want to see our work and investments pay off, but that’s a tough road. You have to gain an audience, and sometimes in order to do that, you need to be flexible on how readers can get your book. If selling it for 99 cents or for free does the trick, then so be it. If all goes well, you wouldn’t need to do that for long.

So that is what I’ve learned from marketing and promoting “The Dark Proposal” one year later. I had read a lot of author blogs on how to do this, mainly from author Catherine Ryan Howard on her superb blog, Catherine Caffeinated (please check it out, she’s great!). But a lot of it I had to learn on my own. Granted, I’m the type of person who dives into a new task without reading the directions properly, which is a bit of a personal flaw of mine. But I’ve learned a lot. Some of the things I did right I’ll apply again the next time. As for the others, hell no!

Are Pen Names Necessary?

Tags

authors, Internet, marketing, nom de plume, pen names, Pseudonyms, writers

It is well known that many authors use nom des plumes, or pen names, when they publish their books. Mark Twain is one of the more famous cases, as his real name was Samuel Clemens. The romance novelist Nora Robertson is also the crime novelist J.D. Robb (BTW, neither name is really hers!). And Alisa Zinov’yevna Rosenbaum is better known as Ayn Rand. 

Authors use pen name for many reasons. They want to use a more catchy name for marketing purposes or they want some privacy. Some female writers, like J.K. Rowling, take names that sound more masculine in order to appeal to a certain audience. Or, the writers want to publish in different, yet conflicting genres. For example, one author may already have a line of crime thrillers books out, but may also want to write historical fiction. In that case, a pseudonym would be needed so his or her thriller fans won’t be baffled to see their favorite author start writing for a totally different genre, and so the historical fiction readers wouldn’t be turned off when they learn an interesting book was written by someone who writes edgy material.

To sum it all up, it is all about marketing.

But in this Information Age and where anyone could Google a name and find out about any particular person, is it possible for any author to maintain a dual identity?

I think it will be very tough to do so. Before the Internet, it was easy for a writer to keep their true name a secret – that is, if they revealed it themselves, as Anne Rice did when she admitted being the erotica novelist, Anne Roquelaure, many years ago.

But now, it may not be so simple, especially if one writes different genres. Thanks to Amazon and Goodreads, it is easy for word to get around that romance novelist Jane Doe also writes sci-fi books as Mary Smith. The Internet is like wild fire; it is so easy for whispers to get out. Plus, if an author uses a photo in order for his or her readers to put a face to the name – which is quite imperative for an author – it will be easy to put two and two together.

So is the pen name dead? Maybe yes, maybe no. I think a less known author will find it easier to use a pen name and conceal their true identity than a more famous one. But as I said, word gets around quick online, so it won’t be so easy for anyone to maintain total privacy.

So if pseudonyms are useless these days, how will an author go about writing in different genres? Will readers be willing to be more tolerant of their favorite authors spreading out and trying different ways to express themselves and tell a story? Will backlashes be commonplace in those situations?

Honestly, I think readers actually more open minded than that. We all read multiple genres, just like no one listen to one type of music.

It will just be interesting to see what the marketing of authors will be like in this new age.

Too Little or Too Much? My Thoughts on Indie Book Promotions

Tags

authors, indie, indie authors, Indie books, indie writers, Kindle, marketing, media, novels, PR, promoting, promotions, Public Relations, Twitter

The day is almost here. This coming Friday – September 14th – I will finally publish my first book. As soon as I get home from work, I will start the process to upload The Dark Proposal onto Kindle and put my hard work and my baby out to the world. It is both exciting and daunting that I am about to do this.

The exciting part is obvious. I’ve been planning to be a published author since I was a child and the moment is almost here. I feel like I’m taking a major step in my journey and new life as a novelist. I’ve been preparing for so long, and I ready to get on the ship.

But when I say daunting, what I mean by that is as a self-published author, I alone am responsible for my book. Everything, from the writing and rewriting, choosing the cover design and picking the right graphic designer, and all other things, was my responsibility. With the exception of hiring an editor (I heart you!) and having beta readers critique my work, I created my book all by myself.

That also includes the marketing part, as in promoting my book. I did a lot of research during the writing of my book and during the time afterward. While correcting my work, I did what I thought was necessary to promote The Dark Proposal. However, there was plenty of confusion on my part on how exactly to do all this right so my book will get some sales.

Yes, I set up the blog in May and I blogged as often as I could. I changed my Twitter account so it would be exclusively for my writing. I set up a Facebook page just for my authorship. I liked pages on Facebook and followed those I liked on Twitter, as well as follow back anyone who followed me. I made plans to contact media outlets and in mid-August, found Dark Mind Book Tours which set up my five day blog tour taking place next week (thanks Franny and Silvia!). I also Tweeted as much as I could (its not easy to do all this while working full time), set up a Goodreads page, and finally, got my Independent Authors Network page squared away (thanks William!)

But was this enough? Honestly, was it? Based on what blogs I read on how to promote your self-published books, it seemed that there was so much to do. Meaning, what I have done already was far from enough and I needed to come up with more strategies.

Image via Open Clip Art

But then I came across other blogs which said what I had done was enough. Even author forums which discussed promotions seemed to agree. Heck, even some established indie authors even said no one should sweat promoting their books, and instead they should focus on getting started on their second book. After all, many self-published writers claim the more books you have out there, your chances of success will increase. Makes sense. After all, chances for anyone to have tremendous success from one book are slim. That is a fact.

NOTE: Before I go further, I know some of you would wonder why I haven’t mentioned making a book trailer. Here is the answer: as a former freelance video journalist, I would’ve loved to have brought out my media and editing skills to create a trailer and get noticed on YouTube. But I also knew despite my video skills, I didn’t have the resources to create a stellar trailer. Basically, I would’ve created just another video that would have just music, stock images and my voiceover – much like the thousands of others out there. I decided not to sweat over making something that wouldn’t be much different from other trailers. However, maybe around Halloween I’ll release a book trailer to keep the momentum going for The Dark Proposal. But we’ll see.

Anywho. I guess when it comes to promoting your self-published book, the wisest plan is to do what is best for you, your schedule and your sanity. I work full-time, 40 hours a week, so it is not easy for me to be promoting my book round the clock. You may say I should schedule tweets via HootSuite so word about my novel will spread more. I admit I could’ve done that. What made me hesitate was seeing so many authors do that, but ended up repeating the same ten tweets every hour and rarely interacting with any of their followers, let alone tweeting other people’s work. That turned me off and I didn’t want that to happen to any of my potential readers. From what I’ve been told, for every single tweet you use to promote your book, tweet four times to interact with others. I try that, given my schedule, but at least I try.

But there is more to promoting than using Twitter. That site does not guarantee a huge following of interested readers, so don’t count on it. Blogging helps, because it gives people an opportunity to get to know you and what you are about. I just wish it was more clear on what to blog about. I didn’t want to post anything absurdly self-centered, anything irrelevant to my book or writing, or even rant about what is going on in the news. I knew early on posting such topics would either confuse or turn off potential readers. I thought about venting about how overwhelming it can be to work full-time, promote your first book and work on its follow-up, and somehow squeeze in errands, a social life and other necessities in life. That may sound like a good idea, but I didn’t want to sound like a Debbie Downer, so I scratched that.

I think I did what I could to get the word about The Dark Proposal and there still may be other options. I’m looking into contacting websites that review vampire book exclusively, and even contacting podcasts in hopes of an interview. I am being my own PR representative, and though I have a background in journalism, it is still a foreign field for me.

But I’m learning as I’m going. No one held my hand during all this and I could only take notes on what I should’ve done sooner. After my book comes out, I’ll take notes on what worked for me and didn’t work in terms of sales. I understand the majority of books sell only about 1,500 copies. So I am not expecting to win the lottery here. It would be nice though! 🙂

But really, I understand the risks I took in going indie and so far, my only regret was getting too overwhelmed. I think if I had remained calm most of the time, I would’ve done some things earlier or more often.

But no time for regrets. My debut book is coming out Friday and there is no looking back. I am hoping those who told me they intend to read The Dark Proposal (and these are complete strangers, not friends or family) will like what I wrote and will look forward to its two follow-ups (yes, I am writing a trilogy). That would mean all of my hard work had paid off, my solo hard work.

The countdown continues…3 more days! By this time Friday, I am anticipating The Dark Proposal will be up on Kindle, ready to be sold and read 🙂