Spread Your Writing Love: Community and Audience

I find the process of building a writing community and audience both enjoyable and daunting. I suspect there are other indie authors that feel the same.

I read Be the Gateway: A Practical Guide to Sharing Your Creative Work and Engaging an Audience, by Dan Blank. Dan has a ton of experience working with indie authors on how to communicate and share and eventually sell their work. He takes a differentiated, human-centered approach that resonates with me. He also holds webinars and puts out a great weekly newsletter. Here is a link to his site. Below are my notes from Be the Gateway. They are no substitute for the book (the detail and the ethos) which is only 170 pages and well worth the read. But hopefully this helps a bit. BTW, I got Dan’s blessing to post this.

Keep writing! Keep dreaming! We got this.

What experiences can you create around your gateway?

  • Philosophy

    • This is not about selling, it is about engaging and creating an experience for people through that engagement - that will have a lasting effect

    • It's the stories and experiences you share, the topics you talk about

    • The most successful people focus on 1:1 engagement - don't stress about developing more followers, engage with the ones you have

    • Help others navigate their own journeys - add value

    • Be mindful that a book is half what the author/illustrator intends, half how the reader interprets it

    • Become a student of those you hope to reach

    • Focus on the feelings that your work gives people - your art is not an object but a trigger for experience

    • Understand your narrative and connect it to others'

    • Let people know that you love them and that you are in this together

    • Let them know who you are

  • What to share

    • Be a storyteller

    • Your process and journey

    • How and why you are creating this book - this can resonate and be relatable

    • How you are honing your skills

    • Good moments along the road

    • Bad moments along the road

    • What inspires you, what you are passionate about, what matters to you more than anything

    • What software, hardware, gear you use

    • Topics and narrative themes - and don't just provide links to articles but find real life stories - become a voice for others - celebrate others - tell others' stories

    • When it comes time to release your book, you will have people who are interested

    • Solicit responses - engage

  • Primary research and engagement strategy

    • Forget about trying to hit a number in terms of followers, sales, going viral, etc.

    • Slowly develop organic growth through personal engagement

    • Find people who will genuinely care about your work - find out where they hang out, what they need, what they are into, how they like to engage, who they follow and listen to, their habits - then seek them out

    • Seek out tiny ways of helping others

    • Identify 5 books that are similar to yours

      • Start with big names in your field

      • Go to where their books are sold and reviewed (Amazon, GoodReads, bookstores, libraries)

      • Scroll down to "People also bought" for more ideas

      • Look for books released within the last 5 years that have some validation through reviews (at least 20), media attention, etc.

      • Look for books that resemble yours

      • Read all the reviews in order to start understanding the voice of the reader: what they liked and didn't like and why, what they care about, the specific language they use; look for trends in phrases and focus

      • Note how your comps are categorized in Amazon - you may think your book is a blend of genres but it's often better to pick one - if the market calls books like yours sci-fi, call yours sci-fi

        • Language in reviews can also help determine your label

      • Other tips: browse bestseller and "best of" lists; see how the artists describe their work; do Google searches on the potential comps and see what comes up; look for mentions of the comps in blogs, podcasts, etc.

    • Befriend guides, people who have had some success in your field but are not so successful that there is no way they will respond to you, i.e. "mid-career" indie or published artists - follow them on social media for a week or two, just listen, then email them

      • Do NOT go to them to pitch your work but rather to talk about the craft and the journey

      • Go to their websites to see what social media they are on (and notice the one or two channels they are most active on and seem to be most popular)

      • See who they follow

      • See who they mention (e.g. using "replies" link in Twitter and see what @names are in their posts)

      • See who mentions them

    • Go to events and talk to people - don't sell, don't try to impress - listen and try to help - tell your story too - meet the people putting on the event

    • Drive to bookstores and ask questions about how they operate, their needs and preferences

    • It's ok to say, "This book is like [James Bond] meets [Harry Potter]." This quickly provides landmarks for potential readers to assess whether they are interested. But don't compare yourself to J.K. Rowling

    • Practical advice for engaging

      • Connect with one new person a week - email them, set up a call, or take them out for coffee

      • If you have an audience, engage with those that seem most interested and supportive of your work - invest time in the people who are right in front of you and who care

      • Send an email to someone who has inspired or helped you

      • Interview people who do what you hope to do and then share the interview in order to promote them

      • Identify collaborators

  • Regarding author events

    • Distribute flyers ahead of time that give folks the chance to buy the book

    • Donate a portion of proceeds to the local library

    • Give away copies to teachers

    • Take out an ad in the local paper

    • Hang posters around town

    • Give something out at the event

    • Watch five YouTube videos per day of author events

    • Don't wait until you are "big enough" to hold an event, do it now and do it regularly

  • Misc.

    • Consider giveaways

    • Interview people

    • Craft your bio thoughtfully

    • Create a belief statement

  • Direct marketing

    • An accomplished author did the following in a coordinated fashion for a single promotion after having done a lot of the organic relationship development work mentioned above over a stretch of time

      • BookBub Featured Deal

      • BookBub Ads

      • Booksends

      • Just Kindle Books

      • Kindle Nation Daily

      • BooksButterfly

      • eReaderNews Today

      • BargainBooksy

      • Facebook Ads

      • Nook merchandising

      • Amazon

      • Email marketing

      • Podcasting