So, How Do Writers Find Readers?

The typical traditional way of finding readers has writers finding agents who find publishers who find book outlets who attract readers…

Self-published writers are playing in a different league.

Back in 2011, I published a post called, How Can Authors Find Readers?

In that post, I said:

“Some of the wildest relationships in the world are between authors and readers.

“Lately, writers have had a new horde of ‘experts’ yelling at them about how to hook-up with readers.

“Personally, I don’t think any two books (except the pulps in various genres) have the same history of attracting readers.

“It seems that, just as Mary wants Jim but Jim needs a wake up call and Mary doesn’t want to seem forward and Jim…, well you get the idea; seems that authors need Relationship advice, not Marketing advice.

“Readers have relationships with authors, always have, and today’s publishing scene is begging authors to build relationships with their readers, like never before.”

I say more and direct folks to some valuable resources…

But, today, I’ll introduce you to Omar Luqmaan-Harris and his site AuthorDiscovery.com because he seems to have found many methods for finding readers, a.k.a. being discovered :-)

There’s a particular article on his site called 12 Author Profile Sites to Boost Your Discoverability.

I recommend you go read what he says about each of these sites but I also recommend you check them out and use two or three for a few months to see if they’re a fit for you and, if not, try a few more for awhile till you find what works with your life style—trying to keep up with all 12 could drive a writer crazy :-)

So, for those in a hurry, here are the twelve sites that might boost your discoverability (I utilize the first four…):

Goodreads

Amazon Author Central

Smashwords

LibraryThing

Shelfari

AuthorsDen

Red Room

Dailylit

Book Country

weRead

Published.com

AuthorLink

Are there any Discoverability Sites you can recommend in the Comments?

Any experience with finding readers you’d like to share?
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Don’t “Make” People Pay ~ “Let” Them Pay . . .

I’m hoping it’s fairly obvious that a writer can “easily” transfer ideas that work for a singer/performer to the realm of attracting a readership…

I know it’s totally obvious that this is the shortest blog post I’ve ever done :-)

Comments?

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Our Comment Link Is At The Top of The Post :-)
For Private Comments, Email: amzolt {at} gmail {dot} com
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How Can Authors Find Readers?

Some of the wildest relationships in the world are between authors and readers.

Lately, writers have had a new horde of “experts” yelling at them about how to hook-up with readers.

Personally, I don’t think any two books (except the pulps in various genres) have the same history of attracting readers.

It seems that, just as Mary wants Jim but Jim needs a wake up call and Mary doesn’t want to seem forward and Jim…, well you get the idea; seems that authors need Relationship advice, not Marketing advice.

Readers have relationships with authors, always have, and today’s publishing scene is begging authors to build relationships with their readers, like never before.

Some say writers need to “Build A Platform”—sounds rather like a place to shout at folks…

Some refer to the author’s audience as their Tribe.

Jeff Goins recently wrote a blog post called, Finding Your Tribe May Be the Hardest Thing You Ever Do.

Jeff speaks from an interesting perspective best summed-up in this quote from another post:

“Writers Don’t Write to Get Published,…is a call-to-action for writers to fall back in love with the art of writing and to let go of the need to be acknowledged and affirmed.

“I had an epiphany a few years ago that really set me free from my own self-doubt and allowed me to just write for the sake of writing.”

So it’s a bit of a surprise when his post on finding a tribe says:

“We are all  looking for a tribe. Our 1000 true fans. A place to belong. We want to be heard and known, to actually make a difference.”

You see, Jeff wrote a Manifesto about writing-for-the-sake-of-writing so he could use it to attract a tribe to his writing…

Believe me, I’m not crying foul or looking down on Jeff’s approach. I’ve written for the sake of writing and I’m now working to find my tribe.

Perhaps the whole concept will become clearer by reading the extensive comments Jeff got for his post………
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Promotion ~ All Authors Must Deal With It

I can’t recommend the way I promote my books. Sure, I’ll tell you what I’m doing but it’s probably not for you.

I’m self-published and I’m a maverick. Luckily, there are other ways to promote :-)

I can’t assume all my readers are aware they can search for past posts with the “Subject Index Links” section in the left-panel. You’ll find “publish”, “self-publish”, and “promotion” there; and, clicking on them will give you the posts I’ve done on those topics.

I do, however, want to bring a couple links to past posts here:

Traditional vs Self-Publishing ~ Is The Promotion/Marketing Different?

Too Much Advice Can Be Dangerous

More Book Promotion Tips . . .

Joel Friedlander, cutting-edge writer on all things publishing (who I’ve linked-to here often), recently wrote the introductory articles for a new service at CreateSpace.

First, I must say that CreateSpace is one way to self-publish but I recommend FastPencil…

Also, I hate the term “marketing”, mostly because far too many marketers don’t know much about the importance of real, human relationships in the realm of creating an author’s audience.

All that said, do check-out all the articles on CreateSpace’s Marketing Central.
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Does Every “Interview” Count?

Self-promotion for a book often takes on the likeness of “interviews”.

Crafted promotional pieces with Q&A might be better called FauxViews :-)

Here’s the latest one with me: Jexbo FauxViews Alexander M Zoltai about Notes from An Alien

Do you find FauxViews interesting?

Do you think they “work”?

What’s your favorite way to find out about a new book?
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