Is It Writers Finding Readers – or – Readers Finding Writers?

If I answered my own question from the title up there, I’d have to say it’s some of both (and, the timing of which comes when is mostly incalculable)...

Image Courtesy of St. Mattox ~ http://www.freeimages.com/photographer/Mattox-60059

I’ve found yet another way for writers to go looking for readers (or, go put themselves in positions where readers can find them); but, first, I’ll share some links to past posts on the topic with a short excerpt from each:

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…”

How Can Authors Find Readers?

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

Authors Finding Readers

“Since I’ve been serially posting three of my works over at Wattpad, I’ve adopted, finally, one of the key methods for finding readers—reading what they wrote and commenting on it, Sincerely… 

“Of course, not all readers are writers (though, the way things are going, that may not be true in 100 years…).”

How “Should” Writers Find Readers

“One thing is for sure. There are more ways to attract readers than ever before and there could well be yet many more to come…”

That last link has a video about “Audience Development” with Jane Friedman…

And, now, I’ll share a few excerpts from an article that was on the now defunct site BookWorks:

“Lucky for authors, the Pew Research Center regularly produces surveys on social media use in the U.S., which can likely be extrapolated to many other cultures.”

And, working from recent numbers from Pew, the author provides a few potentially useful surmises:

“…where we’ll find young adults (YA) and YA readers. Well, most likely you’ll find them on Instagram, Snapchat, and Tumblr.”

“Women dominate Pinterest so it’s only natural that this would be a good option for romance writers.”

“LinkedIn is where every nonfiction author should have a profile.”

NB: Those ideas are that author’s interpretation of the data on Pew surveys…

One more excerpt that needs comment:

“Once you know the specifics of your readership—and you should—then refer to the research done by the Pew Research Center and you’ll know how to economize your time on social media.”

O.K., knowing the “specifics” of your readership is something many folks talk about.

I doubt very many authors know any specifics about their readership.

Traditional publishers rarely share any data…

Self-published writers can devise various ways to discover certain readership specifics; but, it’s hard work and takes maximum creative application to not drive the readers away…

It seems to me that “know the specifics of your readership” could only rationally be applied, for most writers, to the types of readers the specific writer wants to reach.

And, Pew surveys are a good place to look your “Your” kind of reader.

Pew has many kinds of surveys and the enterprising writer could easily find more than social media stats at Pew…

What are your thoughts on writers and their readership…?

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Friday Poll ~ How Much Do Book Covers Matter?

As always, we’ll first look at the results of last week’s poll—What’s Your Author-Gender Preference? 

Image Courtesy of Nicholas Sales ~ http://www.freeimages.com/profile/jamsession

1st Place was “It shouldn’t matter what the gender of the author is”

2nd Place was “I have no author-gender preference”

3rd Place — “I don’t pay much attention to the gender of the authors I read”

4th — “I’ve found no difference between male and female authors”

5th Place was a two-way tie:

“I tend to prefer female authors” & from the “Other” space, “I like to read work from writers who can write well”

We also had one Comment from within the Poll (which is available from a small link at the bottom After you’ve voted…):

“I feel that literature is literature and that the gender of the author should not matter in order for the reader to enjoy a book ….and yet in this world, which likes to categorise everything nowadays in order to sell it, I feel, that a divide has been created for marketing purposes which serves neither female or male authors. My experiences as an author make me feel that my next book should perhaps be written under a gender neutral name :-)”

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Now for this week’s poll.

Multiple answers are allowed.

The “Other” Space is there for your unique answers.

And, Comments can be made from within the poll after you vote…

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To Leave A Comment, Use The Link At The Top-Right of The Post :-)
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Friday Poll ~ What’s Your Author-Gender Preference?

First, the results from last week’s poll—Reading, Writing, and Movies.

Image Courtesy of Michal Zacharzewski ~ http://www.freeimages.com/profile/mzacha

For the Reading and Movies Poll :

1st place went to—I like to see the movie after I read the book

2nd place—Some movies are just as good as the book

3rd place—Short stories make the best movies

4th place was a two-way tie :

Movies are never as good as the book AND Some movies are better than the book

5th place—I like to read the book after I see the movie

And, there was one Comment within the poll :

“I think the movie should be seen as a separate art form to a book. It may have been inspired by the book but does not necessarily have to replicate it. Both have their own intrinsic value and both can be enjoyed independent of each other or both can complement each other – it really depends on the approach of the director. I don’t think that a movie should slavishly follow a book but it can sometimes capture the ‘spirit’ of a book and please fans of the book just as much, depicting its essence in a different way :-)”

Now, the results of the Writing and Movies Poll :

1st place was a two-way tie :

Watching movies always gives me ideas for my writing AND Watching movies sometimes gives me ideas for my writing

2nd place—A movie could never capture what I write

3rd place was a two-way tie :

The best movies have the screenplay written by the author of the book AND not sure if my books will ever become movies <— this response was in the “Other” space…

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Now, for this week’s poll—What’s Your Author-Gender Preference?

Multiple answers are accepted, the “Other” space is available; and, once you vote, there’s a little link at the bottom of the poll for Comments…

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To Leave A Comment, Use The Link At The Top-Right of The Post :-)
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Friday Poll ~ What Kind of Posts Do You Want To See?

Let’s look at the results of last week’s poll first—Point of View ~ for Readers & Writers.

Image Courtesy of Gary Mcinnes ~ http://www.freeimages.com/profile/bredmaker

And, a brief example of what Point of View (POV) means:

First Person: “I couldn’t believe what I saw.”
Second Person: “You won’t believe what you see.”
Third Person: “Seeing the miracle didn’t make him believe it.”

For the Readers’ poll:

3rd Person got 54.6%
1st Person got 45.4%
2nd Person got 0%

For the Writers’ poll:

3rd Person — 60%
1st Person — 30%
2nd Person — 10%

Now, this week’s poll—What Kind of Posts Do You Want to See on This Blog?

Naturally, multiple votes are possible; and, the “Other” space is there for answers I haven’t put in the poll…

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To Leave A Comment, Use The Link At The Top-Right of The Post :-)
For Private Comments or Questions, Email: amzolt {at} gmail {dot} com

Friday Poll ~ Point of View ~ for Readers & Writers

First come the results of last week’s poll—Where Are You In Your Writer’s Journey? 

Image Courtesy of Vangelis Thomaidis ~ http://www.freeimages.com/profile/forwardcom

Most-voted-for saw a four-way tie: 

* Wondering If I Can Be A Writer; Still Thinking About What To Write; Doing Research; and, Writing A First Draft.

There was a three-way tie for the next-most-voted-for:

* Doing Revisions; Working On The Tasks of Self-Publishing; and, Promoting A Book.

Then came “Other”:

* “trying to write with an authentic voice”

And, there was one Comment:

* “I think many writers, no matter where they are on their writer’s journey, find themselves at some stage, staring at the wall/ceiling/keyboard/the cat/cup of sustaining beverage and wondering if they can be a writer… even Shakespeare…”

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Now, for this week’s topic—Point of View (or, POV).

There are separate polls for Reading and Writing—and, some of you will vote in both…

I’m only supplying the most common points-of-view:

First Person: “I couldn’t believe what I saw.”

Second Person: “You won’t believe what you see.”

Third Person: “Seeing the miracle didn’t make him believe it.”

If you want a quick primer of the common points-of-view, try Grammar Girl’s…

If these polls spark your interest in knowing about other POVs, try this article by Kelly Leiter…

For those of you who are aware of or use other points-of-view, there is the “Other” Space…

And, multiple votes are permissible :-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Read Some Strange Fantasies
Grab A Free Novel…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Leave A Comment, Use The Link At The Top-Right of The Post :-)
For Private Comments or Questions, Email: amzolt {at} gmail {dot} com