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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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…).

So…

My interest perked-up when I saw that Mark Coker, founder of Smashwords had written the article, 2015 Smashwords Survey Reveals Insights to Help Authors Reach More Readers.

And, even though I’m a writer in RealLife, in this BlogLife I’m more the reporter/commentator; so, I’ll give you some choice excerpts from Mark’s article, with a bit of my commentary…

Early on in the article, Mark says:

“The survey is based on over $25 million in actual verified ebook sales data, aggregated across the Smashwords distribution network between April 2014 and March 2015.”

And, in case you’ve never rubbed up against Smashwords, he then mentions where those sales occurred:

“…Apple iBooks, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, the Smashwords Store, Scribd, OverDrive, Amazon (a small subset of our titles), Baker & Taylor Axis 360, Blio, Oyster, Flipkart and Inktera.”

And, because this is partly a promo to encourage writers to consider Smashwords as their publishing platform and partly a bare intro to all the info Mark shares in the slide presentation below, I’ll quickly share the titles of the bullet points for the key findings and then step out of the way…

1.  Wow, preorders

2.  Series with free series starters earn more money

3.  Free still works to build readership

4.  Longer books sell better than shorter books

5.  $3.99 remains the sweet spot for full length indie fiction. [don’t forget, Mark’s talking about only e-books…]

6.  99 cents is still good for building readership

7.  Avoid $1.99

8.  Bestselling authors and social media

9.  Top 10 Fiction categories during the one year period

10.  Top 10 Non-fiction categories during the one year period

Well, I think those last two bullet point titles will yank a few folks over to read the full article :-)

And, if you go right here, you can view Mark’s slide presentation:

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How Do Readers Discover Books?

#Discoverability is a trending term in the BookWorld.

Image courtesy of wynand van niekerk ~ http://fgx.co.za/

Self-publishing has transformed the traditional way readers find their books.

Even those who prefer buying from a bookstore will check online to build a list.

Same thing for devoted library patrons.

Yet, even buying online presents a challenge of discoverability.

Let me quote David Gaughran, Irish writer blogging at Let’s Get Visible, from a Google Plus chat we had:

“Amazon’s recommendation engine is the best in the e-commerce world, but it’s far from perfect and can even make some elementary errors.

“The other retailers are light years behind, and many of them…are like walking into a bookstore where the genre shelves are totally hidden, and the entire store consists of front tables (and Big 5 books).

“I think (device owning) readers get recommendations these days from a broader range of sources. It’s not just friends, the bookstore, and the newspaper, but Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, and thousands and thousands of book blogs and review sites…”

And, he summed-up with:

“The tools we have for discovering books can and will get better, but I think they are pretty good as is.”

So…

Readers have many more ways to find books and Authors have more decisions about placing their books where readers can find them.

Last September, I wrote a post called, Readers Discovering Books ~ The “Best” Way?

It featured a unique platform for: 

Readers Discovering Authors

Authors Promoting Their Work

Book-Service Provider Advertising

Since that post was published, the platform I featured, iAuthor, has been making lots of improvements.

From the site:

Are you an author?

iAuthor connects authors to readers with unparalleled ease, speed and flair. Showcase all your books and literary apps ‒ for FREE! Reach readers in minutes. Build your fanbase. Go global.

Offer a specialist service to the book trade?

iAuthor connects book service-providers to a discerning global clientele: authors, bloggers, publishers, retailers, reviewers, librarians, speakers, teachers, and more. Whether you’re a freelance editor, run a book design studio or produce book trailers, iAuthor has you covered. Reach clients in minutes. Deepen brand engagement. Go global.

Are you a reader?

iAuthor is transforming book discovery. Through smart use of category filters and content-curation tools, iAuthor puts serendipity back into virtual book browsing. Discover eBooks and cutting-edge book apps. Buy in a format of your choice. Best of all, iAuthor lets you create your own book Themes ‒ crowdsourcing at its most potent.

Those Themes are one of the best features at iAuthor.

Here are just a few of the most popular Themes:

◊ Novels with a deeply flawed protagonist

◊ Books with unusual but effective covers

◊ Books straddling multiple genres

◊ Books with a vivid sense of place

◊ Children’s books that will also engage adults

◊ Epic fantasy books with magical worlds

◊ Books about book-writing

◊ Timeless bookish quotes

◊ Books to tie your brain in knots

And, you can sort the Themes—Latest, Most Liked, Most Followers, etc.

The two Themes I created, for my book Notes from An Alien, are:

Books that Champion Global Peace & Aliens Helping Earth :-)

From the site:

Do you feel constrained by genre? Want to go wider and deeper?

Meet Themes.

Whether you’re a reader, author, blogger or freelancer, Themes let you curate compelling content from iAuthor and beyond.

Themes transcend genre.

Themes unlock the imagination.

Themes start with you…

One last thing:

iAuthor is in Partnership with the literary charity, Book Aid International :-)

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