1,000 True Fans
by Sunny Frazier
I stumbled across an article by Kevin
Kelly, Senior Editor of “Wired” magazine. This piece has been
circulating since 2008. Kelly's premise is that if you can acquire a
thousand “true” fans, you can raise your sales and make a living
off your art. The entire article is posted at
http://kk.org/thetechnium/1000-true-fans/
Kelly believes you don't have to have a
hit to survive, or in writing terms, a bestseller. What you do have
to do is collect a loyal fan base that will buy whatever you're
selling. By pulling in one new fan a day, you will have your 1,000
fans in 3 years. The challenge is to create and maintain DIRECT
CONTACT with fans. You will also need to nurture them, something not
everyone is willing to do.
My problem with this article is the
same problem I have with every “How To” article I find on the
Internet. It's a good idea, possibly a sound one, but what I'm
looking for (and I bet you are too) is the magic formula on how to
implement this theory. Information is no good if it leaves you in the
dark.
I have nearly 1,000 fans. I haven't
tested to see if they are “true” fans yet, I'll do that when
Black Opal Books reprints my entire series of astrology mysteries.
For now, I'm creatively building my fan base. I'm going to explain
EXACTLY what I'm doing and perhaps you'll pick up some ideas of your
own.
First of all, readers are inundated
with all sorts of come-ons. “Buy my book,” “Read my blog,”
Watch my video.” I delete most of those and so do you. Instead, I
offer fans something other than my own work. I entice them with what
they want, which is free books. Oh, not my books—I refuse to offer
my work for free. I write a monthly column for Kings River Life
Magazine called “Coming Attractions.” I announce titles a month
before they come on the market. There is always a drawing for about 8
or 9 books just by making a comment.
The column is nothing more than fun,
quippy blurbs I concoct (for the latest column go to
http://kingsriverlife.com/11/28/coming-attractions-visions-of-sugerplums-edition/
) . I get the material from Amazon. Under the
blurb are listed other books coming out in the future by the
publisher. I also made a point of subscribing to Romantic Times
Magazine which announces a variety of books two months in advance. And, a site
called “Fantastic Fiction” lists every series an author has written plus books the author recommends
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/ (if you aren't listed on this British site, get in there!) . I keep these on file and right now I can tell you books coming out
in August, 2016.
I began collecting the names of people
commenting and “friending” them on Face Book by thanking them for
their interest. I noticed my readership was primarily older women wanting to win cozy mysteries. With that info I decided to gear my
column to their tastes. I also regularly checked in on them and from
their FB postings discovered the name of their pets and their
hobbies. I “liked” their memes and soon they were “liking”
mine as well.
I'm the type that knows there's a next
step. I divided up my list of fans into those who read dog mysteries,
cat mysteries and culinary mysteries. When a book of that sort is
offered as a prize, I contact them individually and nudge them to
enter with something like “Fluffy thinks you'd like this new dog mystery.” It
works because I take the time to remember their pet's name and
readers are flattered by the attention. I also post the link to Cozyville Cozies then “friend” responders from that site. When
an author posted my column on her site, I hijacked 24 of her fans.
And, by researching authors who write astrology mysteries, I've been stealing that fan base as well.
What I'm doing is paving the way for
readers of my own novels. I haven't done the “hard sell” yet, I
want readers to know me as a friend and one who has their interests
at heart. Because I really do enjoy each and every one of them.
Anyone can copy me and do their own
column, either through blogging or by offering it to an ezine or
reader's site. There are plenty out there. I'd like to see someone do
one for romance novels, historical fiction, thrillers, erotica,
sci-fi and horror. Authors are more than willing to give away free
books for free publicity. Two things are crucial: publishing the
column on a regular basis and promoting it. Growing 1,000 true fans
takes commitment and creativity.
13 comments:
Everything you've been telling us down in black and white. Fantastic! Thank you !
Clear, well stated, as always. I recommend that people follow Sunny. She give you the straight story - no hoopla come-on - just good, usable information. Thanks, Sunny.
Sounds good, Sunny. Most things in the writing world seem to take persistence and patience. As you've taught us, the quick successes are few and far between, but if you don't put yourself "out there," you don't have much of a chance of going anywhere.
Great information. That is a whole LOT of work.
Good morning, Sunny, as always your advice is clear and helpful. What is clear to me is that I spend way too much time writing my books and not enough marketing them. Early on the adage that if we write enough good books the sales will come, sunk in to me, I guess. I do try to stay in touch with a blog, on FB and Google+ and Pinterest, but obviously writing all the good books in the world (mine get consistently five star reviews) does not market those books. I'll try to switch and use more time marketing the way you suggest, cause I can see why it works. Thanks.
Sunny, thank you for the heads-up, as always a member of the posse I take this information seriously. Another plus in marketing.
Good ideas, Sunny. It's a hard thing to figure out. I get quite a few eyeballs on my interviews at mystericale.com which I've been doing awhile, and visitors to my girlzombieauthors blog when I post weird stuff. (Zombie Christmas gifts, anyone? ha!) It really is a hard thing to figure all the answers. It's more keeping at it, I think. You kind of plod along and keep going. ;)
Yes, Charles, it seems like a lot of work. But, isn't your career worth it? Time management is critical and creating quickie methods is crucial. To be honest, I only spend about an hour scouting for titles, another hour putting my column together one week, an hour promoting it the next, a half hour scouting for new readers the following week. I think 3 1/2 hours a month on my career is well spent.
Christine, the first thing I try to change are writers' attitudes. I find figuring out tactics the fun and challenging part of promotion.If you think of it as less of a chore and more of an opportunity to get to know your fans, you'll begin to look forward to it.
Velda, there was a time when writing a good book was the only thing necessary. There was also a time when authors had publishers with a marketing staff. It doesn't really pay to think that way anymore. With opportunity to take our careers in hand also comes the responsibility to get our works out there to the public. We should be grateful that small presses stepped up to keep the publishing industry going, but we need to keep them solvent in return by making sure our books sell.
This look interesting. I'm taking it to the office to share!
Hi Sunny, It's me again, Kathleen Kaska, at the office using the office computer, thus Reanne's name appears instead of mine. I've just read the article and although the concept seems doable, it's so hard for me to ask people for money. I have no problem selling my books when they are in front of me, however. I'd love to hear other opinions on this.
I haven't asked anyone for money. I don't even get paid for the column! There will come a time when I will contact my friends and fans to suggest they might like to order my books on Amazon. In the meantime, I hope they win books they want, keep reading other authors and just enjoy our Face Book connection.
Great advice as always, Sunny. I'm like Velda--used to think if the book was good it would find its audience. So much has changed over the past ten years or so that the old wisdoms just don't work anymore. So yes, we have to adapt or...
Love this advice. I don't know if I have the organizational skills to follow it exactly but I will utilize as many of these ideas as I can.
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