I attended a workshop with my publisher last weekend and learned some reasons why my online efforts have not worked as well as I hoped. I realized that I have two target audiences:
- Writers and Writer Organizations
- Historical and Christian fiction readers
In order to promote your platform and speaking opportunities you need to decide who your target market is and then provide information, blogs, and workshops for those who are most interested. Many of us make the mistake of trying to reach too broad of an audience. Narrow it down.
If you write a specific type of book then find out who reads them. What genre? Fiction? Nonfiction? Where do your readers hang out? Where they are is where you need to go.
Join online groups that focus on readers. Get an author’s page on Goodreads. Develop your profiles at Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and any other website so that you target your readers. Then, give them content that is valuable to them. Develop relationships, not just someone to pitch your books to. It’s okay to let people know when you have new books coming out or an event scheduled, but don’t let that be your only contact with them or they will feel like all you want is for them to buy your book, not become a fan.
Try these out.
