photo: Alexander Boden
Did you know that 49.2% of readers discover new books by personal recommendation?
You would if you read Verso’s 2011 Survey of Book-Buying Behavior!
We all know that understanding our readers is vital–to both our writing and the business of selling books. Here’s a free treasure trove of info just waiting for you, all in easy to understand graphs.
Click HERE to check out what other numbers you need!
Enjoy!
CJ
Since I talked on Monday about the lessons learned at the Frankfurt Book Fair about the importance of finding your readers, I thought it might be nice to let you guys know about another free publication from Sisters in Crime.
(seriously, if you’re writing any kind of crime fiction, their resources are invaluable, so just join already!)
Their summer summit report from the American Library Association, How Readers Find Books, is available now as a pdf from the Sisters in Crime website, just scroll down the front page to the “recent news” box.
Tons of info there–and what I love is that there’s something for every style of writer from happy hermit to social butterfly!
Enjoy!
CJ
Since BLIND FAITH hit #2 on the New York Times bestseller list, suddenly folks think I’m some kind of marketing guru.
I’ve had writers who are total strangers email me asking to tell them what my secret was.
(Silly Rabbits! They obviously didn’t bother to come over here and read the blog or the Resource pages, because I share everything with you guys!)
Writer friends who I admire for their own success, suddenly calling me, wanting to know “What did you do to make this happen?”
Marketing pros and even a few reporters asking: What social media tools/marketing strategy/advertising/promotion/fill in the blank did I use?
They’re all asking the wrong question. They want to know “what” and when I try to answer that they shake their head in disbelief because my answer is so very simple and basic.
Because “what” I did was put my readers first. By giving them a chance for free books. By risking putting my bestseller on sale. By sharing my hopes and dreams through my Lyons’ Tales newsletter.
(Interested in reading it? You can sign up HERE)
Then I saw this guest post by Danielle LaPorte on Productive Flourishing and I finally realized the question everyone should have been asking: WHY.
WHY have I been using the majority of my promotional budget to give away my books to readers for the past three years? To build a readership and give them what they want: a new author to enjoy and follow.
WHY do I not spend a lot of time tweeting or facebooking or blogging or fill in the blank of the current trendy promo tool? Because I need my time and energy to write and I feel my books are my best promotional tools. If I use my time to get more books out there, I’m keeping my readers happy and increasing my chances to find new ones.
WHY did I take that huge leap of faith and lower BLIND FAITH to a special sale price?
First, as an appreciation gift to my readers. Second, because I thought it would be fun joining with them in achieving a common goal. So the only promotion I did for BLIND FAITH was to send a newsletter to my readers with the subject heading of: Help Me Make a Dream Come True.
In it, I explained that I hoped to reach Amazon’s Top 20. Within two weeks BLIND FAITH was #4 on the USA TODAY bestseller list and then debuted at #2 on the New York Times list.
But every decision that led to that focused on one thing. What would make my readers happy.
Not make every reader happy. That’s beyond my power. I focused on my readers. The people who respond to my Thrillers with Heart.
How can you do the same? Play to your strengths: does blogging or tweeting, etc energize you and make you a better writer and engage your readers? Then go for it!
(One author who is brilliant at Facebook is David Morrell–but of course, he’s brilliant at just about everything!)
Does hosting a community on a forum keep you excited and inspired about your work in progress while helping you understand your readers better?
Or maybe you’re like me, a hermit at heart, and need to focus on writing the next book your readers are clamoring for.
(which is how I ended up currently writing two books at once, but that’s another story)
Whatever you spend your time on, ask yourself WHY? Why is doing this going to make me a better writer? Why is it going to please my readers? Why should my readers spend their time and energy responding to it?
Once you ask the right question, you’ll know the direction that is right for you….and you can stop asking others what they did. Why? Because you’ll be in control of your own path.
I don’t know about you, but Twitter overwhelms me. I feel like I’m standing in the middle of the ocean being bombarded by random waves.
If you ever feel like that, here are nine great resources that can help you navigate those Twitter waters, courtesy of Robert Bruce of Copyblogger.
Click HERE to check them out.
Happy Tweeting!
PS: Follow me @cjlyonswriter
We’re trying something new today: a reverse-Freestuff Friday!
(don’t worry, if you’re here for the free swag, I promise there’s something extra-special coming in two weeks!)
The always genius Mark McGuinness of Lateral Action featured a Kickstart promotion in a recent post. The fundraising revolves around a young comic’s pursuit of being on David Letterman before he dies of cancer and the documentary that friends of his filmed, recording his efforts.
The concept was intriguing enough to get me to head over to Kickstart and check out their efforts.
I was blown away! Talk about using storytelling principles to their fullest effect. So I thought it would be nice to analyze what worked and why and encourage you all to check it out yourselves.
(so see, you really are getting something for free today, but hopefully you’ll be inspired to give something back as well by donating your talents, time, and/or money to a worthy cause you’re as passionate about as these guys are)
First, check out the awesome video that is the focus of their Kickstart page:
(if you’re reading this via email, click through to the blog to see the video)
I’ve seen other Kickstart pages that quite frankly turned me off. They were all about the person trying to raise money. They didn’t engage me in their story or make me feel like part of the team.
They had no heart.
But that’s what you need to tell a good story and engage readers. That’s what you need to sell your story via cover copy or a sales page or a query letter.
The heart of the story is the primal, universal emotion no human can resist.
(any wonder I call my brand of novels, Thrillers with Heart?)
It’s not about you, it’s ALL about your audience.
And look at all the ways this fundraising campaign does that. They make you laugh, they make you cry (okay, maybe that was just me), they make you hope and cheer for Steve, they make you wonder…is he going to live long enough to achieve his dream?
Talk about raising the stakes! Then they go one better–they make you feel like you’re part of the solution, you’re on the winning team, by offering cool gifts to sponsors. Notice how one of their highest pledge levels, Dying to be Part of the Act, sold out!
As writers we can learn a lot about how to engage readers from this campaign, whether it’s in your newsletters to readers, blog, back cover copy, query letter, synopsis, or even your novel.
If you don’t want to give to Steve’s efforts, that’s cool. But take a look at where you are giving your time and money. What can you learn from them?
Maybe you’re getting more than you’re giving!
Go HERE to view the full campaign and see how it is possible to Kickstart readers’ hearts!
And, remember, like Steve says in Dying to Do Letterman, “If you’re not chasing your dreams, you’re not living.”
I spoke of Simon Sinek before when I raved about his book, Start with Why.
Check out this excellent video about connecting with your audience, If You Don’t Understand People, You Don’t Understand Business.
In it, he argues that “as individuals and companies, everything that we say and do is a symbol of who we are. And it is only when we communicate our beliefs authentically that we can attract others to our cause, and form the bonds that will empower us to achieve truly great things.”
(if you’re reading this via email, click thru to the blog for the video)
Learn more about Simon and his powerful philosophy of Start with Why HERE
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