J.K. Rowling, Stephen King, Dan Brown, Suzanne Collins, Danielle Steel, and Jane Austen – what do these authors have in common? A solid fan base!
Ever wondered why only a few book writers enjoy this privilege while countless others just live with the dream of it? Well, it varies. It comes naturally and organically to some, while others work for it. The latter is more applicable in today’s highly-competitive book industry.
With millions of books published every year, there is no dearth of quality content. Therefore, you can’t just rely on it to reel in the readers and have them turn into your loyal fans. You have to build a strategy and work your way towards building a fan base, one loyal fan at a time. This brief guide aims to help you with just that on Solid Fan Base.
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Top 4 Tips for Building a Loyal and solid Fan Base for Yourself as a Book Writer?
Here are some valuable tips to help you become an author with a devoted fan base:
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Find Your Readers
Don’t expect people who would be eager to read your work to appear out of nowhere once your book gets published. Hunt for them before your book comes into the market. And what could be a better place to find your potential readers these days than social media.
You can use different demographic factors and your book’s genre or subject matter to find your target audience online. Find what social platform your target audience is most active on, search for them on digital communities like Goodreads and Quora, and look for them in Facebook groups and book clubs. You can also start your own book club focusing on the genre of your book to build a community for yourself.
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Build Genuine Connections with Your Audience
Just because you have found some like-minded people who you believe make the ideal audience for your book doesn’t mean you should start marketing your book right away. Get involved in the communities you have discovered (or established) and build genuine connections with the members before you market yourself as an author and ask them to read your book. Participate in the conversations on different platforms. Share your thoughts, exchange ideas, give recommendations and reviews, and answer others’ queries to build a network. Remember, you have to give before you can ask.
A great way to get involved, interact, and build genuine connections with like-minded people (who could later become your loyal fans) is to celebrate the great authors and books in your genre. Join communities and fan groups of books and authors in your genre that you really like. You will get plenty of opportunities to bond and build genuine connections with people who are devoted fans of stories similar to the one you’re creating (or have created).
Important – When building connections, it’s easy to get carried away and join communities that you don’t really belong to. That’s a mistake many new book writers make. Avoid it because loyal fans can spot a fake one from a mile away. Only join fan clubs of books and authors that you genuinely like.
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Work with Some Influencers
Love them or hate them, social media influencers have become a significant part of the marketing process in this day and age, and you can’t deny or overlook it. Even the most established and renowned companies are now collaborating with influencers to market their products or services. So, why can’t you?
Find literary influencers and use their strong social media presence and wide reach to your advantage. Ask them to share your work on their social media platform. If they could write a review of your book, it would be great. But, if that’s not possible, simply posting about your work will also help you spread the word gain enough attention. Whatever tactic you both agree to use, just make sure it doesn’t look like a blatant promotion.
You will have to pay influencers for their services, but consider it an investment. If you work with the right influencers, it will all be worth it.
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Give Readers a Taste of Your Writing
Many people would tell you to share excerpts of your book on social media platforms to give prospective readers a glimpse of your work. While you can do that, many new authors hesitate to do so because they fear giving too much away.
Another way to give your audience a taste of your writing is to set up a blog (preferably on an author’s website). Write about topics that you feel most passionate about, but keep them revolving around the central theme of your book. You can also have a comments section on the blog. If you do, make sure to encourage your readers to share their viewpoints or reviews and also engage with them there.
Fill your author’s website with great content, use your social media to pull the audience there, and make it your central platform for creating a fan base. If you need help creating an author’s website or keeping it updated, know that many professional book writing services also offer these additional services. Find a reliable professional Book writer service to use your author’s website and blog to your advantage the best possible way.
Loyal Fans are Your Unpaid Promoters – Find Them, Keep Them
The founding executive director of Wired Magazine, Kevin Kelly, famously argued that all you need to establish yourself as a successful creator – book writer, artist, musician, etc. – is a community of 1000 super fans. He defined super fans as those who would not just buy anything you create but also promote your work and help you win more fans and (eventually) generate more sales. Superfans are your unpaid marketers or promoters. You should go all out to win them and keep them.
As an experienced author at a professional Book writer service, I have seen numerous new book writers benefit greatly from building a solid fan base for themselves. It may not seem necessary initially, and you may feel that your work would speak for itself, but, as mentioned in the beginning, you can’t just rely on the quality of your work to become known and have your book read in this day and age. It’s a highly-competitive world out there, and you have to have a strategy to make yourself known as a book writer.