Write With Grace

Build An Audience For Your Writing with 3 Core Principles

This post is an answer to the question (asked by http://rachaelsdevotionalwritings.blogspot.com ), "How do I develop an audience for my writing?"

Rachael:

You are a wonderful writer!  I wish you many blessings in the lives you will touch through your writing. 

First let me point you to the 3 links I've pasted here.  They are a few of the good resources I've looked at in regards to building a blog audience, or platform.  There are many links within each post that you can click on and get great information. You could also go the www.wordpress.com site and type "building a blog" or "attracting readers" or something to that effect into their search bar and you will get great posts and advice.

http://www.internetevangelismday.com/blogging.php
http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2006/04/the_120_day_won.html#axzz0UOVZPRIr
http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/2009/10/19/TheFirst5SimpleStepsForGrowingReadershipOnYourBlog.aspx

Second, I would like to give you some of my own thoughts that go along with what you will find in the above posts.  What I have found in my Running With Asthma blog is that there is truth in the notion of 3 core principles:  Audience, Niche, and Purpose.  I now have about 4,000 readers.

Audience:  This is true for blogging as well as book writing.  You must, must, must identify the audience you are trying to reach so that you can talk to them in an effective manner.  On one of the links above, I read that sometimes it may take 6 to 18 months of writing on your blog to figure out what you want to talk about!  I cringed the first time I heard this because I am not a patient person; I don't want to take that long to just to figure out my topic, let alone publish a book.  But, alas, I have found it to be true. As a blog writer, or book writer, you have to actually write to figure out what you are trying to say.  This takes practice and patience but if you honor the process of  writing several times a week, your message will soon be clear and then you will be able to identify your audience.  The audience in my Running With Asthma blog (www.taraschiro.wordpress.com) is people who have asthma and have a desire to run.  Very specific.  In your blog, I'm not able to identify your audience. 

For example:  You must ask yourself who you are trying to attract. The answer needs to be specific.  A too-vague answer would be women, or young adults or "everyone."  A perfect answer would be women, aged 12-20, who have cerebral palsey, who are looking for information on handling a certain aspect of their life, such as physical therapy, answering "how do I fit into God's plan" or dietary concerns.  Casting a wide net to attract "everyone" never works.  You must start with a core audience and then branch out from there.  The thing about blogs is that people who search them are looking for very specific advice on a very specific topic. On my running blog, wordpress tells me what keywords people use to find my blog and the keywords they use are things like: running with asthma (the name of my blog) or marathon and asthma (the name of one of my posts) or asthma keeps me from running, or any combination of these.  My blog pops up because it has the same name that people are searching, but, more specifically and more importantly, it is answering a question that the reader is asking.  My readers want to know if they can run with asthma.  My blog answers that question: Yes!  They have an issue in their life that they want resolved, so they search the web to see if there is an answer to their question.  

You audience must be able to find you!  Name your blog, and your posts, specific to the question your readers are asking.  If I had a blog named, "learning about my body," people with asthma wanting to know if they can run would never find me.  Your book title and your blog name should be crafted to let the reader know they can find the answer to their question in your book or blog.

Niche:  Your blog must fit into a specific, narrow niche that people look to for answers.  This is a concern for me in your current blog.  I will say again that you are a great, great writer.  You just need to find your niche.  Unfortunately, devotional type blogs are a dime a dozen.  You have a great start, but you need to narrow your focus.  What are you trying to accomplish in your blog? (this goes with Purpose in the next paragraphs) The most compelling part that I found on your blog is the very first entry when you talked about your life with cerebral palsey. The writing was honest, fresh, and compelling.  I believe this is where you should focus.

For example:  In identifying your audience, your niche, and your purpose, you must also identify who you are as a writer and who you are as a person in general.  So:  female, early 20's, cerebral palsey, christian...and then you should identify your passion, why you want to write, what you are trying to accomplish, what is it that you want to say to people that will change their life?  You have a unique perspective that not very many people have, and this is coupled with your obvious talents and skill sets.  This is key.  People just don't have the time or patience to read a blog that is nice to read.  We want answers.  Your blog should be designed to answer a very specific question.  Can I run with asthma?  How is this possible?  The answer you provide will change people's lives.  This is where your niche is, this is where your audience is, this is your purpose.

Purpose:  What question are you trying to answer for your niche audience?  Why do you want to write stories or blogs?  You need to be specific and unique in your purpose.  Don't be afraid of this.  Sometimes the fear of being too specific is that you won't attract a big enough audience.  Believe me, you will if you have a question that is begging to be answered.  Your purpose shouldn't  be just about you, it should be about the reader.  Trying to give information to the reader that will enhance their life.  Embrace your uniqueness.  This is where your audience is. This is why God gave you the talent to write.  He wants to use you to help others, to answer that burning question for them.  Readers buy books, and follow blogs, when they fall in love with the author. Publishers offer contracts to authors that are marketable to the audience.  You are marketable to your audience.  So, the best thing you can do is to be yourself, embrace your uniqueness, and write from your heart.

Remember, blog posts--when put together--can equal a book.  You mentioned you wanted to write a book, so a blog is a great way to explore the topic, see what ideas people respond to, etc. and then later these posts can be used for the actual writing of the book.  You won't need to re-write!  But keep in mind, a blog needs to be specific, answer a specific question, so stay on track.  Whatever question you decide to focus your posts around, make sure you always stick to answering this question.  In other words, don't put children's book posts and young adult posts in the same blog.  This would be 2 questions which would be 2 separate blogs.

Publishers:  The reason these 3 core principles are so important is because publishers will ask if you have these 3 core principles in place.  This is the litmus test for them to offer you a contract.  Think about a book store.  When you walk in, there are bookshelves everywhere that contain specific genres.  This is so we can find what we are looking for with ease.  The mysteries are in the mystery section, the self-help books are in the self-help section, the romance books are in the romance section, etc.  This seems like a no-brainer.  Duh.  But think about this for a second.  If a bookstore is willing to put your book on one of their shelves, which shelf would it be on? If a publisher buys your book and decides to print it, who will they market  it to?  They need to be able to quickly and easily identify your audience so that they can go to the bookstore and say, "here, Barnes and Noble, put this on your Christian Inspiration shelf," or whatever.  YOU have to do this in your writing.  The publisher will not determine the audience for you. The publisher will not look at your writing and say, "oh, okay, let me read this and see who might be interested."  NO!  It doesn't work this way.

For Example:  When you write a book, you will also need to write this thing called a Proposal.  It is a packet that contains a cover letter, a summary of the book, some sample chapters, an author page, a marketing page, etc.  The specific audience, purpose, niche, thesis, etc., will all have to be spelled out in the proposal.  You will have to determine all of these.  These should be determined very early on in the writing so that you can craft the writing to talk to the niche audience with a specific purpose.

Marketing:  This goes back to the shelf on the bookstore.  Each shelf has a specific audience.  Stephen King readers will be marketed to in a completely different way than the readers of the Twighlight series, or the readers of Rachael Ray's cookbook, or to the readers of Care Giving to Alzheimer's Patients.  Do you see my point?  If you write a book, you will want to sell it.  A reader will buy a book if it pertains to THEM, not a mass audience. They will buy a book they can identify with.  If you identify a specific audience, with a specific purpose, that answers a specific question, then the marketing will be easy for you and the publisher.  You will know exactly where to find your audience, where they hang out (hospital book store, rehabs, prosthetic facilities), and the language they speak.  This is vital.  The reader wants to know if the writer identifies with them.  The reader will buy a book when they feel the writer is going to give them information to a question they want answered.  A publisher will not give a contract to a book they feel they cannot sell.  It could be the best written book in the world but if it doesn't speak to a certain audience, they won't buy it.  Be the book that gets a contract by following the 3 core principles.

Pause:  I hope I'm not scarring you or overwhelming you!  If so, go back to one of the thoughts above that says that this is a process, a journey, and it might take 6 months to a year of writing before you are able to figure this out.  That is okay!  Enjoy the journey!  It is more than worth it and God will use the journey to teach you many wonderful things about yourself and your readers.  Embrace it. Cherish it. Pray about it.  Give thanks for it.

Again, the links above will give you direction in the technical aspects of blogging and building an audience, such as linking to other sites like yours, making comments on other sites, etc.  This is all great information as well and should be followed.

Good luck to you and if there are any other questions I can answer for you, please let me know!

Welcome!

It's all about the page.  There's nothing worse than when a writer and the pages he or she has composed are stuck together so tightly it's hard to tell when one begins and the other ends.  When a lucky editor gets a call from the all-in-one package, it would be best to run the other way.  Hang up the Closed sign and turn out the lights.  Why is this?  Because editing is all about the page, not the writer.

"But the writer created the pages," you might say.  This is true.  But in order for the book or article to be edited sucessfully, the writer must un-glue himself from the story.  Whatever the genre, whatever the length, the story must be able to carry its own weight and stand up on its own legs.  The writer can't be following it all over the country explaining underdeveloped thoughts or misconstrued ideas.  It has to be able to speak for itself. 

It's hard for a writer to let go of her 'baby.'  After all, many tears, sleepless nights, and anxiety ridden days are all for the cause of authordome.  We sweat it out because we want to be published.  But we must remember that part of being published is learning to let go.  The book is written and now is the time to pack its bags and send it on its way; first to the publishing house and then to market.

When a writer and editor begin the partnership of the book editing phase, the writer and the pages need to be two separate entities.  If not, the writer will not hear the editing comments correctly.  He might hear that since the pages need some work, he needs some work.  It takes a writer that is secure in his skin, and full of knowledge about the editing process, to be able to handle his book being edited. It is hard work.  It is gut wrenching.  But it is oh-so-necessary. 

If your book isn't edited properly, it won't know on what shelf to sit on its first day in the bookstore.  It won't know how to talk to the other books.  It won't know what to say when someone asks it, "What are you doing here?"  If is isn't structured properly, it will sag and lean to the side.  No one wants to read a book that can't stand up straight.

It's all about the page.  This blog will teach you about the elements of non-fiction in relation to your story.  Whether you are an entreprenuer writing a book as a big business card, a speaker on the circuit wanting a book to support your talk, or simply wanting to leave a legacy for your family, this blog is for you.  Check back often to learn how to write your story.