How Can A First-Time Fiction Writer Build An Audience?

I was asked  this question by one of my email subscribers the other day, “How can a first time fiction writer build an audience.”

So I got my thinking cap on. Here’s how I have, and would, build an audience for my writing…

Get Something Free Out There –  As I have said many times before free goes far, and if you want to get your fiction in front of people who’ve never heard of you, you’ve got to reduce the risk by giving away your content for free. Where you give away that content is up to you, but the more places the better.

Places you can give that content away are…

• Blog – Every author should have a property of their own and your blog should be your hub. Not only should you be giving away content there but you should also be collecting the email address of your readers.

• LibraryThing and Goodreads – Offering some of your free fiction to these sites is a good way to get yourself in front of these readers. Members of both sites love their fiction, so pick the group most closely related to your book and offer free copies of your work.

• Amazon Kindle Store – If you’re not using the Amazon kindle store, you should be. Post a collection of short stories, or give the first book in your series away free. You can offer the second only as a download, and only at your site meaning readers have to sign up for a copy.

• Draft2Digital.com – Again like the Amazon store, get your book into as many places as possible. Set your book price up as free, and get it distributed to iTunes, Barnes and Noble and all the other major book stores.

• Smashwords.com – Although you’ll have most places already covered with Draft2Digital, Smashwords has a few sites that D2D doesn’t have. It only takes a few moments to put your work up there, so why not go for the biggest reach as possible.

• Social Media – Social media can be a distraction and time suck for writers if they let it. Whether you’re using Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or another, pay attention to where you’re getting the most activity. In other words, track your links and see who is sending you the most downloads and sign ups. Once you find them, drop all the others.

• Facebook – You could of course go down the route of offering your free content to Facebook groups that allow it, but pay attention to the activity there. If you’re in a group that’s solely authors promoting their work, you’re wasting your time. Get in groups where readers are looking for books to read instead.

And if you have the budget, you could go down the route of building a readership using Facebook ads. This can be costly investment in the beginning, but if you see yourself as being an author long term, this expense will hopefully pay off in the long run as you produce more books and market to your audience.

 How Can A First-Time Fiction Writer Build An Audience – Email Writing Tips.

 

There you have it, 7 easy ways a fiction writer can build an audience and platform. Are these the only ways to answer the…how can a first time fiction writer build an audience….question? No. In fact in my course on book promotion, (which you can get as a member of WriteCome.com) I show you many more, including how to get on podcasts and use press releases as a way of building your platform.

You can find out more about becoming a member of WriteCome.com here.

 

 

The post How Can A First-Time Fiction Writer Build An Audience? appeared first on WriteCome.com.