Wouldn’t it be nice? We go to a lot of trouble to put ourselves out there—to be noticed by readers of our topic/genre. And still you meet people and hear from people who have never heard of you or your book, even when you write in their favorite genre or on a topic of their interest. That’s one of the biggest frustrations of authorship! When a potential reader says they just learned about my book, I want to shake him and ask, “Where are you looking for books on writing a book proposal or where are you looking for cozy mysteries?” I feel like I’m covering my promotional bases, yet there are still people who don’t know about my books. Why?
Maybe it’s because they neglect to open the email they’ve signed up to receive. They ignore the Amazon notices announcing new books they might be interested in. They don’t know how to do simple research to locate the books they want. Heaven knows many authors are in-your-face promoters.
We go where we’ll find our audience. We have websites and blogsites related to the theme/genre of our books. We’re involved in social media. We send announcements to our potential readers. We produce newsletters. We write articles for appropriate newsletters, guest post at other blogsites, solicit book reviews. Why aren’t avid readers and those seeking specific informational books paying attention?
Don’t get me wrong; I love meeting readers new to my work. They’re usually thrilled to have found my books. We all want to entice more and more readers for our fiction and nonfiction. But it’s disturbing to know they’ve been out there all along, wanting a book like yours, and never noticed your webinars, podcasts, radio spots, web interviews, blog book giveaways, articles, amazing blog, live presentations and so forth.
Maybe we need to provide reader research seminars. I wonder if anyone would attend.
In the meantime, if you happen to stumble upon this blog post and you’ve never heard my name before, I’m Patricia Fry. I’ve been writing for publication for over 40 years and working with authors on their book projects for fifteen years or so. Many of my books are for authors. The latest one is “Propose Your Book, How to Craft Persuasive Proposals for Nonfiction, Fiction, and Children’s Books.” If you’re on my massive email list, if you’ve visited Carolyn Howard-Johnson’s website, if you read the “Freelance Writer’s Report,” “SPAWNews” and other publications for authors, if you’ve visited Amazon lately looking for a book on book proposals, or if you’ve done a Google search for such a book, you’ve had the opportunity to know about me and the book. Learn more here: http://www.amazon.com/Propose-Your-Book-Persuasive-Nonfiction/dp/1621534677/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1442333826&sr=8-1&keywords=propose+your+book+fry
I’m also the author of the Klepto Cat Mysteries. There are now a dozen books in this cozy mystery series formatted for your Kindle. Eight of the books are also in print. http://amzn.to/1kAI8I2