Again, oh my gosh. I read a visual artist blog called The Abundant Artist recently, and the artist put the reason for branding, and platform building I might add, into a simple one - two - three.
One of three reasons why you can't sell your art (and that includes writing).
1. They don't like you.
2. They can't find you.
3. They don't know you exist.
And guess what? The burden of changing your inability-to-sell is all on you.
1. Options to they don't like you.
Find people who do like you, or change so people do like you. It's not selling your soul. That's a cop-out, in my opinion. Chances are, people like good writing and don't live immature writing. Not everybody will like you, but if we can't find anyone willing to buy it, then we are writing for ourselves and hiding from the fact our material needs correction.
2. Options to they can't find you.
Ah, so someone knows you can write, but they can't find you online. And yes, when someone what to find someone else, they look online. No more phone book. No more phone calls. We all use online tools for what we need. Why not use it to give others what they seek? Frankly, it ticks me off to want to find a writer and there's no sign of them other than a byline in a magazine or a book on Amazon. That's not being available. These days, it takes availability to be a marketable commodity.
3. Options to they don't know you exist.
Put yourself out there. If you are afraid to step in front of crowds, then do it online or find enough good friends, fans, mentors or peers willing to sing your praises for you. Self-promotion. Social media. Networking. Connection. Yes, they are tired old words. I hate them, too. But they keep recycling for a reason.
6 comments:
I think nowadays the biggest problem is that people can't find your work because there's so much different stories out there and readers have so much to choose from that the biggest challenge for an author is to get noticed.
I wish more writers chose platforms that allow easy commenting. I don't want to sign up for every blog software program out there. There's an outdoor writer I enjoy reading but his old software requires me to have an id. I don't read his blog as carefully as I used to. Not being able to interact with him turns me off.
Ease is key. There's one blog I read recently that I wanted to follow, but it was on a blog program I never heard of, and I wasn't going to sign up just for his blog.
You have to be accessible.
If the blog requires me to register to comment, I don't usually. I don't always wait for the slow-loading blogs, either.
We have to pick and choose our methods of availability, but I remember being annoyed at trying to find the site of an instructor, an author, who taught an advanced class. He didn't have one and he'd been around for a while with lots of books to his credit. There was a site to order his books, but no way to interact with the author. He was a great instructor but I felt he missed out by not having a web site.
Actually, I tried to leave a comment on this referenced blog, and could not because I had to sign up to the new system. Also, had no website to read more about the author and the person he used as a resource. I wanted to tell him, but could not.
Enjoyed the post. Getting a brand recognized takes either money or time. For me, time is what I have the most of and fortunately I'm patient.
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