These 4 steps can show you how developing your following can help you traditionally publish your writing. Now more than ever, writers need a platform with an audience to help them stand out. Thankfully, there’s never been an easier time to grow a following!
Are you disappointed by literary agent and publisher rejections? After spending countless hours honing your craft, developing your story, and editing your work, are you receiving form rejections on everything you send out?
If your goal is to be traditionally published, do you get to the part of the query form that asks for your website and you have to leave it blank. Whether you’re writing short fiction or full length novels, getting declined is a terrible feeling.
This website is not designed to help you write. That’s up to you and the countless other websites out there. We’re here to help you with the business side of publishing. So how can you use entrepreneurial and marketing tactics to land an agent? Easy. Make yourself irresistible by implementing a tactic most writers haven’t started using yet. But they will when they see the power it wields.
There’s an often-untapped option for writers. One that, if done well, can not only catch the attention of literary agents, but also major publishers, and even ensure you have a wave of readers to buy your books.
Remember, people want to read your book. Literary agents want to sign new clients. Give them a reason to take a chance on you! The publishing world is crowded. It’s also a business. So what is this untapped option? It’s surprisingly simple:
Have a following. If you have a group of people invested in your work, then you show literary agents you’re here with a crew and you’re ready to party. That following can be your ticket to more agents, top-tier publishers, and more readers. Not to mention more writing opportunities! So how do you get that audience?
Sure, there’s a learning curve to some of these things. But how much is your literary legacy worth?
-
Author Website
-
Email List
-
Social Media
-
Guest Posting
Why you need to do this
Have you ever noticed the outlandish book deals celebrities get? Some people with no experience writing books are having no problem getting multiple book deals. So what do they all have in common? An audience.
As writers we often feel like we can only write within our chosen niche. If we write poetry, we should stick to it. If we write fantasy, then we should only write fantasy. And for some practical reasons, this could be true. You read widely in that genre and understand the expectations and beats of those stories, then it makes sense.
Also, on an even more practical level, we should mostly stick to what we’re interested in because that’s what makes writing enjoyable. However, the constant question for writers is “How do we reach more people?” The best part is that you don’t have to leave your niche to find them! You just need to shift your platform.
People don’t think about branching out (even a little bit) from their genre. We’re enamored by the writer who sits and writes a book and it gets published and turned into a movie and they become rich and famous. But this is like waiting for a knight in shining armor to liberate you from the tower. Sometimes you need to break yourself out.
There are so many talented writers out there. And if you’re reading this, you’re one of those writers who is taking your writing career seriously. You can get yourself in the door first because only some writers have figured this out. If you can create a following, you can create an army of readers.
Imagine this…
Imagine having your pick of literary agents because of multiple requests. What would it feel like for a publisher to give you a huge advance and a multiple book deal?
You could quit your job and write full time. Picture living anywhere you want and spending your days writing and reading. It’s possible! But you have to know the things marketers and entrepreneurs have been doing for years.
Most writers think that if they just write a good enough book then all their problems would be solved. And that could be true. But a lot of good books go unnoticed by agents, publishers, and by readers. So in the meantime, focus on something you can control.
Publishing is a business. So as a writer, you need to understand that, and position yourself in a way that makes good business sense for literary agents and publishers to invest in you.
How to get an audience for your book
The problem most writers have is they don’t make strategic marketing decisions that can make or break their careers.
You can land the agent of your dreams. You can have a publisher bidding war for your book. But first, you need to show them why they should invest in you.
-
Author Website
-
Email gathering
-
Social Media
-
Guest Posting
1. Author Website
Without an author website, you could be missing out on an opportunity to stay relevant in your reader’s mind. If you can build a blog that people follow consistently, they’ll be more likely to buy your book when it’s released. However, if you release one book every few years, you might get lost in the shuffle when it comes time for someone to actually make a purchase.
When you first start writing on your website, you’ll realize there are some keys to writing a great post. This FREE blog post outline below makes it ridiculously easy to write a perfect post every time. Not only that, it’ll save you so much time. You’ll get to a place where you can churn out an article in an hour!
My suggestion is to write articles in your genre. This will ensure you’re finding readers who are interested in what you’re putting out there. It’s just as important to find the right audience as it is to find a large one. I put together a list of 50 genre-based blog posts you can use to start your website!
2. Email List
This is a marketing trick that writers just haven’t been utilizing enough! Using this small marketing tactic will drastically increase your readership.
Once you have a website up and running, sign up for a free (up to 500 email subscribers) ConvertKit account. There are other options (like Mailchimp). But I personally like ConvertKit.
The reason this is so useful, is that if you keep up with your email list, you know that’s a number of people who are interested in your genre. They’re possible buyers for your book.
When you meet with agents or in your query letter, you can say that you have X subscribers to your email list. Agents and publishers will see that (if it’s a significant number) as assurance there are people out there willing to buy your book. Remember, they see publishing as a business. They need to make sure they sell books.
3. Social Media
Social media is vital to an author’s success. Agents have started asking for things like a Twitter username so they can see what you tweet about and how many followers you have. Remember, every follower is a possible reader.
An email list is certainly a more targeted list of possible readers. However, a large social media following means you have people who follow your content.
It’s important that you’re on the right social media outlets. For writers, Twitter is probably a must (and it’s very easy). If you’re new, search for #writingcommunity and you’ll be fine.
However, this is the next social media step. Think about your target audience. Where are they? What social media platform are they on?
If you write YA, you need to get yourself a Tik-Tok because that’s where they are. It’s not nearly as scary as you think. Just join, log in and check it out for about a week.
However, if you write fantasy, well, where are fantasy writers? Go find them, become a member of those communities. Then, over time you can turn them into fans of your work.
4. Guest Posts
Guest posting is so important for the growth of your writing career. If you only rely on people who already know you to buy your books, you’re missing out on an opportunity to reach more people and sell more books.
There are lots of easy ways to guest post. The easiest is to write for Medium.com. I consider this guest posting because you’re using their platform to reach new readers.
This article outlines some of the things you need to know about trending articles prior to submitting. However, if you really want to seriously start writing for Medium and putting this plan into action, join the waitlist for a FREE 5-day Medium writing crash course with a 30-day Support Group that will help you land 100+ followers in your first 30 days on Medium. Don’t wait. Sing up now because there are limited spots!
The added benefit of joining Medium is that not only will you gain new followers, you’ll also earn money through their Paid Partnership Program. Some writers make thousands of dollars every month writing! I use Medium for the audience as opposed to the cash. However, a couple bucks every month doesn’t suck.
Key Takeaways
If you’re trying to build a writing career but you keep getting turned down and rejected, you need to make sure you have a reason for literary agents to sign you and publishers to pay for your book.
To set yourself apart in a crowded industry, make sure you’re creating an author website, gathering emails from subscribers, being strategic about your social media content, and using other blogs/websites to reach a new audience can help you land the agent and publisher of your dreams.
