Finding Your Readers

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about marketing. Part of it is that life has gotten exceptionally busy (fall always seems to go this way) and marketing is the first thing that gets shoved aside when everything else gets crazy. But another part of it is that, aside from a Bookbub promo I did over the summer, I’ve seen very little return on any marketing efforts I’ve made.

This is a topic that is covered constantly in almost every writer’s group I belong to, every Facebook group I’ve joined and every forum where I lurk. And we all question one another – what works?

I’ve done a couple Facebook parties and Twitter events. And they’ve been fun and there’s been lots of interaction. With other writers. And I love writers. They get me. They know about the struggles of raising kids and writing books, working a day job and fitting my passion into scant hours here and there. They know all about the difficulties I face in trying to get my books to a wider audience. But they. Are. Not. That. Audience.

I think we spend tons of time marketing to each other. And let’s face it, though I’m a voracious reader – and I bet most writers are … there are only so many of us! If my books are really going to break out, find their sweet spot, then I have to find a way to talk to the readers who are looking for books like mine.

I’m working on some new answers to this issue, but I’m curious if anyone else has been thinking along these lines. I know Kristen Lamb has, and her book Rise of the Machines has definitely pushed me in this direction. Has anyone else noticed our tendency to market to each other, and if so, how have you pushed your marketing outward? What creative things have you done to find authentic readers?