In this book marketing podcast episode, Zeroing in on Your Real Reader Market, we unpack the pitfalls of not understanding who your real markets are, and why and how to stay laser focused on who your audience is!
We love creativity, but sometimes there’s such a thing as “too creative.” When authors are looking for readers, they sometimes want to dip into other, nearby markets – and we’re here to tell you there’s a right way and a wrong way to do that.
Some fiction authors get very ambitious and think they have a shot with news media or specific industries because of their storylines. Examples include an academic mystery author wanting to pitch universities because their story takes place on a campus or the main character is a professor; or an ecofiction author wanting to pitch news outlets because their main character is passionate about conservation. And while we absolutely appreciate authors getting creative, we want to caution you against fragmenting your efforts to the extent that you’re not focusing enough on your core market, or spinning your wheels going after unrealistic angles.
The reality is, it’s extremely hard for non-fiction authors that specialize in specific topics or industries to get media coverage – such a small percentage get big media and it takes a lot of effort to secure those opportunities, so image how much harder it is to convince those same outlets to stretch themselves far enough to cover works of fiction?
New episodes of our book marketing podcast go live every other Friday! You can stream full episodes from our website or wherever you listen to podcasts. Plus, you’ll want to follow us on your preferred podcast platform to catch our helpful- and often hilarious- minisodes that go live every other Thursday!
Do you have any suggestions for a future book marketing podcast episode? I would love to hear from you down in the comment section!
Resources and Free Downloads
QUIZ: How Will This Amazon Ads Update Impact Author Marketing?
How to Turn Readers into Superfans: Book Marketing Podcast Episode
Check out the Alliance of Independent Authors for news and resources
I could use info on Ingram Spark. I hear it mentioned but don’t know much about it. Can you do a minisode / blog post on it? Thanks!