Growing Readership?

[TetRefine]

So I have a question for the more experienced GA authors, especially the Promising and Hosted ones (or whatever they call you guys now ).

 

What are some good ways to grow you're readership for stories? Granted I am brand new and only have one chapter posted so far, but I want to try and do this right and get my work as far spread as possible. I've gotten a fair amount of views on my story so far, and a pretty good number of reviews, but I'm wondering how you guys effectively market, so to speak, you're works. 

 

Any advice would be appreciated for this newbie.

Edited February 19, 2014 by TetRefine

[joann414]

As a reader, and just a regular author, you're doing all the right things.  You're mentioning your chapter in your status, you have a discussion thread, and you're putting the word out there that you have a story.  And it a damn good first chapter if I may say so.  

[Mann Ramblings]

I think you're on the right track so far. Making announcements to update and encouraging discussion by review and forums is a good place to start. And the big one is to respond in reasonable time to all reviews. This is one site that thrives on interactions between the author and reader. Accept criticism graciously, even if it's not favorable and take it as an opportunity to fine tune your writing. (Nobody wants to read the work of a snotty bitch. LOL) Update as often as your schedule allows or if possible, make a schedule for the sake of your readership to know what to look forward to. If there is too long a break between installments, some readers can drop off.

 

Sometimes the response is a slow build and other times you catch the right group at the right time. Good luck!

[Cia]

Mann and Jo Ann hit the nail on the head for GA. The graphic signature link helps too. Networking with other authors, and readers, is key. Being active in general, reading, writing, answering reviews, commenting on the forums, etc... is important but just keep writing. The more you write, the more fans you gather too. Honestly, I receive more comments off GA nowadays than I do on it, but I have only so much time on the site so that's relegated to projects, site work, and answering reviews. If I had to say the #1 thing that helps is reading other author's work and commenting for them. We may not have an express tit for tat system, but it's very clear by looking at the Promising that many of them read and review for each other, encouraging better quality and consistent posting. Because, face it, we all tend to write if we know we have an audience waiting for us.

[Ashi]

Matt, you're doing fine!!!  Just like Jo Ann said, you did everything properly, and Mann and Cia all gave wonderful advice.  You should be given a plaque for being a model first-time author.    Here is a list of right things you did (as I see it), so you know exactly what you did are right:

1. You announced your story (in status, in forum, and in chat).
2. You encouraged readers interaction (to review and to discuss your story).
3. You showed you care about your story (why should anyone care about the story if the author him/herself doesn't seem to care?).
4. You followed GA guidelines and utilized all the nice resources GA provided for you (i.e., editors, beta readers, promotional tools).
5. You did all of the above with a positive attitude.
6. And with this post, you showed you want to be successful, and I believe you will (not just as an author, but as a person).

It's easier to repeat a mistake than to replicate success, so to me, number one thing is to review this: what did I do right?.  I hope this helps.  Sometimes it isn't so obvious, perhaps it's because it's so natural to you, but they are nevertheless important.

 

Just be patient.  You're on the right track and success doesn't come overnight, so just keep doing a good job.  I believe in you. 

Edited February 19, 2014 by Ashi

[Mark Arbour]

 Nobody wants to read the work of a snotty bitch.

 

Right.  Just goes to show what you know.  That's why I have the most read story on the site.

 

As far as boosting readership, I posted something like that in one of the threads, and hit on four things.  I'll repeat myself.  it's a snotty bitch thing.    I think that it's less about the mechanics of announcements and banners, but more about the following:

 

1.  Your stories have to be interesting.  You're asking readers to take their time (which is valuable to them) to read what you write, so it better be worth the effort.  If it really sparks a reaction, they'll comment in the forums or they'll review. 

 

2.  The grammar has to be good.  The first one draws people in, but this one can drive them out. 

 

3.   You should be active on the site, and not just in your own forums or threads.  If people know who you are, they're more likely to read your story. 

 

4.   Volume.  You have to post consistently, at least until a story is done.  Readers don't like being left hanging, and if they're trusting you enough to invest in your story, don't let them down by not producing chapters for them to read. 

Edited February 19, 2014 by Mark Arbour

[The Pecman]

God, I hate it when people use the word "grow" as a verb. How about: "What are some good ways to increase your readership for stories?" That works. (I also can't stand using "impact" as an adjective: "How has your story impacted readers?" vs. "What kind of impact has your story had on readers?")

 

Promotion is one of the most difficult things about publish-on-demand authors, and it's the same for eBooks and online fiction. Mark Arbour's comments above are 100% right, but still omits how to get the word out, which is the missing link for commercial success. 

[TetRefine]

God, I hate it when people use the word "grow" as a verb. How about: "What are some good ways to increase your readership for stories?" That works.

 

Why? Isn't that exactly what we are trying to do here? To me 'grow' is a pretty fitting word to use.

[Thorn Wilde]

Erm... Grow is a verb. Grow, grows, growing, grew, has grown, will grow...

 

'What are you growing?' 'Oh, I'm growing tomatoes!'

 

I think 'growing readership' is perfectly fine, because in order to increase one's readership one has to nurture it. Grow it. 

Edited February 20, 2014 by Thorn Wilde

[Cia]

God, I hate it when people use the word "grow" as a verb. How about: "What are some good ways to increase your readership for stories?" That works. (I also can't stand using "impact" as an adjective: "How has your story impacted readers?" vs. "What kind of impact has your story had on readers?")

 

Promotion is one of the most difficult things about publish-on-demand authors, and it's the same for eBooks and online fiction. Mark Arbour's comments above are 100% right, but still omits how to get the word out, which is the missing link for commercial success. 

 

That's because there is NO single magic action to promote readership and create a successful eBook venture. Viral marketing sometimes just happens, as is the case with some seriously hack fanfiction that's become immensely mainstream popular in recent years. There are things you can do, however.

 

1. Know your market. Watch the reading trends, see what's selling. You have to factor things in like story length, genre, plot and character elements, author's existing backlist... For instance, paranormal themes are still popular, but last spring, summer, fall post-apocalyptic fiction was on the rise. It even showed in the movie trends, hence all the sci-fi summer blockbusters. Right now Young Adult and super hero stories are on the rise, and 'family' fiction is still holding strong as a mid-range well-sold genre. Some of the most popular ages for eBooks are college age and young adult. Blue collar professions like soldiers, cops, etc... rank right up there.

 

How do I know this? I check seller site Best seller lists, as well as daily checks on what's released/how fast that hits the lists, how many reviews they get, etc... I also track MM groups on Goodreads to see what books are included into which categories, how they're rated, and how many stories are in each category and when.

 

2. Network. For every author you connect with, you increase your exposure. This is definitely tit-for-tat. I cross-promote via my off-site blog with other eBook authors for promos and contests, which leads to them using their social media to promote, which often leads to some of their fans using their social media to promote... and thus viral marketing begins. This can include being part of special groups, like my weekly flash fiction group where we post prompted 500-1000 word flash updates on Wednesday, as often as our personal schedule allow, and cross-promote for each other or paying to join professional author groups to going to conferences and regional meet-ups.

 

3. Grow an existing fan-base and keep it growing. Many of the earlier hints are especially valid here. What works on GA works on other sites. Plus, always be on the lookout for new opportunities to gain new fans. I post on 2 other free fiction websites, plus I took part in one of the biggest MM Romance group's free summer reads event in 2013. Considering they have a massive audience, plus a lot of eBooks authors take part, AND they have editing help provided, post the story in the group and as a free download on a related website, AND create eBooks to post on sale sites... that's a huge spread to the MM niche market with very little effort, other than writing, on the author's part. I'm also part of several yahoo author/reader groups that allow authors to promote themselves.  

 

Because face it... all these things take time, time that you cannot be writing. Creating blog posts, setting up promo marketing, actually doing the promotional events like blog hops, contests, posting on social media... can take anywhere from minutes to hours. You have to factor all that in to keep a balance, because obviously you have to write, and write well, first. That means you have to spend time learning how to write, always expanding your technique and editing skills.

 

In other words... if you want to post stories or publish and do well, you need to understand it takes a lot of commitment and perseverance. There are many different routes to success, but you can never stop trying. There are millions of books, and eBooks, and free stories vying for their audience's attention, and authors can't expect to have theirs noticed without making it happen.

 

Last year I saw my first full year of eBook sales. Four eBooks, one novella with a small publisher out in late 2012, one contract bonus for a novel at large publisher that came out last month, and three self-published novellas led to about $5,000 in sales. I've had a TON of help along the way, but that's a drop in the bucket compared to many of the big names in MM eBooks based on their backlist, time between publishings, and general sales numbers.

[Cole Matthews]

Wonderful topic. Very helpful. So helpful I have a question. How do you create and use a graphic signature link? I'd love to use that!

[Cia]

Well, you create the graphic, or ask someone to make it for you via photo/graphic image software (gimp is a free photo layer editing program, for example, or photoshop, CS...). You can use your own photos, free stock, whatever, cut down fit within the 200x600 size maximum. Please don't use copyrighted images, that's against the rules. You can load your graphic into a gallery here on GA, then use the other options button to get the image link. Then go into your control panel to edit your profile, click on the signature in the column of options, use the small green picture icon in the text editor (looks like a pic with a green tree/bush, 2nd row) to insert the picture.

 

Paste the image link into the picture button in your signature, click ok/save. Then highlight the graphic in the text editor. Click on the link button which appears on the 2nd row near the pic button (chain link, has a small green circle/white cross on it). Add in the url for your story listing or to a specific story. (Either click on 'my stories' when on the Stories tab, then copy the page url or go to a specific story detail page with all the info and the chapter listing, then copy that page's ur)l. Paste into the appropriate field on the link button on your signature text editor area, click ok/save... and BOOM, graphic link that takes people to your story(ies).

 

All this info, and more, can be found in the faq through the ? tab in the red menu bar on the site.

[Cole Matthews]

Thank you for the explanation. I'm gonna do that this weekend. 

[Sasha Distan]

So I have a question for the more experienced GA authors, especially the Promising and Hosted ones (or whatever they call you guys now ).

 

What are some good ways to grow you're readership for stories? Granted I am brand new and only have one chapter posted so far, but I want to try and do this right and get my work as far spread as possible. I've gotten a fair amount of views on my story so far, and a pretty good number of reviews, but I'm wondering how you guys effectively market, so to speak, you're works. 

 

Any advice would be appreciated for this newbie.

 

Lots of people have given some really good advice, but most importantly, regardless of status updates and all the social stuff - write good quality fiction and update regularly. everything else will follow.