By Rob Eagar
If you want to build a following, especially online, the key is to position yourself as someone who is worth following. The best way to attract a large group is by becoming an object of interest, which means the ability to draw people to you by dent of your expertise or charismatic personality.
For instance, celebrities in our society, such as actors, reality TV stars, musicians, athletes, bestselling authors, and politicians, are considered objects of interest, because people are fascinated by their glamorous lifestyle, eccentric behavior, or award-winning achievements. Likewise, intellectual experts, such as scientists, doctors, lawyers, ministers, reporters, and counselors, can also be objects of interest, because of their ability to help people discover new information or overcome personal challenges.
People won’t become your fan unless you give them a clear reason. I know this sounds obvious, but it’s that’s simple. If you’re engaging in social media and struggling to build a growing community, then people probably don’t regard you as interesting. You’re lost in the mix of more appealing authors who are getting attention. So, your goal should be to magnify the best parts of your book and your author expertise. Use your strengths to make people want to stay connected with you. For example, below is a list of ways to attract a following based on the genre of books that you write:
- Non-fiction advice, how-to, textbooks: Deliver clear answers to common problems.
- Biographies, reference: Provide insight into historical or current events.
- Fiction, romance, chick-lit: Generate intense feelings of emotion or passion.
- Gift books, children’s, religious: Serve as a constant source of encouragement.
- Memoirs, comedy: Supply a unique sense of humor and wit.
- Science fiction, young adult, crime: Create a feeling of fear, wonder, or suspense.
- Business, political commentary: Express counter-intuitive opinions that challenge status quo.
This list is just a sample of the diverse ways that any fiction or non-fiction author could draw attention to their name and their books. I go into a lot more detail on this topic in my new book, Sell Your Book Like Wildfire. You might choose to rely on one approach build interest. Or, you could combine several styles to help capture an audience. The point is to establish yourself as someone who is interesting and genuinely worth following. You don’t have to change your personality. Rather, be yourself. But, give people a reason to like you, respect your skills, and want more of who you are.
About the Author
Rob Eagar is the founder of WildFire Marketing, a consulting practice that helps authors and publishers sell more books and spread their message like wildfire. He has assisted numerous New York Times bestselling authors and his new book, Sell Your Book Like Wildfire, will be published by Writer’s Digest in June, 2012. Find out more about Rob’s advice, products, and coaching services for authors at: www.startawildfire.com
By Rob Eagar, author of Sell Your Book Like Wildfire
Did you know that Amazon lets authors see who is highlighting notes in their books and tweeting content to friends? When someone reads a book using a Kindle device or app, Amazon stores the information they highlight. Plus, Amazon displays who used Twitter to spread word of mouth to their friends. How does it work?
1. Go to: https://kindle.amazon.com
2. Type in the title of your book in the “Search” box at the top right-hand corner.
3. Click on your title when it appears in the search listing.
4. You will see a picture of your book cover, a list that says “Posts from this book,” and a section called “Highlights,” which shows content that people notated while reading your book on their Kindle.
It may seem a little creepy that Amazon tracks all of this reader information. But, keep in mind that Amazon only displays information that readers agree to make public. There’s no blatant invasion of privacy. Kindle readers can turn off this sharing feature if they desire.
Amazon’s slogan for their Kindle service is “Read. Review. Remember.” I like that tagline, and I think their new service offers some innovative promotional opportunities for authors. Here’s why:
1. Authors get an unprecedented opportunity to peek into the minds of their readers. You can see what parts of a book resonate with readers the most, because you can literally see the passages that people highlighted. This ability allows the author to focus future blog posts, free resources, interview topics, or social media conversations on content that they know people already find intriguing.
2. Authors can identify and thank readers who share word of mouth via Twitter. By seeing who tweets your material, you can leave a message at that individual’s Twitter account to show your appreciation for telling their friends. How cool is that?
3. If your book doesn’t have many highlighted portions or shared posts, it could indicate that your book isn’t being discovered or the content isn’t capturing reader interest. Knowing that information can serve as a wake-up call to improve your marketing or strengthen the manuscript for your next book.
Even though this service from Amazon is unique, I would urge you to take it with a grain of salt. Don’t base your book’s marketing plan or primary promotional activities on the comments you see posted or the passages highlighted. Those comments listed only represent a small fraction of your total reader base. Instead, stay focused on marketing your book based on its overall value. Use the benefit of this service to gauge what kind of conversation is happening around your books.
I’m excited to see Amazon offer another ground-breaking service that brings readers and authors closer together. At times, they seem like one of the few organizations dedicated to helping authors break the down the walls of publishing.
About the Author
Rob Eagar is the founder of WildFire Marketing, a consulting practice that helps authors and publishers sell more books and spread their message like wildfire. He has assisted numerous New York Times bestselling authors and his new book, Sell Your Book Like Wildfire, will be published by Writer’s Digest in June, 2012. Find out more about Rob’s advice, products, and coaching services for authors at: www.startawildfire.com
At least, it is MY dream. I’ve always wanted to see a stranger reading one of my books. Instead I saw someone reading Ellen Hopkins’ book Crank on the elevator at work. She’s my myspace “friend” and that was back in the day when I saw my myspace friends kind of like real friends, people I might go out for drinks with. I probably use the term more loosely now. Anyway, I was excited on her behalf. I told the reader that I was friends with Ellen on myspace, and then I sent a message to Ellen telling her about it.
So because I still think of Ellen as my friend, I was excited when I read a feature about her in PW online: “Ellen Hopkins sold her first verse book, Crank, just on the first 75 pages—and without an agent. Since then she has written three additional books—all in verse—dealing with heavy subjects such as teen drug addiction and suicide. Here she speaks with Bookshelf about the power of her format, why her readers trust her so much, and her latest book, Glass.”
Read more of her interview here.
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In the post below David D. Perlmutter, a professor in the KU School of Journalism & Mass Communications, and author of Blogwars, refutes the idea that political blog readership is low as reported in the mainstream news. What do you think? Are political blogs affecting this election?
Newspaper headlines, especially describing social surveys, often are matters of “glass half empty or half full” opinion. Here’s a major example of the last couple of weeks: a Harris Interactive survey conducted between January 15 to January 22 of 2,302 adults found that “Just under one-quarter (23%) say that they read them several times a year and just 22 percent of Americans read blogs regularly (several times a month or more).” Almost always when the story was picked up the headline was some version of the way it appeared on the Reuters wire: “Poll: Most Americans don’t read political blogs.” Harris themselves headlined their survey as “More Than Half of Americans Never Read Political Blogs.” (more…)
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By R. Michael Alvarez
After my co-editor, Jonathan N. Katz, and I took over editorship of Political Analysis in January 2010, one of our primary goals was to extend the readership and intellectual reach of our journal. We wished to grow our readership internationally, and to also deepen our reach outside of political science, into other social sciences.
