My Worst Writing Fear:
Not Finding My Readers
by
T. W. Fendley
Since my first novel was
published in 2011, my worst writing fear has been that I won’t connect “my”
readers. With so many books competing for readers’ attention, it’s not easy to
find my niche.
One technique, I've been
told, is to envision the “perfect reader,” and market to that person. The
closest I’ve come to that is myself, since I write the kind of stories I like
to read. In particular, I think my readers are those who liked:
· -
books by Jules Verne as
a kid
· -
epic time travel books
like Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series
· -
books about cycles and
history such as Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series
· -
nonfiction books about
metaphysical concepts like Gregg Braden writes
·
- mystical fiction like
James Redfield’s Celestine Prophecy and Elisabeth Haich’s Initiation,
and
· -
adventure stories with
aliens like the movie Super 8.
One way I find out about
books is through my friends on Goodreads and Library Thing. I’ve offered
giveaways on both sites, and several hundred people added my books to their “to
read” list. Yay! Through those events, I gave away 10 print and 10 ebook copies
of my first novel, the historical fantasy ZERO TIME, and I got only two
reviews. So far, I’ve given away a dozen print and 25 ebook copies of my young
adult fantasy, THE LABYRINTH OF TIME, with similar results.
Which brings me to the
gorilla in the room. The marketing experts say you need good reviews—and lots
of them--to attract readers. I believe that’s true, since I look at customer
reviews for most things I buy. While I’ve been very happy with the reviews I’ve
received, I’m pretty sure more would help me reach the right readers. This
year, a couple of months before its release, I put LABYRINTH up on Net Galley.
I got only a smattering of reviews, but a few hundred of the
subscribers--bloggers, librarians and reviewers--learned about it. Awareness is
the first step, right?
I also envisioned readers
who are as passionate as I am about ancient American history, particularly the
Inca, Aztec and Maya cultures. So I joined the Historical Novel Society in 2011
and submitted ZERO TIME for review—it didn’t happen. A couple of years
later, I went to a Maya symposium at Tulane University, hoping to connect
directly with archeologists and historians. Only nonfiction books were sold at
the conference, and few of the other attendees seemed interested in fiction.
How, then, to reach more armchair archeology and history lovers like myself?
Perhaps, as one marketing
guru suggests, I just need to be direct and ask my readers to leave reviews.
You’d think with all the self-promotion I’ve been doing, that wouldn’t seem
awkward, but it does. Of course, until I became a writer, I didn’t realize how
important it was to get reviews. At some point, I will revise the copy at the
end of the books to make my request.
When I worked in corporate
America, I used to have a bull’s eye drawn on a sheet of paper posted on the
wall outside my cubicle. When I got really frustrated, I’d bang my head
on it. I know—not very sophisticated. My coworkers used it, too. Dealing
with a bureaucracy can be frustrating, so we found a harmless way to let off a
little steam and put things in perspective. I’m finding the publishing world at
least as perplexing. Maybe it’s time to drag out the old bull’s eye—I have
the perfect place for it on my office wall.
~~#~~
Author Bio:
Author Bio:
T. W. Fendley
T.W.
Fendley is an
award-winning author of historical fantasy and science fiction for
adults and young adults. She began writing fiction full-time in 2007
after working twenty-five years in journalism and corporate
communications. In October 2011, L&L Dreamspell LLC published her debut historical fantasy novel for adults, Zero Time. Her young adult contemporary
fantasy novel, The Labyrinth of Time, was released in November 2014. Her short stories are available on Kindle and Audible.
She
fell in love with ancient American cultures while researching story
ideas at the 1997 Clarion Science Fiction and
Fantasy Writers’ Workshop. Since then, she’s trekked to archeological
sites in the
Yucatan, Peru and American Southwest. When she’s not writing, T.W.
explores the boundaries of consciousness through remote viewing and
shamanism. She currently lives near St. Louis with her artist husband
and his pet fish.
You can find T.W. Fendley online on her author website and Blog plus on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
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BLURB:
The Labyrinth of Time
Spending spring break in Peru with her grandmother
isn’t sixteen-year-old Jade’s idea of fun. She’d much rather be with her
friends at Lake of the Ozarks. Then she meets Felix, a museum
director’s son. Jade discovers only she and Felix can telepathically
access messages left on engraved stones in the age of dinosaurs.
Following
the ancient stones’ guidance, they
enter the Labyrinth of Time and–with a
shapeshifting dog’s help–seek a red crystal called the Firestone. But
time is running out before the First Men return on the night of the
second blue moon.
Can Jade restore the Firestone’s powers before the First Men return to judge humanity?
