Support for Indie Authors discussion

I'd like to target my marketing more precisely. I believe that if I could find readers naturally inclined to my fiction genre and subject matter, I could increase sales. Where are they?

I'm already partnering with other writers in the same genres (thrillers, speculative fiction, scifi) to gather email addresses. I'm also active on social media. Fundamentally, however, I have no idea what my readers want. I want to know more about them. With more information, I could find other channels to reach more readers. For example, if I knew my readers preferred to buy "green," I could reach out to virtual and physical places they gather. Make sense?

How do I gather this data, while respecting privacy and not spending gobs of money?

I recently asked this question in a facebook book group and asked them where they find new readers of this or that genre.

Most of them say they find book recommendations in facebook groups and reputable blogs. Some websites such as Bookbub also informs them of new releases. Almost all of them say that they would only buy books when someone they know has similar taste to them is recommending it. So if you could get your title to be available this way, you'd definitely get some buyers.

But they definitely don't like it when authors post a "buy my book" kind of posts even within their niche group. Which is quite confusing for us authors because how could we possibly get our book recommended by someone without self advertising to those initial readers in the first place, right? I'm still trying to work that out.

But to answer the question of where to get the data you want, asking questions in facebook book clubs seem to be the best free option for me. You could also google the info you want because some people already did the research (I found out a lot of fantasy fans are people in the professional line of work!)

Then there are other paid services that suggest you with popular keyword searches by certain groups of people that you could use to best improve your SEO. KDP Rocket is one that I've been hearing a lot. I never used it though.

First, I think it is wrong to start trying to write what you think readers want. You have to write what is right for you and try and find the appropriate readers, because there will be some for everyone. The problem I have found then is how to describe what your approach is? Thus I write scifi or thrillers, with a touch of what real science is about for the scifi, and with the thrillers, I try to make the outcome more based on logic than dumb luck, but how do you describe that? I have a feeling that some attempts do little more than put some readers off, but then, maybe they were never mine anyway. Finding the readers most likely to like your books is a problem that I have never mastered, and I am not sure anyone else has either. If you have, and whatever might work for my sort of books, feel free to enlighten me. However, some approaches might work for some genres and not others, thus there is a huge difference between scifi readers and erotic romance, say.

Unless you plan to write to make nothing but money, building a following is mainly due to your words resonating with others. Perhaps this is what you were aiming for. Regardless of your reasoning, write what you would want to read. Your readers may not like everything you have to say, but if it resonates with you, then someone out there will find that it resonates with them as well. Just push forward and believe in your words. That is all that matters.

Good luck!

D. M. Shiro

I've been trying AMS ads recently, which is certainly a way you can target readers more precisely, though of course it does require some investment, I did a free course about AMS ads on Kindlepreneur which I would really recommend - it took 3 or 4 hours and I learnt loads about how to set up ads, identifying keywords, and optimising campaigns. It made me feel less nervous about putting money into these ads. I haven't made a profit on them yet but it's a process of improving them and learning more about what works and what doesn't, and some campaigns have come close to breaking even which I'm quite pleased with as I'm still pretty new to it.

I have found facebook groups useful for building relationships with readers and bloggers who are interested in my genre (psychological suspense) and it's really nice to interact with readers. I do think that most of my sales come either from AMS ads or readers finding my book on Amazon by browsing or from "also read", so making sure everything is set up really well on Amazon in terms of product page, keywords, attractive cover (by the way I love your covers from your Tales From A Warming Planet books J.G.!) is a high priority for me.

Thank you for posting that last message. I am totally going to look up that free course on Kindlepreneur!

L.K. wrote: "I've been trying AMS ads recently, which is certainly a way you can target readers more precisely, though of course it does require some investment, I did a free course about AMS ads on Kindleprene..."
Good advice and thanks for the compliment, L.K.

L.K. wrote: "I've been trying AMS ads recently, which is certainly a way you can target readers more precisely, though of course it does require some investment, I did a free course about AMS ads on Kindleprene..."
Thank you for this response and the potential resources! I have been considering an amazon ad, but did not want to waste money, and knew I needed to learn how; this will help me learn what I need to know. Appreciate this!

I think it comes down to a few factors.

Do you want to write for you or for them? If you write for you, because it's a story you want to see in the world, your chances to resonate with readers are higher. If you write for readers, you are never going to make anyone happy.

Writing and publishing a work close to your heart is very difficult. Marketing it to readers is even worse. I understand that while I may have many books published, I may never have the amount of readers I want. In fact, I may never have all the sales I want either.

Stay true to you and the readers will find you.

There are also other ways to promote. You can do a goodreads giveaway to build excitement. Especially since winners tend to be reviewers. Now, this is a risky game because reviews can make or break a book. You could advertise your book being free for a few days. Sites like Bookbub or RobinReads can help boost you. From there, books tend to spread out amongst the target audience you are trying to reach.

Really helpful ideas - thank you!

Write what you want to write, please, then hope fashion aligns with your subject and style some time in the future, at which point people will want to read your whole back catalogue. Please don't follow the current trend (vampire teens, fifty shades) as your heart won't be in it. Writing should be author-led, not market-led. Surprise their expectations with something fresh, don't copy what they've already seen. Sometimes you can use the tactic of making your cover art match the style of a successful writer in your field (there are many Pratchett-style covers) but that's just to get them to take it to the till. Keep the writing inside completely YOU.

AMEN! YAAASSSSS! Awesome advise!!!

Two words: More tentacles.

C.B. wrote: "Two words: More tentacles."

I was going to say cowbells but ... tentacles works too.

Your readers want more cowbells? Goes to show you can't please everyone.

I'm doomed. None of my work has tentacles or cowbells.

Cowbells and tentacles? Is that combo the legendary silver bullet?

C.B. wrote: "Cowbells and tentacles? Is that combo the legendary silver bullet?"

It's probably been done.