tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156774345834415238.post2262721156467827544..comments2022-03-24T09:39:50.207-04:00Comments on The Patriots of Mars: Rent, or Own Your Audience?Jeff Fariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12311004609431680032noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156774345834415238.post-41101437929720697742012-06-18T11:24:56.291-04:002012-06-18T11:24:56.291-04:00Oh, there is one other point I should mention. It&...Oh, there is one other point I should mention. It's been on my mind since I began this. There is a concept of 'people who read' and 'people who don't read'. As you would expect, publishers and authors tend to market to the 'people who read'.<br /><br />Same thing happens with genres. There are folks who read Romance Novels, and folks who don't. There are folks who read sci-fi, who go to ComiCons and so on, and those who don't. Typically you sell to the 'ones that do' and ignore the ones that don't.<br /><br />But occasionally, you get a 'Harry Potter' or a 'Da Vinci Code' or a 'Dark Knight' or an 'Alien' where the usual reader/nonreader distinctions do not apply. The only distinctions re such properties are the people who are interested in them, and the people who are not. I believe that 'Patriots' may be a book that is not bound by interest in reading or interest in sci-fi.Jeff Fariahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12311004609431680032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156774345834415238.post-42196446504681466202012-06-18T11:11:30.642-04:002012-06-18T11:11:30.642-04:004) One other point re FB: Their relatively new ...4) One other point re FB: Their relatively new 'subscribe' feature turns out to be a tremendous tool for building a great online community - if you use it properly. I may talk about that in a future post, as it's a worthy subject all by itself. This was a realization that I just came to grips with a few weeks ago, and having put it to use I have seen some very gratifying results. (Just in time, too, because I had started to become frustrated with FB and was wondering if I was, in fact, wasting precious time.)<br /><br />5) Re authors & Facebook: Yes, I see many authors hanging out together and trying to sell each other books via FB. Yes, I see the frustration and bitterness of doing that. Yes, I do wonder what the hell they are thinking. No, my own 'friends' list contains relatively few authors (and even those few, for the most part, aren't my 'competition'). I keep some authors on my list who have been genuinely friendly and supportive and who openly share information. Theresa Ragan, for instance, is as warm and open and supportive as they come.<br /><br />6) Re Twitter: My first 2,000 followers (I am just over 1,700 now but should be at 2K shortly) are comprised of various folks chosen for various reasons. One of those reasons, quite frankly, was simply because they were moved to follow back! Twitter is designed to make that first 2,000 is a tough slog. The next hurdle, I understand, is at 5,000. What I will do for the next 3,000 is to focus on book reviewers. I want to establish as many relationships with them as possible, because once the book is released it will need reviews. Most online book reviewers are overwhelmed with requests (demands?) for book reviews. Establishing casual relations with some of these folks early on is far better than blasting out emails requesting reviews once the book is out.<br /><br />Twitter is a unique tool this way - you really can build your list pretty much the way you want, and focus it much more narrowly than anything outside, say, Goodreads. That is, as long as you are willing to do the heavy lifting and put in the hours to find the folks you want to reach (and, of course, who WANT to be reached).<br /><br />Anyway, Kathleen, that's where I'm coming from on this. For better or worse, this is what makes sense to me.Jeff Fariahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12311004609431680032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156774345834415238.post-81386029117425653582012-06-18T11:11:20.993-04:002012-06-18T11:11:20.993-04:00You're not wrong, but there's a dichotomy ...You're not wrong, but there's a dichotomy in play here.<br /><br />WIthout question, the average Goodreads user (or the inhabitants of some of the other virtual communities you cite) is more likely to be a reader than the average Facebook or Twitter user. For that matter, the average Google+ user is also more likely to buy/read books than the users of those services! <br /><br />My problem with Goodreads is twofold: (1) It would be socially inappropriate (i.e., rude) for me to appear on that service, as an author, hawking my book. Nor would I enjoy doing that. (2) The appropriate way for me to use Goodreads is to read/report on books. By establishing relationships that way, it can become 'naturally' known that I am an author and so on. Right now, though, I am too busy doing my advance promo and finishing 'Patriots' to read anything longer than a magazine article. For me at the moment, the Goodreads method is too slow.<br /><br />On the other hand, as you suggest, I am promoting myself to folks less likely to read. Therefore, that is at least as much a poor use of time as I claim Goodreads to be! <br /><br />But here's what lies beneath the surface:<br /><br />1) Many Facebook users are also Goodreads users. Many of the folks on my friends list are known readers. Some of them are influential among other readers. (I did my homework in this regard.)<br /><br />2) I do not need my Facebook friends and subscribers to read my book! What I need them to do, and hope they will feel moved to do, is to download my book when it comes out (FREE) on Kindle. That initial surge is what jumpstarts the Amazon machine - or fails to, if it fizzles. And the Amazon book-selling machine is ultimately what you want on your side.<br /><br />3) I also want my FB friends to be moved to talk about me, and to talk about the issues surrounding my book, and not necessarily the book itself - because the book is not yet out. I can't expect folks to talk about a book by an unknown author that has not yet been released! But there are issues the book addresses that do come up naturally in conversation on FB. And believe it or not, folks have been finding these conversations and finding me - and asking about 'Patriots' - as a result. This has been happening at an accelerating rate.Jeff Fariahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12311004609431680032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156774345834415238.post-16413209461033621982012-06-17T21:07:29.791-04:002012-06-17T21:07:29.791-04:00You make excellent points and I agree almost compl...You make excellent points and I agree almost completely, with the exception that I am not sure Facebook friends and Twitter followers are the best way to find real readers. You may be right, and I'm not giving up on them, but I tend to think the actual readers are gravitating more toward sites like Goodreads and the various Kindle blogs, etc. Facebook seems to be more about sharing funny videos, music, politics, etc, etc. I see a lot of writers flogging their books on Facebook and I see their "friends" responding but I wonder if it is the author's most productive use of time (see Amanda Hocking).Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12306491903311869968noreply@blogger.com