There\u2019s a new term I\u2019ve been seeing used throughout the Internet. It\u2019s \u201caudience development.\u201d Have you heard\/read it? Do you know what it means? It seems to be a marketing term implying the process of creating buyers for your products. <\/p>\n
When I first saw the term, I thought it referred to public speaking and\/or perhaps one\u2019s readership. And it might be slanted that way. I mean, when you are speaking in front of a group, you want to develop that audience into one that is interested, attentive\u2014eating out of your hand, as they say. And your readers\u2014you want that audience to fall in love with your characters, to hang on your every word, to enjoy the reading experience. You want to develop your reading audience, right? You want to create an audience through your amazing promotional efforts and you want to grow that audience and then develop that audience into one that thoroughly enjoys and\/or appreciates your book, right? <\/p>\n
How do we do that? <\/p>\n
I\u2019m reminded of the \u201cDora the Explorer\u201d educational cartoons that I get to watch over and over every Wednesday when our 3-year-old granddaughter is here. These programs are amazing. They have elements of education, reasoning, understanding, community (working together), ethics, principles and problem solving, for example. There\u2019s always a challenge, a plan and 3 steps to resolving the issue. I\u2019d like to provide 3 steps to audience development. Now that\u2019s a challenge for me. If you\u2019ve been reading my books, the articles at my website and this blog for very long, you know that I like to give long lists of ideas.<\/p>\n
1: Identify your audience.
\n2: Locate your audience.
\n3: Attract your audience.
\n4: Develop your audience.<\/p>\n
Well you can see that I failed in my attempt to keep the steps to 3. I have 4 of them here for you to consider.<\/p>\n
How many of you ever put this sort of thought into your audience when you decide to write a book, while you\u2019re writing it, when you are going through the publishing process or even once the book is completed? You know intellectually that your book sales depend on readers\/customers. But do you think about \u201caudience development\u201d in any sort of real sense? Do you spend time considering the individuals who make up your audience\u2014their reading pleasures, their reading needs and desires?<\/p>\n
Do you know where to find your potential audience? If you watch Dora with your children or grandchildren, you know that she relies on \u201cThe Map\u201d to lay out the steps to her destinations. You may need help along the way, too. And there are numerous avenues you can pursue to get that assistance. Your well-thought out, well-researched book proposal is an excellent starting place.<\/p>\n
Next, you must attract your audience. Now how do you do that? Typically through promotion, exposure\u2014getting word out about your book. No one will buy it if they don\u2019t know about it.<\/p>\n
And then we come to audience development. That, too, is up to you. And you can go back all the way to square one with your book in order to start developing that audience. Yes, this is something you should be thinking about even before you start writing the book. Forget about Field of Dreams<\/em>\u2014\u201cbuild it and they will come.\u201d That concept is pure fantasy, especially in the highly competitive bookselling industry. <\/p>\n If you want to soothe your literary itch by writing what\u2019s in your heart and\/or on your mind, go for it. But don\u2019t NECESSARILY expect it to be of interest to others. And especially don\u2019t attempt to go out and find an audience after the writing is done.<\/p>\n As authors, we are at liberty of writing whatever we want. As authors whose goal is to be published, we must, at some point in the process, trade in our writer\u2019s heart for an entrepreneurial head and replace our muse with strategy. <\/p>\n Some of you have published books. Are they selling well? Are you completely in-tune with your audience? Are you marketing to the right audience? Or are you still puzzled by the concept of audience development? Tomorrow is the deadline for joining in on my online Book Promotion Course (in progress). Sign up NOW at There\u2019s a new term I\u2019ve been seeing used throughout the Internet. It\u2019s \u201caudience development.\u201d Have you heard\/read it? Do you know what it means? It seems to be a marketing term implying the process of creating buyers for your products. When I first saw the term, I thought it referred to public speaking and\/or perhaps […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
\n http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/course_bookpromotion.htm<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"