You can blog your way to an author platform before your book is done. I found an article in Writer’s Digest called “Alpha-Blog Soup” It tells why you should consider blogging if you want to write a book. The advantage of blogging is that you will alredady have readership before you finish your book. This is HUGE. Agents and publishers love when you have a readership already. Blogging is for non-fiction and fiction writers.
ABCs of Blogging
First you need a solid base to start. Most newbies (that included me) put out lots of content without thinking about their audience or their brand. This causes them to spin their wheels.
First You Need Your Audience
You want to create blog psts now. But if you don’t know who your audience is you will be wasting your time. You need to know exactly who you are writing for.
1. CHOOSE A COMPETITIVE TITLE
First thing you nedd to do is to find a competitive title to the one you want to wrtite. This should be aimed at the same people you want to write for. Often people pick too big and general an audience like all Harry Potter fans or “women 18-74”. Instead ask yourself why the people you are targeting would be interested in reading your blog.. Ask yourself what themes come across in my writing? What emotions do oes my writing bring out. What reasons would your audience want to read my writing? Figuring out why will help you understand who you are writing for.
2. CHECK THE REVIEWS
You can now check the reviews of the “comp” title you have chosen. Pick one and look it up on Amazon or Goodreads.
Read the reviews of the title you have chosen. Pick the 3 and 4 star reviews. 5 star reviews are too glowing. 1 and 2 star reviews have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed. The ones in the middle will help you figure out who your audience is Pick a few reviews and look at them closely like you were in a lit class in college. Look for phrases that catch youe attention.
3. LOOK AT THE REVIEWERS.
Click on the reviwers name and it will take you to their profile. There is a wealth of information there. You will find demographic and psychographic information that will be a gold mine of insights. Look at their biography. How do they talk about themselves as a reader, reviwer and as a person? What kinds of words and phrases do they use to describe themselves and the type of books they love? You may have to read between the lines a little to see what is there.
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4. SELECT ANOTHER COMP TITLE
Look at other books reviewed by the same reviewer. That will lead you to other similar books. If the reviewer is a dead end you can go back to the original title . Look for the “cusomers who bought this also bought” phrase. This will lead you to other titles. You can follow up with the same type of research you have just. done. Continue collecting information about people who love books similar to yours .
5. START USING WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED
It is easy to get sucked into the reasearch. You will know it it is time to stop when the same answers keep coming up. The magic number is probably seven or less. So don’t keep going endlessly.
I am going to stop here and coninue with branding and content and developing your following in another post.
This is the best information I have seen on how to determine your audience. It is a bit of a process but it will save time in the end. You won’t be writing a bunch of unrelated posts.
Please comment on this post if you have a question or a comment. I will answer as soon as possible.