I apologize for the silly pun on a line from the great American classic, Field of Dreams. However, as I pondered my lackluster, two year plus self-publishing venture on my way to work yesterday morning, the twist of words came to me and I couldn’t resist using the phrase as my post title today.
I’ve finally learned that just writing a book and even getting a good number of positive reviews doesn’t equate to sales. I need to figure out how to reach readers. I need to figure out how to get my book into the hands (or onto the eReaders) of my target audience. But who is my audience? Well, I hope if you’re reading this post, you’re my target audience! However, to narrow it down, I think my writing is best geared towards women ages 25 – 45. (Considering I’m right smack dab in the middle at age 35, I think that makes sense.) More specifically, I think my books will appeal to women in that age bracket, who are busy, love a little romance, and relish in the moments they have a few free minutes to lounge with a nice, light-hearted book.
So where to start? Well, several years ago, I had a personal blog. That’s when I really started to write. I blogged about a bunch of things – books, music, weekend adventures. Some posts flopped; some posts received wonderful feedback. Basically, I wrote about the things I enjoyed. Over the course of a year and a half, I connected with some pretty great people that I never would have met otherwise.
It was a fun and enriching experience. If you met me in person, you’d find I’m reserved and very private. I’m sure my friends and family would be a little surprised to learn I share bits of my life through blogging. However, blogging taught me that it’s not that I’m unwilling to share; it’s that I’m simply more of a writer than a talker.
I plan to start blogging again. I want to share a little about the places I go and the things that I do. So much about the places in my books come from the area I’ve called home for my entire life. I hope as time goes on, I connect with fellow bloggers again and eventually find my target audience.
Then one day when I write, they will read.