On Saturday, four Write-On Joliet writers appeared at The Book Market in Plainfield.
All four of us produced books of different genres, and all four of us have sold our books since they their publication. Three of us are professional writers by trade and have worked as writers for decades.
All four of us marketed the event. The store owner created a display of our books and handed out mini flyers to customers in the weeks preceding the event.
Traffic was slow, some friends and one customer.
Now don't get me wrong. We appreciate the support of our family and friends. Indeed, that support is often what keeps us motivated to churn out text. Never, ever do we underestimate the belief our loved ones invest in us.
But the reason why we write is to reach readers who will be as passionate about our written words as we are, as our loved ones are. Reaching our readers is a frustrating, often fruitless, process for indie and traditionally published authors alike.
We hunger for readers to read and love our work. Readers want to find good books. We have good books. And we're often clueless how to connect the two.
YES, we had a good time. YES, we enjoyed meeting you and reconnecting with supporters.
But, as we unpacked and set up, I'm certain each of us secretly hoped we'd sell out our merchandise. I'm sure the owner of The Book Market secretly hoped the same. And, of course, most of it went back into the boxes at the end of those two hours.
As we were packing up, one of those authors turned to me and asked, "Do you have any ideas?"
I don't.
But it's a concept I've been musing on and researching for the past few months. I'll share as I go.
No comments:
Post a Comment