Your audience awaits

A budding artist sits, crayon in hand, a scrambled and wavy, multi-colored experiment lying on the floor before them, adoring family laughing and clapping in celebration. It is a wonderful artwork showing pets, family members and home. Obvious to the artist, less so for the audience. The first successful marks, receiving plaudits from captive admirers. Then follows similar acclamation for a scrawled word, barely discernable but assuredly a significant step in a young life. No marketing, no sales banter, no paid advertising, no possibility of disappointing the audience. Fame in their world and that of patient colleagues and friends who will be regaled with endless similar milestones.

Winterfell a backdrop for many scenes in The Game of Thrones

Wouldn’t it be lovely to have such turn-on-the-tap recognition when you finish your current project? There will be audiences for your works. As a rule, you will have to be patient, persistent and positive while it grows. Begin with friends and family, but that is a mere trickle compared with the numbers you are dreaming of. With that in mind, who is going to be your audience? It is not usually a case of build it and they will come. Writers become authors. It is not the flick of a switch.

Success does not always come easily. Take George R. R. Martin of Game of Thrones fame. He spent a long time working his craft as a writer before he became a successful author. If you would like to read just how hard it was for him, take a look at this article. The article shows us how persistence can pay off. Martin’s case is far from unusual. It is one I picked because, like J. K. Rowling and others who are now household names, he started off with rejection and then basically created a new(ish) genre with his first celebrated novel — there were several prior flops. That novel — The Game of Thrones — was 298 000 words. Huge word count.

However, to give yourself greater chance of success, read about reader expectations and write to make sure you fulfil those needs. Think of the joy the two authors mentioned above found when they became accepted. Read stories like theirs and understand that it may take time for your books to be displayed in thousands of houses and libraries.

When you launch into writing your first novel, stick with genres you enjoy reading because you will understand what the audiences in these are expecting. Do not try to cater for everyone because that will not go well — there are few omnigenre readers. Your tale must have the flavors your genre readers are wanting to consume when they pick your book from the shelves of a store (online or bricks and mortar). Keep in mind those expectations. Only a rare few start off by creating what appears to be a new genre. That includes word count.

So, who is going to read your book? Who will form the biggest crowds at your book concert? If you write teen romance, is it worth writing in the language and style that suits someone who reads non-fiction books about car maintenance? No? Why not? Genre boundaries are not clear-cut. However, each genre has a set of norms to guide you. Make sure you know what they are, right up to the fence-line.

Beautiful artwork, fabulous description, fandom in the reviews you garnered, and marketing genius all combine to tempt someone to download or take home your work. After your sales pitch, do not let your reader be disappointed. They will not soon forget the time and cost expended after taking home a book that did not match the sales pitch. These are people who are more vocal about their dissatisfaction than having their genre needs sated when they turn the last page in your story.

You will learn as you go. Get it started and then look for short bursts of guidance to take you to the next stage. The joy of publishing your first novel will soon vanquish any negative feelings you have about the chameleon writer to author transformation. Your days as a writer are numbered. Your audience awaits.

What is your preferred genre?

Then let’s get working on your novel in that genre.

Have fun.

Damon

Will readers reach for your book?

Will your book be a prized find?

Will some of these people grab your novel?