Today is the first Wednesday
of the month, which makes it IWSG time, thanks to Alex J. Cavanaugh and
co-hosts for putting this on every month. If you’d like to join in the fun, you
can sign up here.
This month I’m
dealing with a fresh insecurity. My marketing director has determined the
target population for my books are females ages fourteen to twenty-four, which is
news to me, since I wrote them for boys/men ages whatever. Since she made that
determination, she has had me set up an Instagram account to reach that
audience.
Instagram.
Now, don’t get me wrong,
I get it. I’m a visual person—there’s all sorts of inspiration in pictures. But
my pictures? I’m not so sure. You
see, I’m sort of a strange breed. I have a large garden where I’m trying to
grow most of the fruit/veggies we eat fresh in the summer, canned/frozen for
the rest of the year. There’s the orchard we planted, and oh, yeah, woods
behind the house where I gather wild cherries/black raspberries. And did I
mention the chickens? And the dairy sheep I’m getting next month? I mentioned
this to my marketing director who hemmed and hawed and said, “Yeah…about that…you
may want to tone that down a bit.”
So that’s where I’m at. I’m supposed to use Instagram
to show people who I really am, but unfortunately those people who can relate
to who I really am have been dead for a hundred years.
I kid you not. They
put up a sign for a spinning class at my work and there was a whole five
minutes where I thought they were talking about wool and yarn. Any suggestions?
And, being Wednesday,
it’s also time for this week’s *Ubook installments. I’m also converting Erron
to this format, so I’m including that one as well. Enjoy.
The Newstead Project, Chapter Eight:
Erron, Chapter One:
*A Ubook is a patent
pending book format where the book is a video set at reading speed and enhanced
with music.
I suspect your target audience may be 'with' your lifestyle more than you think... But I find myself wondering, with all that is going on, how you are going to avoid exhaustion. ...By the way, I couldn't imagine, for a minute, what other type of 'spinning' you were talking about aside from that involving fiber, a spindle and a spinning wheel. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see pictures of your garden and your animals. I'm not on Instagram, but I've been using Pinterest in a similar fashion.
ReplyDeleteI'm not on Instagram because my phone won't support it. Yeah...that's Christmas methinks. At any rate, my pictures would all be kids, sunsets, and books. What can I say? That's life. You have to be yourself. It's too exhausting to be anyone else.
ReplyDeleteFlowers, raspberries, chickens, and sheep? What's not to love?! I think it sounds awesome! The same thing happened to me - I thought I was writing a guy-centric horror novel, but my betas told me it was a Mystery/Thriller and women would like it. Plus, the truth is women buy a lot more books than men do. So take a chance on Instagram and work on marketing to women. I bet you'll do great! :)
ReplyDeleteI think you need to really assess what YOU want and how YOU want to be represented. Marketing people are not always right - I know from experience. And as an author I believe it is so important to be authentic and build a true relationship with our readers. If your garden and your lifestyle is an important part of you then that's what you should go with. Wishing you lots of luck with your marketing campaign - stay true to yourself.
ReplyDeleteNot on Instagram so no idea. (Although that's funny about the spinning.) Ironic when we discover our target audience is something completely different, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteI guess you need to trust your marketing person but everything I've ever heard tells you to be yourself. I think spinning yarn can be quite a workout.
ReplyDeleteI think you should mold your book to the age range you're comfortable with. You know where it fits best.
ReplyDeleteHave you gotten second opinions from early readers etc? Just because one person's opinion differs from yours does not make it right. But if several people have the same (other) idea, it's something to think about. No worries. Your friends have got your back.
ReplyDeleteAnd does the marketing director want you to show people who you are, or who she thinks you should be?
Young urbanites may not "get" your lifestyle, but many others do. A lot of people grew up around farms or ranches or places brimming with more jungle than concrete.
ReplyDeleteThen again, maybe teenagers in the city would find it charming... different. Some won't care, but that's the way it goes with every endeavour one attempts.