On-Writing: Readers Rule! Not Other Writers, Not Agents, Not Editors, Not Publishers...Only Readers

Wavin' atchya Let Love Glow Writer Friends!

In my bestselling book 10 YEARS AND 24 HOURS TO INDIE EPUBLISHING SUCCESS, I give you a bunch of fabulous mantras to use throughout your writing-for-publication journey. And one of my favorite mantras is this one:

MANTRA THREE:

READERS RULE!

NOT OTHER WRITERS, NOT AGENTS, NOT EDITORS, NOT PUBLISHERS...ONLY READERS RULE

My sole focus throughout my publishing career has been to...

Find Readers

Then Get To Know ‘Em

Learn How and Where They Discover New Authors

And then Why They Buy Those Authors’ Books Again and Again

In other words, using this wonderful image...

I’m looking for answers to these questions:

1. Who is the person holding the coffee cup? Male/Female? Age? Occupation? What genres does he/she like to read?

2. Which Ereader is he/she using? (Kindle, Nook, Sony, Kobo, iPad or is it a SmartPhone, Laptop or PC) Where did he/she buy it? (Amazon, Big Box Store like Sam’s Club, Costco, Wal-Mart, Target, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Staples, Online Stores of any of these, etc.)

3. Where does he/she buy the Ebooks for their Ereader(s)? (Amazon, B&N online, small online presses)

4. How many Ebooks does he/she buy per month? How many of those does he/she read?

5. What prices for Ebooks are auto buys for them? Which are not, and must be an author they love and will pay more for? How much more will they pay? What price do they pay for authors new to them? Versus price paid for their favorite authors?

6. What about their coffee and treat choices? Where do they buy them? For example, are they hangin’ in coffee shops and/or bookstores where other readers are hangin’ too or are they drinking at home, relying on nothing but the internet to influence their buying decisions? And if they are at home, which websites “show ‘em the books”?

Now then...what am I going to do with all of this intriguing scoop?

I’m using it to determine how I can make myself – as an Author – stand-out enough that I’m the author whose book this reader is reading while sipping coffee/tea and munching on something yummy!!!

Let’s look at it this way, using one of my favorite analogies...

How can I be...

The Purple Horse in Oz’s waaay wonderful Emerald City?

Why the Purple Horse?

Because purple farm animals seem to work in the publishing world! LOL! Let me explain...

I took the amazing Seth Godin’s Purple Cow Philosophy and applied it to my Yellow Brick Road to Publishing Oz.

Or...as Seth says in the beginning of his must-read book PURPLE COW: TRANSFORM YOUR BUSINESS BY BEING REMARKABLE:

“Taste like chicken” is not a compliment

Everything tastes like chicken, right? Or at least that’s what you say when something doesn’t have enough of its own flavor to really stand out on its own.

In that same way, as I say in my Muse Therapy Book, barnyards are full of brown heifers and dairy cows...but you sure as hell don’t run into a ton of purple cows!

Another way to look at it...there ‘s a lot of damn green in Emerald City, but purple anything...yep, not so much!

As an Author...

YOU DO NOT WANT TO TASTE LIKE CHICKEN!!!

You want to have your very own pizzazz and flavor...plus perhaps be something purple, too!!!

But how are you gonna make sure readers know who you are and that they're all about downloading your superfab books?!

I'll teach you lots of ways to get readers' attention!

Nothing Beats Writers Helping Writers Reach Readers (another one of my favorite mantras)

Only Writers and Readers are necessary for Publishing.

Truly...that’s it...

Writers and Readers

With the Traditional Publishers’ lock on distribution beyond over, and subsequently there being no need for agents to deal your way into that limited entry world, and professional editors available for all kinds of freelance editing, it’s a two-party system now – Writers and Readers.

We’re the Writers.

So now...let’s find us some readers!!!

You may have written a beyond fabulous book, but that doesn’t matter unless you focus on finding then keeping readers.

***Note: I spend a bunch of time later in the 10 YEARS AND 24 HOURS book, as well as in my Online Writing and Publishing Classes, helping you learn how and where to find Readers.***

But until you read that book, just repeat after me:

READERS RULE!

NOT OTHER WRITERS, NOT AGENTS, NOT EDITORS, NOT PUBLISHERS...ONLY READERS RULE

So...Write for Your Future Readers!!!

Hugs Love Namaste and Happy Writing and Publishing --- DD