Every author wants hoards of raving fans, people who will buy their books like air they need to breathe. In addition to being good for the ego, it’s good for the bank account. But how exactly do you do that? How do you go about creating an audience of devoted supporters, especially when you are Mr./Ms. No-name from Small-town-somewhere?

The answer is to tap into an already engaged niche audience. Take a minute and think about the diehard hobbyists in the world. Maybe you know a quilter who would drive half across the country to visit a renown fabric shop. Or a hunter who would nearly sell his soul to get a particular license just to have the opportunity to *maybe* shoot the beast of their dreams. Or perhaps a gardener who would rather dig in the dirt than do most anything else. The people have already proven that they will make a commitment (with their time, energy and money) to their hobby… that they will go to extreme lengths (and expenses) to enjoy anything within their micro-niche’s realm. THESE ARE THE PEOPLE YOU WANT TO WRITE FOR.

Writing Your Books

Many people thumb their nose up at writing “to market”, writing about what is trending or currently hot in the market, but that’s not what I’m talking about here. What I am suggesting is to write your book for a specific group of humans, an already defined and existing niche audience. (Bonus points if you can include two of those audiences!)

For example, in my book series Champion Chocolatier the main character (Emmy) is the owner/operator of a chocolate shop in Northern Minnesota. My niche audiences for this series are entrepreneurs, chocolate lovers and people who are fans of the Great Lakes. My Close Quaters series features a military spouse who runs a bookstore with her close knit (and humourously over involved family). My niche audiences for this book are working moms, military spouses and book lovers. Perhaps my best example of this strategy is my book, The Birthday Cache. This kids chapter book features a family who travels the country in an RV going on geocaching adventures. Chances are, if I head to a geocaching event or RV convention, I’m going to find my ideal readers and a bunch of book sales.

As I write, I keep these key audiences in mind and try to include story elements I know they would like to read. Oftentimes, these are not huge plot-impacting writing decisions, but more so inclusion of setting details, pop culture mentions and lifestyle elements. All of these tiny details are meant to appeal to a specific kind of person… my ideal reader. It will help them relate and feel seen while reading my story and thus, increase their enjoyment of it. But this is only part of the goal.

Marketing Your Books

Including these niche audiences will also give me specific ideas of where I can sell my books (outside of selling books on Amazon), or help me to figure out where my readers hang out and spend their money. I don’t just have to stick to bookstores when approaching businesses to sell my book. Touristy gift shops in La Crosse and Duluth, chocolate shops, entrepreneur groups, and military wife book clubs, are all places I have been able to work with in selling my books. Remember that geocaching example I gave you earlier? The largest geocaching website in the world, the HUB of all geocaching activity, is selling my books on their website. Through their platform and credibility I am able to reach interested readers that without my strategic story plotting, would have been unavailable.

My tip for you today is to think about writing books for a niche audience (or two) that you can write right into your story, so that once it is done, you can easily find and sell your book to them… and know that they will love it (and come running back for more!).

So here’s how you do it.

Identify a committed crowd… a group of people who all love a particular pastime, hobby, activity, sport, location, career or niche topic.
- Examples (in addition to the ones included above): parrot owners, people who love going on cruises, golfers, house flippers/DIY junkies, country line dancers, ebay sellers, stamp collectors, NASCAR fans, ANYTHING SPECIFIC!
Write a story that thoughtfully includes characters, locations and plot elements that would appeal to and please readers of your identified niches. Remember big and obvious doesn’t always get the job done. Sometimes it is the smallest details that these readers will notice and appreciate.
Publish your book through your chosen publication path.
Go (either virtually or in-person) where your readers hang out.
- Examples include: speaking at a niche topic conference, putting a flyer for your book in a niche topic convention SWAG bag, posting in a niche topic Facebook group, teaching a class for a niche topic group, speaking on a niche topic podcast.

This is just a bite-sized piece of the Self-Publishing and Book Marketing Mini Course which will be offered in Write Publish Profit 4.0! And that is just a slice of what you could learn from the entire Take Action Author Plan Course which includes even more word nerd goodness to help you reach your writing and publishing goals! If you have any questions, head to the Post Office and send them my way. I’d be happy to help!

Happy writing!

Amanda

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