Hey Writer Lady—How do You Get and Keep Fans

Photo via Unsplash by James Pond

A few months ago, follower Nick asked me on Twitter:

Any advice for aspiring creators on how you get/keep fans (without pandering)?

What a great question.

As soon as I read Nick’s tweet, I knew that I couldn’t answer it in a single tweet. I also immediately thought, “I wish I knew the answer to his question!”

If getting and keeping fans were easy, there wouldn’t be such a long list of one-hit wonders and endless lists of “where are they now” slideshows on Buzzfeed.

As I considered Nick’s question, what immediately came to mind was a quote from legendary dancer and choreographer, Martha Graham, a woman who transformed dance:

Martha Graham by Yousuf Karsh (1948)

There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium, and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, not how it compares with other expression. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.

Writers are often looking for that elusive combination that will lead to the best-seller—the next big thing. They imagine themselves the next George RR Martin, JK Rowling, Stephen King, John Grisham or maybe Patterson.

While there is nothing wrong with aiming high or hoping to have the next breakout novel (or song, or dance, etc.), chasing someone else’s tail is a losing game from the start.

I’ve been creating things nearly my whole life, and now at half a century and counting, I can say without the doubt that the more I follow Martha Graham's advice above, not only am I more content in life, but my work is more successful as well.

Look inside anything highly successful, and you'll be sure to find a person or people following their individual muse as they seek answers to their own questions. Each of us indeed is unique. When we unplug from the noise, ignore the inner and outer critics, and focus on that little voice inside that nudges us toward creation—then and only then do we create art.

Okay, you say, fair enough Natalie, but how do I get and keep fans?!

It is as simple—and ridiculously difficult—as this:

Consistently create content that you are passionate about.

Let’s break that down a bit.

1. Create content…

First, you need to have content. What do I mean by content? From blog posts to articles, poems to novels and short stories, songs, videos, social media memes, and posts, or any other creative content. The saying goes that “content is king.”

When getting ready to post or share any content, ask yourself this question: “Does this entertain, inform or provoke thought?” This is another way of saying, “Is it engaging?” If the content you created doesn’t help people in some way (i.e., entertain, educate, inform, etc.), then consider if you need to share/publish it. Not everything we create needs to be given voice to an audience wider than one.

2. With Passion…

If you are a creative person building a brand, you need to build your brand around something you are passionate about. You will spend countless hours talking about your product/idea. It’s something you may be working on for years. 

And, if you aren’t passionate about it, why should anyone else be?

Consider the Harry Potter franchise of books. Do you think JK Rowling was anything less than 100%+ into her story? Her passion for the characters and world she created is evident on every page. And that passion for her work comes through in her writing (and of course has led to a devoted following).

If you are new to creative work, take the time that you need to consider what it is that you are passionate about. What do you want to say? What is your unique contribution to the world?

Find the heart of your work, then throw yourself into it 100%+.

3. Consistently.

True confession, this is likely the hardest part of the formula for me. Being consistently productive can be difficult. Passion is great, but consistency takes planning and hard work.

Life can lead to setbacks, shifting priorities and unexpected pitfalls. (For example, my broken foot last year!)

Consistency may be the setback experienced by all those one-hit wonder creators out there.

As difficult as it is to have a bestseller, it can be even more difficult to have two.

Writers such as John Grisham, Robert Patterson, Nora Roberts, Stephen King, and Danielle Steele are like freaks of nature. These writers have not only (1) found their passion, but they (2) consistently produce works in their chosen niche year after year.

This is damned difficult to do.

Some creatives like to dabble in this genre and then try that one. There’s nothing inherently wrong with trying new things (and if you are a young/newbie at being creative, you definitely SHOULD dabble). 

But swerving from lane to lane is generally not a viable way to create—and keep—a fan base. Creating and maintaining fandom should not be confused with the creative process itself.

If you are fortunate enough to gain fans of your work, they will want more of whatever it is that you create. And they’ll want it often, or at least know that it’s coming their way.

To sum it all up, I’ll leave you with this:

Consistently create work that you are passionate about.

That is the first—and most important—step to creating and keeping a fandom of your work.


Do you have any tips for Nick and others about creating and keeping a fan base?

If you are part of a fandom, what keeps you coming back for more of your favorite book/movie/art/music?

Writer Wednesday: Acting Professional by Randy Ingermanson

Photo Courtesy Pexels.com

I can’t believe it’s December, y’all! And that means that in less than a month, it will be time for PENuary. In support of encouraging better writing habits—for myself as well as other writers who struggle to maintain consistency—I’m working to re-establish my Writer Wednesday habit here on the blog. If you’re a writer, check in on Wednesdays for writing and marketing tips as well as writer inspiration.

Today I’m sharing a post for writers written by Randy Ingermanson (credit and links to his website below the article). If you don’t already subscribe to Randy’s E-Zine, I highly recommend it. His newsletters always contain useful tips for writers.

There are many aspects of marketing, but in this article, Randy succinctly pinpointed an issue that all writers need to take to heart: Professionalism. And he has three easy, highly actionable tips to improve your writer professionalism.

Marketing: Acting Professional

I went to my first writing conference in the summer of 1989. That was life-changing for me. Up till then, I didn’t know any authors. Or editors. Or agents. I met a few of each at that first conference, and some of them have been part of my life ever since.

The talk that had the most impact on me at that conference had a very simple message: “Be professional.” 

The author who gave the talk said a lot of things I don’t remember, but I do remember her repeating that simple phrase. “Be professional.” And I remember that she translated it into actions. “Being professional” really boils down to “acting professional.”

She wasn’t talking about being phony. There are writers out there who talk a big talk but aren’t actually doing much writing and certainly aren’t professional.

She was talking about behaving in a way that marks you out as a serious writer who will someday be a professional writer, even if you aren’t there yet and aren’t making any money. Writers who start out right tend to end up right. That’s just the way it is.

Back in those days, “acting professional” included getting some expensive letterhead paper for correspondence with editors. I dutifully went out and bought a ream of high-quality paper and spent some time creating an electronic template that would make a nice letterhead when printed. I even used it a few times. But I’d bet I’ve still got 480 sheets out of the original 500. Times have moved on, and nobody needs letterhead anymore. 

So what can a writer do that will fit the description of “acting professional” these days? I don’t want to overwhelm you with a long list, so I’ll keep this short.

Here are three things for starters.

Set up a Writing Budget

Very early on in my writing career, I realized that it takes money to make money. In those days, going to writing conferences was essential, and conferences cost money. I didn’t have a lot of cash, but I began setting aside $15 every month. That was money that I could spend on my writing, no questions asked.

The amount you budget is less important than the fact that you’re doing it. 

Having a writing budget means that you are serious about this writing thing. It means that you’re telling the rest of your family that this is important to you, it has value, and it has a cost. It also means that when it comes time to buy something you need for your writing, you don’t have to fight about it with anyone. You just take the money out of the pot you’ve already set aside.

Own Your Domain

Your “domain” here means the domain for your web site. You may not need a web site yet. You may not need one for several years.

But eventually, if and when you start getting your work published, you’ll need a domain for your web site. And it won’t be fun to discover that the domain you had in mind just got bought by a porn star who happens to have your same name. It can happen. It did happen to a writer I know.

You don’t buy a domain name; you rent it. You pay an annual fee to a domain registration site (for example GoDaddy.com or one of the many other sites that let you register a domain). 

It’s not terribly expensive to rent a domain. Figure around $10 per year. You just need to keep paying it every year without lapsing. It’s easy to set up an auto-renewal for your domain so it keeps renewing every year.

Ideally, your domain name should be your author name or something as close as you can get to your author name. 

But you need to be careful here. If your name is hard to spell (say your last name is Umstattd), then you’ll catch a lot of grief from people who can’t spell your name, which is almost everyone. In that case, you might want to think about not using your last name in your domain. You might need to get creative here.

Let's say your name is a more common one that's reasonably easy to spell. We'll take Jane Smith, as an example. What domain name should you use? There are a couple of issues to think about.

First, if you create a web site using one of the inexpensive builder tools (for example, Wordpress.com), you should make sure you get a custom domain—not the default Wordpress domain. You don’t want to spend five years building a site at JaneSmith.wordpress.com, and then move it to JaneSmith.com. If you do that, all the links to your old web site will fail.

Second, if your name is extremely common, it might turn out that the domain you want is already taken. If JaneSmith.com is taken, you might have to add a middle initial and make it JaneKSmith.com. Or JaneSmithAuthor.com. Or JaneSmithBooks.com. Generally, with a bit of thinking, you can find a domain that works for you.

With domain names, shorter is better. And it’s nice if you can pass the “radio test,” meaning that if you’re doing an interview on the radio and give out your web site address, people can easily figure out how to spell it. But you can’t always get exactly what you want. Do your best.

Have a Professional E-mail Address

This is easy to do, but it’s where a lot of writers fall down. 

There are two mistakes to make here:

1. Using an e-mail address with a domain that isn’t yours.
2. Using an e-mail address that doesn’t have your name in it.

Let’s talk about these in a little more detail. It’s important to get these right, but you need to also do them in the correct order.

First, your domain name. It’s very tempting to use the free e-mail address that comes with your internet service provider. So if you’re using Comcast, then maybe your account is John17@comcast.net. 

The problem comes five years from now, when you move to a new place and you’re no longer with Comcast. Now maybe you’re using ATT.com or CenturyLink.net or whatever. And suddenly your old e-mail address no longer works.

Now you’ve got five years worth of friends who all have the wrong e-mail address for you. If these include all your editor, agent, and writer friends, you’ve got a problem.

The solution is blindingly simple. If you’ve already nailed down your domain for your future web site, set up an e-mail account that goes with that domain. So if your domain is JaneKSmith.com, set up an email address for yourself as Jane@JaneKSmith.com. Later, if you get a virtual assistant, she might be Camy@JaneKSmith.com. If you add a PR guy, he might be Brad@JaneKSmith.com. Or if you change PR people every six months, maybe the email address they use will just be the generic PR@JaneKSmith.com. 

Some writers insist that they can’t set up an e-mail address on their own domain yet because it’s too much trouble. So they set up a free account at hotmail or yahoo or gmail or whatever. 

This is not ideal. A hotmail or yahoo email account definitely marks you as an amateur. A gmail account is a step up; it’s perceived as more professional. If you insist on using a gmail account, you still need to make sure that your name is part of your address. 

JaneKSmith@gmail.com is an acceptable e-mail address. If somebody gets an e-mail from that address, they know who sent it.

But imagine getting e-mail from any of these people:

• Jack1947@gmail.com  (Now we all know what year Jack was born, but he may not want us to know that. Unfortunately, we don’t know his last name, and he probably does want us to know that. Who is this Jack?)
• JaneAndBillAnd3Cats@gmail.com (This looks like a shared account, which means an e-mail sent to Jane might get read by Bill. Or deleted by Bill. But what happens if Jane and Bill split up next year? Who keeps the e-mail address? And again, who is Jane?)
• IWrite4Jesus@gmail.com (Great, but who ARE you? And does Jesus know you’re writing for him?)
• SpaghettiMonsterGuy@gmail.com. (No doubt this is hilariously funny to your five buddies you hung out with in college. However, the rest of us aren’t in on the joke. Also, we have no idea who you are.)

And yes, I’ve seen e-mail addresses similar to each of these, some of them many times. 

Act like a professional. Get an e-mail address that looks like it came from you. (And yes, I know that you can set up your e-mail program to put your name in the “from” line along with your e-mail address. Not everybody does this. Oddly enough, it’s usually the people with unrecognizable e-mail addresses who don’t do this.)

This article is reprinted by permission of the author.

Award-winning novelist Randy Ingermanson, "the Snowflake Guy," publishes the free monthly Advanced Fiction Writing E-zine, with more than 17,000 readers. If you want to learn the craft and marketing of fiction, AND make your writing more valuable to editors, AND have FUN doing it, visit www.AdvancedFictionWriting.com.