Today I’m delighted to welcome Adam Charles back to the blog. Adam is the Director of iWriteReadRate and has visited the blog previously. Here he shares his vision of 2013 and talks about how to get your work noticed.

Reaching Readers & Breaking Through The Indie Noise in 2013

by Adam Charles

Adam CharlesHappy 2013! A  new year is here, a new opportunity for us all to do more, be different and stand out in the crowded, busy and noisy new(ish) world of digital publishing.

It almost goes without saying what a brave and innovative world we’ve created over the last few years. The enablement of writers to own their destiny is inspiring. Through the ascension of ebooks and Indie Publishing there has perhaps never been a more exciting and rapidly evolving landscape for both creators and consumers of literary content.

As an aspiring author, avid reader, and co-founder of iWriteReadRate.com I am enthralled and inspired by the groundswell we continue to see.

However, I’ve come to realise that the eBook Revolution is one sided. Yes, it has emboldened many to take that scary first step towards their literary dream. Yes, it has diminished the out dated models of publishing and cast off many of the shackles associated with self-publishing. It has, no doubt, created a positive and real focus on the huge number of writers out in the world that have stories to tell and ideas to convey.

The one sided nature is that whatever path Indie ebooks make it to the market, or to what level their creators have done it themselves or have created their own team, the focus of Indie is predominantly on the writers themselves. We’re overlooking that readers have never had a greater choice of stories, more places to buy and there is vastly more competition in every genre of fiction. It’s a noisy, crowded place and we need to do more to be found, to be read.

It’s not just about ensuring the high quality of our work or the finished, polished ebook; it’s so much more than that.

Whilst the publishing industry has long been called to account about their commercial orientated criteria, they do have a focused eye on giving the people what they think they want. As Indie writers there may be something we can learn from this approach to better connect and reach our own audiences.

We hear so much about platform building – the act of writers building their own profiles with audiences through blogging, social media and other promotional activities – however, with so many doing the same things, it is a significant challenge to stand out and be heard in the melee.

In the more social world we now inhabit, the answer – perhaps – is more dynamic connections between content creators and consumers. Closer, more personal, more intimate. When have readers ever had a better chance of really getting a feel for the writer, being involved in our writing journey, an opportunity to co-encourage and almost co-create? It seems an opportunity too interesting to miss from both a writer and reader perspective.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot, and here are some things we all should consider doing something more on this year:

– Do you understand your audience’s profile & who reads your stories? How can you better engage them?

– Be more discoverable – blogging and social networking are important tools for us, without a doubt. However, are they enough and what else could we do to be easier to discover?

– Seek out authentic interactions with our readers – what do they like about your work? What would they think would have made your story better? They are not just anonymous consumers anymore. They are reachable and are the key to our success.

– Push out of your comfort zone – whether this is breaking out of our safe social media circles, going to in-person events, or doing something differently than you have before to increase your exposure and increase the personal touch with potential readers.

– Finding more ways to be heard & be inspirational – it is not just about getting your well edited, well presented and completed ebook out into the world. How do you tell your story and why should readers buy into you and your work?

I encourage indie authors to explore and act on what else could you be doing to reach and engage your audience. Now the rabbit is out of the hat, in the dynamic, crowded and evolving publishing world, it is our imperative to do so. Readers, as they always have been, are the only people that can make us successful; it is our job as Indie writers to do everything we can to be discovered – and then a little more.

Best for luck to you on your writing journey and finding your audience.

About Adam Charles and iWriteReadRate

Adam is an aspiring author and co-founder of iWriteReadRate. He’s been squeezing out stories for as long as he can remember. Find him on Twitter & iWriteReadRate.

iWriteReadRate.com is the sociable place to discover undiscovered stories. A social fiction ebook community & ecommerce platform for writers and readers. They’re presently busy building version 2.0 to better enable writers and readers to discover each other and great undiscovered stories.