Something occurred to me today. I've been thinking about writing and marketing and why I do any of it. Then I wondered if other writers feel the same way. First let me tell you why I write.I write for several reasons. The first is that I enjoy it. Yes, I'm selfish. I'm doing something that makes me feel good. The second reason I write is that there are a lot of books with great stories, but several of them are not appropriate for younger readers. Understand, I'm not talking about picture books, or chapter books, or even books for the middle grade reader. I'm talking about that reader that's caught somewhere between middle grade and young adult, the ones I refer to as 'Tweens.
These are the readers that are not quite ready for the more steamy side of things. These are the readers that enjoy a good adventure, romance, or suspense tale without having to deal with graphic language, violence, or sexual content. So I craft stories that have the action and suspense without adding the extra my readers are not ready for--you know, the cleaner read.
Writing this way and for this audience leaves me in a bit of a quandary. How, and to whom. do I market? What I must do is develop two different types of marketing strategies--one strategy for the parents because they are often the ones shopping for this group and another strategy for my audience of 'Tweens. Without a doubt, this is as tough as it sounds.
Fortunately I was able to join a group of other writers that are doing the same thing--writing clean 'Tween tales and together we a working this thing out. We call ourselves Emblazoners. We
have our website up now. You should take a look.
We give each other support and ideas about marketing. We put together book giveaways, blog visits, and other things. I'm working on coming up with ways to connect more easily with my readers after they've read the books. What are you thinking about?
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