A writer writes. A writer must write. It sounds simple and imperative. But no writer out there says it is simple. The act of writing is daunting, lip tattoo perth, and often lonely. There’s almost certainly a quote Charles Bukowski, Virginia Woolf, Maria Vargas Llosa, or John Green or whoever saying exactly that.
For modern writers, seeing a blank page and a blinking cursor (unless you still write by hand or on a typewriter) is as intimidating as stitching plot holes or conversing with an otherwise unfriendly character, or finding the right words that perfectly capture the wiring of your own mind.
Reaching out and finding the readers is someone else’s job. And don’t get us wrong, that’s true for writers like Neil Gaiman or JK Rowling who have their own literary agents or publicity team. But for most—especially for new, self-published authors—finding a readership can seem as daunting as writing itself.
There are a million answers and a million nuanced and eloquent ways to answer the question, “Why do you write?” But the simplest and the most imperative is—you write to be read. The good news is that for any modern, struggling author, finding a readership isn’t as hard as it used to be. We live in a digital world where reaching out and finding your audience is as easy as scrolling your FB feed.
Okay—that’s kind of an exaggeration. But look at the numbers. In recent years, there has been a rise of self-publishing authors breaking out into the industry and getting scores of readers. Because why not? It takes years to be a part of established traditional publishing houses. And we haven’t delved into the bureaucracy and politics involved in that industry. So doing it on your own has some healthy benefits. And since you are already a writer and SEO’s bone is writing or content creation, you’ve already solved about half of your problem.
In the 21st century, it is not about you, the writer, finding the readers; rather, it is the other way around. There are a number of ways readers can find writers on the internet, from Facebook groups to email marketing to social media engagement. But the main goal is to get your book and your name ranking high up on those search engines.
