This post by Ksenia Anske originally appeared on her blog on 9/15/14.
Hey, indie writers? This is what marketing your self-published books is about. It’s about catering to your true fans, even if that might upset some people. As you’re aware, I’m doing a cleaning spree on Twitter, unfollowing most accounts, so I’m left only with about 2K of those that I really want to follow and read. After being on Twitter for almost 5 years, it’s not easy. In fact, it’s ruffling some feathers, as you might have seen in the comments to this post about dealing with online trolls.
Why am I doing it?
I’m doing it to cater to my true fans. I used to be afraid to say this word, “fans.” It felt odd. Weird. Exhilarating, and yet still weird. Me, having fans? How could I? I’m a nobody. It felt somehow self-serving and egoistic by saying it. Slowly, I’ve gotten used to the idea that I do have fans. And they are true fans, fans who send me money when they themselves are struggling financially. Fans who support me in my darkest moments, dragging me out of my gloomy murderous moods and spanking my ass to get me back to writing. Fans who are patiently waiting for my next book to be published, who have already read every single draft of that book and have pre-ordered it and donated me more money on top of it. Fans who have sent me messages, saying they will travel to my first book reading this Friday, even though they don’t live in Seattle.
Click here to read the full post on Ksenia Anske’s blog.