Authors, Thanks To Algorithms, You're Going To Have To Repeat Yourself To Be Heard

I've been comfortable calling myself an author for about ten years and change now. For most of that time I've had an Amazon author page where people can find my work, I've had The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page for those who want to help support what I do, and I've regularly posted all across my social media channels about my projects.

Despite that, every month or so I have a conversation with friends (and even followers) that feels like talking to an elderly relative who's hearing has started to go. Because no matter how clearly I've posted the links to my projects, or how often I talk about them in the forums and groups I'm in, there's always someone who pipes up with, "Wow, I didn't know you have a book/Patreon/archive of articles! That's great!"

Speak up, will ya son? I can't hear what you're saying.

On the one hand, this can feel exasperating when you've been bending your efforts to getting the word out so that people know what you've got on the market, and what you're working on. However, the way algorithms are designed actually stops a lot of people who would be interested from seeing your posts.

As a result, you're going to have to mention something multiple times if you want everyone to get the message.

Huge Potential Reach (With Problematic Connections)

Social media has a potentially infinite reach, which is kind of like saying that playing the lottery could make you a millionaire... it's technically true, but sort of overlooks the fact that you're really betting against the market if you expect that to be your meal ticket.

If lottery tickets were a good investment, rich people would buy them instead of stock.

For example, say you have a few hundred people who have decided to follow your Facebook page (my Facebook page has just over 700 folks on it right now, but you could boost that number a bit if you had a sec). Ideally you'd think that when you post something on your page that a majority of those folks would see it... after all, they liked you, and they're actively following you, so surely the site lets them see your content?

No. Not really.

If I put something on my page that generates a lot of activity from my followers, maybe 200 of them will see it. Of those who see it, maybe 70 and change will interact with it. The average interaction is significantly worse, with maybe a third to half of those numbers. And the stats are even worse when it comes to forums and groups. Because even if you post something that's really popular on a social media page or in a forum, it will only be seen by folks for a few days at most. That means anyone who wasn't on, who hadn't joined yet, or who wasn't particularly tuned-in during your brief moment in the sun missed what you had to say.

Think of it like a commercial. Most of the time the people you're trying to reach just walk into the other room and ignore you, even if you're selling something they want. But then the fifth time your post comes around, you manage to catch their attention, and without fail the first thing they say is, "Hey, that looks great, how come nobody told me about this?"

Well, I was trying. But the algorithm wouldn't put my call through until just now.

Repeat, But Don't Get Repetitive

The challenging part of marketing is trying to remind yourself that you still have a valid product that not everyone has seen yet. Because when you've been telling everyone who will listen about your book, your game, your YouTube channel, or whatever other endeavor you're working on for more than a year, it can feel like you must have reached everyone.

You haven't, trust me on that.

But there are going to be folks who heard you loud and clear the first seventeen times.

The thing to keep in mind here is balance. Because if you only talked up your book before its release, and then a brief weekend spot when it first came out, then a lot of people haven't heard about it through the social media grapevine. However, there are going to be people, groups, and forums who are going to get sick of seeing you post the same thing all the time if you keep harping on it.

So while you should endeavor to keep things fresh, and talk about new releases, new blog entries, and new projects, don't be afraid to toss out a throwback on the regular. Acknowledge it's been out for a while, and remind folks to leave a review if they liked it. Or to share the link with a friend who hasn't gotten their copy yet; a call to action never hurts!

This is sort of like how your book seems boring and stupid to you, because you've read it ten times before it went to the editors. Just remember, someone out there will be hearing about your work for the first time... so phrase your posts accordingly!

Speaking of which, check out my links below, and see which parts of my sprawling archive have escaped your notice thus far!

Like, Follow, and Stay Tuned!

That's all for this week's Business of Writing! If you'd like to see more of my work, take a look at my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife!

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!

You Get Better Results When You Tell Your Audience What To Do

We've all heard this age-old joke. A man is sitting on the couch, watching TV. His wife joins him. She turns to him, and says, "Well, we're out of toilet paper." He nods, acknowledging that her message was received. She waits a few moments, then says, "Yep, there is no more toilet paper in the entire house." Her husband nods, and this time adds a monosyllable that isn't quite a grunt to show that he got the message. After ten minutes or so goes by, she gets up, and storms out of the room. He is confused by her behavior, and left scratching his head.

We, the audience, understand that when the wife said, "We're out of toilet paper," what she meant was, "I would like you to go to the store, and bring back some toilet paper." Why didn't her husband do it? Well, because she didn't put her request into words that he would recognize as a call to action.

Wait... you wanted me to do what, now?

If you're a creative professional, you cannot be subtle when interacting with your audience. You need to tell them what you want them to do, when you want them to do it, and how to get it done.

Keep it simple, straightforward, and make sure there's no way to miss the directions you're giving.

Calls To Action, And You

In marketing, the term for telling your audience what to do is a call to action. It's why every commercial ends with something like, "Buy now!" or, "Call us today!" Even something as simple as, "Follow us on Facebook," is a clean, straightforward call to action because it's clear what the advertiser wants you to do for them.

Buy my book! Or at least check out the free sample.

Think of your marketing like getting a hit in baseball. You have good form, you swing, and you connect, but you need that follow-through. Without follow-through, a perfect hit loses all its potential, and plops right into the dirt. That's your call to action; the follow-through that turns a solid hit into a home run.

Where Does It Go?

There are a few different schools of thought on this one. For instance, some marketers say you should tell your audience to do the same thing three times throughout a piece of content, because by the time they reach the third one you'll catch everyone willing to do what you asked. Other people argue that telling your audience to do something more than once is just going to annoy them, and you should save your call to action for the end of your post. That way you'll only deliver it to audience members who were well and truly hooked by your content.

Seriously, did you go buy my book yet?

Where the schools of thought agree, though, is that you need to make your calls to action blatant, you need to explain what the audience gets out of it, and you need to ensure they can accomplish the action in as few steps as possible.

As a for-instance, if you wanted to support me, and get your hands on a collection of dark, steampunk noir stories, I'd tell you to go buy a copy of New Avalon: Love and Loss in The City of Steam.

In that single call to action, I laid out everything the audience needs to know. I told them I have a book for sale, what genre it fits into, and that they should go buy a copy if they want to support me as an author. That's the difference between saying, "Hey, my book is out there," and, "Hey, if you haven't read it yet, go get this specific book." Lastly, anyone who clicks that link will go right to the Amazon purchase page, so all they have to do is throw the book in their cart, and checkout. It can be done in a matter of minutes, and takes a minimum amount of effort on the part of the reader.

That final part is more important than most people think. Because no matter how much someone wants to help, or how little it costs them to do so, nothing will botch up your audience's follow-through more than making it inconvenient for them. You want them to click one link, or follow one social media page, or do something else equally simple. You don't want them to have to go through more than one loading screen.

Put another way, someone is usually more than happy to take a step to the right to support creators they care about. But if you ask them to step to the right, open the door, create a new account, fill in their credit card details, and then take a survey before they're allowed to help, they're going to quit somewhere around step three, leaving you high and dry.

Marketing is like writing, in that you should follow the K.I.S.S. method. Keep It Simple, Stupid.

That all for this week's Business of Writing post. Hopefully it helps folks out there who are trying to mobilize their audience, and herd them toward a particular goal. If you like this piece, show some love by stopping by The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a patron today! Pledging at least $1 a month buys you a free book, as well as my everlasting gratitude. Lastly, if you want to stay in the loop, then follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter to get all my latest posts.