 |
| Book cover of Summerita's latest release |
While writing a romance novel, is it important to have your target reader segmented and set in your mind? Yes or no and why?
Thanks for having me on your blog, TBC!
When you write in a particular genre, consciously or unconsciously, you've already targeted your audience. In these times when marketing is emerging as a tried and tested phenomena, one can definitely not ignore the advice to 'find the readers'. If you are an indie author, and committed to promoting your own work, then your outreach is mainly social media. How will you find readers if you don't know which hashtags to use and which subject to discuss that they find interesting enough to keep interacting with you? Engage. That's the magic word of online marketing. So, you will have to know which readers are likely to find your memes and tweets worthy enough to share and respond to.
However, you said 'while writing' so that puts a totally different context to the question. While writing should I write for a particular audience? But would that serve? Writing is the expression of your unruly right brain, so it's hard enough to bend a story to a particular structure, setting and the GMC of the characters. Proposing to bend the story further would restrict the creative process and might strain its back! I would say write what you want and don't think of anybody. If you worry about whether or not your target audience will find it appealing...well, I doubt I could write two pages if I thought that. I'd be continuously picking on if the hero should wear his hair short or long or if the heroine should wear more glamorous outfits...the point is, write the book first, then find what audience is likely to find your book interesting and target them in your social outreach.
Marketing should be the plan after you finish the book. At least, it's that way for me. While writing I'm not sure if I can get the two characters their happy ending. I can never predict how the book will shape up. My latest one 'His Christmas Surprise', about to be released, gave me quite a few sleepless nights because I created a conflict between the hero and the heroine that I could find no resolution for. Another matter in the same book bugged me no end till I hit upon a solution that came from the story itself. Sorry, can't share without giving away the story.
So, the long and short of it is, write your book and then yes, think of people who would like it and then you can draw their interest by sharing about your book.
About the Author
Summerita Rhayne writes sensual romance which is sheer escapism with lots of emotional conflict. She first got published in 2013 and has won contests with prestigious publishers such as Harlequin and Harper Collins India. Writing, she finds, is the only way to deal with the numerous story ideas bubbling in her brain which pop up more rapidly than her keyboard can do justice to. Her pet belief is that even when writing time is in short supply, if the inspiration is strong enough, the story characters get a life of their own and will find a way to make the writer pen them down. When cerebrally confronted with the sizzling interaction of two Alpha characters, the only way to get peace is write their book!
At heart, she's a family person and even though she loves her medical teaching profession, she happily becomes a homemaker when not at work. She loves winding down with music, movies, cricket (strictly watching only) and social networking.
0 Comments