Today, most people have very little time or patience to deal with sub-par storytelling. I’m constantly reminding my friends and colleagues that web browsers are not the only reading devices with a back button; tablets have them too. The back button has become the new trash can. It’s easy to delete a downloaded digital book that doesn’t connect to you, thus freeing up your time for something more interesting.
So, if you’re planning to write a book, you have to think about who your audience is and how you plan to keep them engaged in your story. For my book, ‘The Heir to the Unexpected’, I wanted to target my story to young professionals in the process of establishing their careers, who are learning to juggle their family and career responsibilities. This relationship dynamic opens up an opportunity to resonate with both young professionals and their older loved ones.
My main character is an art director at a communications agency named Jon. While he lives and works in NYC, the story involves him traveling to Mississippi to deal with a death in the family. I’m portraying his lifestyle in a way that speaks to my target audience– all of their hopes, dreams, insecurities, etc. In this journey, Jon uses social networks to communicate with friends and family. Today, a conversation on Twitter wouldn’t speak to a non-technically savvy individual as effectively as a phone call, so it could alienate a very large group of readers.
How have I addressed this problem? By writing the conversation from a non-tech point of view, I was able to construct a dialogue around an individual not understanding Twitter and the process my character Jon took to explain what he was doing. This created a contextualized experience that was informative and connectable to readers from various backgrounds.
What good is a great story when no one knows it’s out there? That’s where a marketing plan comes into play. As an author, you need to know what kinds of communication channels will be most effective to connect with your readers. I plan to use this blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and traditional book promotional methodologies. Will it work? Some of these venues may be better received than others. But my ultimate goal is to raise awareness of me and my book, The Heir to the Unexpected, and share what’s working and tweak as we go.
Cheers! Back to writing…
For the last year and a half, I’ve been working on a book tentatively entitled The Heir to the Unexpected. This project has turned out to take a little longer than expected! While working on this project, I met and married my wife, have traveled around home and abroad, and have maintained my day job. During this process, my book began to change with me along the way. Sometimes it was more prominent in my day-to-day activities, and sometimes it was placed in the background as I reflected on life. Recently though, I decided it was time to complete this writing project.
