I was listening to a podcast about indie publishing (and self-publishing, I suppose), and they interviewed a guy who runs a software company called Book Funnel. The basic idea is to help authors (like me!) get promo books out to readers (like you!) in exchange for signing up for a newsletter or whatever. You go on my mailing list, you get a free book.
I think this is one of those things that authors have been doing since self-publishing became a thing. I don’t have a mailing list yet, but it is something I’m looking into. The main reason I haven’t yet is because it costs money… and not trivial amounts. Enough money that if I’m going to do it, I kinda have to do it correctly.
Anyway, it made me think of the funnel in a general sense. There are a lot of readers out there, and I capture only a dozen or so a month. Those people are generally happy with my books (based on several hundred 4-or-5 star reviews), and I suspect that a few of them go on to purchase my other books afterwards. That’s kinda the funnel… Lots of people become a few people become even fewer people. But it’s there.
The goal isn’t to make that top tier huge… that requires marketing budgets and “teams” to do things, and I have neither. But it is to make it so that everyone who reads one of my books decides that want to read another of my books. Turning every single sale into 2 or even 3 sales… that’s the dream.
For now that involves making the best books I possibly can. So that’s what I’m gonna do!
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!