Tutorial Tuesday - To the Market: Your Audience

Okay, either your book has been snapped up by a publisher, or you're self-publishing.  Or perhaps you still haven't landed that contract.  No matter where you are as far as the public offering of your work, it's never too early to think about promoting and marketing.
And guess who just happens to have worked in professional advertising and marketing for several years?  That's right, yours truly.  Granted, I don't have all the answers, but I have a few ideas.  And they don't all cost an arm and a leg.  Some are free.  Some are definitely off the beaten path.  We'll start with the basic questions to start you on your way.
1.       Identify your audience.
Who are you writing for?  You need to have as clear a picture of your readers as possible.  Start with the broadest picture.  Early on I identified my erotic readership as mostly straight women, aged 18 and up, married and single.  They would be into science fiction and supernatural books and movies.  They would be open minded in their religious views and possess a great sense of humor.  Their tastes, or at least fantasies, in sex would range from experimental to downright kinky.
You will probably be surprised to find exactly who comprises your audience as your readership grows.  I wasn't terribly startled to gain a substantial gay male following.  After all, the Clans of Kalquor series features multiple men who are bisexual.  Though because of my publisher's dictates my books don't delve too far into M/M encounters, there's enough there to titillate.  The shock came from discovering how many straight men were reading my books.  It's not a huge number, but it's enough for me to take notice.  While my efforts at marketing remain geared towards women for the most part, I do keep the rest of my audience in mind.
2.        Identify where your audience is
You need to go where your potential readers are.  Sure, it's great to join an authors group or friend a bunch of fellow writers on Facebook, but these aren't the bulk of your customers.  These are more peers than audience. 
As an example on where to find your readers, look at the characteristics I identified for mine.  I would probably be looking to connect with women who are into everything from Star Trek to Anne Rice to the Trueblood series to Fetlife, along with fans of novels similar to mine.  Be open to joining fanclubs where your bookworms would congregate so you can mingle and make connections.
One of the off-the-wall places I found potential readers was in a game.  At one time, I was a Vampire Wars addict, the Zynga game you can play via Facebook and Myspace.  For those of you who haven't been sucked into the black hole that is this online time eater, let me bring you up to speed.  Vampire Wars involves leveling up via accomplishing missions and beating up other vampires.  To play effectively, you need to have at least 501 fellow players in your 'clan'.  And it also features a live chat board, where you can talk to other players.  The people who play VW and engage on the board tend to be flirtatious and don't mind crude jokes.  When I signed Alien Embrace, I found it was an instant venue for discussing my work.  Now please note I was careful not to make VW my personal advertising forum, simply telling known friends online the high points of the process as Alien Embrace traveled the path to publication.  If the others among my clan saw my posts, so much the better.  When I found my fellow players were visiting my FB page to keep up on how everything was going in my literary pursuits, I cut down on the VW platform even more, finally phasing it out altogether.  I thus managed to not cross the line from promotion into haranguing, which would have resulted in a backlash.
It seems that for every subject one might write about, there's a forum out there.  Spend some time examining all outlets that your writing might appeal to.  While it may seem a bit calculating to join groups simply because you want to get the word out about your book, remember that after publication, your writing moves from pure art to product that needs to be moved.  You are now all about business if you wish to score sales. 
3.         Be a Guest
Just because hobnobbing with other authors doesn't necessarily yield high sales doesn't mean you should ignore them.  No, absolutely cultivate those relationships, especially those who write works similar to yours.  Whether they germinate into genuine friendships or not, you need other authors.  Why?  Because their readers can become your readers as well.
I love it when I'm invited to guest blog or interview with another author.  This is free exposure to readers who aren't familiar with my work, especially if my host allows me to post an excerpt of my latest book.  And this isn't a one-way street.  My readers go over to the other author's site to see what I might be saying, giving that fellow writer exposure and perhaps allowing them to snag some of my readers.  When I'm invited to guest on another's site or blog, I always reciprocate, giving them another chance to invite my readers to check out their work (and drawing their readers to my blog).  It's a win-win situation for all concerned.
I'll discuss marketing via blogs in more depth on a future tutorial.
4.        Paying for Promotion
There is of course paid advertising, which is a valid way of marketing your work.  However I have yet to do it myself for my writing, which proves you don't have to pay to be a bestseller.  Still, you may elect to give this a shot.
If you're going to take out an ad, make sure you're doing it right.  This means going back to points one and two above:  know who your audience is and where they are.  A great deal on an ad in a magazine or on a site that doesn't attract people who would enjoy your writing is lost money.  For erotica, you're better off spending extra bucks at a site with a lot of erotica reader traffic.  All Romance E-books comes to mind, as does Romantic Times Magazine.  Research on your own what they have and see what fits your budget.  Look at how the ads they post look like and which ones get your attention.  Tailor yours to match.  Once the ad comes out, see if your sales seem to be affected.  If not, that doesn't necessarily mean buying ad space was a bad idea; it may simply have to do with the content, look, and placement.  And remember, the nicest thing about paid ads is the tax write-off, so make sure you keep track of that.

This is only the tip of the marketing and promotional iceberg.  I'll be touching on this subject again (and again), because the opportunities to get your work in the public eye are so vast.  Until then, get your name out there and start making those connections.