Off-Target, Laser-Focused Marketing. Resurrected Post.
An intriguing opportunity came my way a few months back, one that I consider intriguing in two aspects. I was interviewed for an article in the Oregon State Bar Bulletin (the monthly house-organ for Oregon���s attorneys) about lawyers who are also writers.
This interview was an enjoyable opportunity to discuss writing. As usual with this sort of thing, an hour conversation was whittled down to a few paragraphs. But the conversation was still worthwhile.
Now, I said I considered intriguing in two ways. One, the chance to promote my work is always interesting. People won���t buy a book if they never hear of it, right? So, while I���m not overly comfortable with publicity, I recognize its necessity. Second, and perhaps more interesting, is the narrow market the article addresses. Lawyers. And lawyers in only one State, and a relatively unpopulous one at that. This intrigues me because it explores whether a tightly focused outreach to what is not necessarily a target demographic can have any practical impact on sales.
The day the issue of the OSBB dropped, I checked the Amazon ranking of the novel of mine that received coverage. Then I checked again every day after for the next week or so. Other than a single spike in sales one day, I noticed no unusual activity. And, as a matter of fact, the spike was not really anomalous. I can neither tie it to the article nor prove it unrelated.
So, given the scarcity of altered sales activity, at this point I���d conclude that outreach to an audience with no specific affinity to science fiction or fantasy is unlikely to impact sales of a science-fiction or fantasy novel. Hardly a groundbreaking revelation, but interesting as a practical, real world result.
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Published on July 16, 2017 13:43
