Targeting the right audience

[E.L.]

Hi

I’m new to this group and have already managed to pick up some great promotional tips so thank you!

But...I appear to be struggling with getting the ‘right’ audience on Goodreads and my ratings have recently taken a knock...which in turn has knocked my confidence and also people wanting to read book 2 (that I’ve just released).

I’m not all about fame and fortune (thankfully!), I just love writing, want some decent reviews and money wise I ideally want to earn enough to cover what I have paid out to self publish.

Now, I’m on KU, have a Facebook page, Instagram, Twitter and Goodreads. I’ve had some amazing reviews...and more recently a string of not great ones. I think my problem is that it’s a contemporary romance with an MC element. It’s more about addiction, abuse, love after loss and finding love despite all just mentioned. But a lot of MC romances in my experience tend to be about the alpha and the sex...

The people I’m receiving low stars from appear to be readers who tend to give their biggest scores to the more erotic stories...so, my book is coming up short for them as although there are sex scenes, there’s not many!

So...how an earth do I target the right audience? Because yes, it can fall under the category of MC but it’s not just that.

Any advice would be gratefully received. Thank you.

[Dwayne, Head of Lettuce]

Seventeen of your three hundred eighty-two ratings on your first book are negative. That's less than five percent. Your second book has an average of 4.8 stars.

That's actually pretty good. Not everyone is going to love your book.

[Junkomi]

Not really much to say about targeting the right audience. When you first start your book you research the market and see what it the biggest thing. After that you decide if you want to follow that big trend or not. It really is just that simple. As stated not everyone is going to like your book, 'tis the sad truth.

So, yeah...I guess my advice would be if you think of doing another book figure out early on if you want to follow the trend and do what is popular or just say "Screw it!" and go do your own thing. ^-^;

Sorry wish I could give you some more advice then that but really not much else to give...I mean I guess aside from trying to find people that are for your genre or something.

[E.L.]

Thank you...I’m kind of a screw it and do my own kind of thing kinda girl lol. I figured as much really and I know my book won’t be everyone’s cuppa. I just wondered if I was doing anything particularly wrong. I’ve gone from getting fantastic reviews to suddenly a string of low ratings. It just made me question what’s happened....

This author lark is really quite the mine field!

Thank you

[Tomas, Wandering dreamer]

First to say from me: I have no idea about romance and its subgenres - and thus no idea what 'MC' means. So my opinion will be in the form of general advice.
Anyway, if the worse reviews/ratings are from people that seem to be looking for something else, I see two possible things to do.
First is to have a better look at the subgenres and try looking if any of them would fit better to attract the right readers (and not attract those not seeking this kind of book).
The second option - but I guess that has no point if it's up for a while and as said above, doing well - would be to make changes to the blurb so it better points out what kind of book it is.

The thing is, the more reads you get, the more people might see your book for various reasons - for example, through Amazon's "readers also bought". It could mean that your readers are more diverse or that they have a wider reach in their choices and thus it might be recommended with less specificity. The more visibility, the more potential for less precise targetting, I'd say.

Closing thought, by what Wayne said... almost 400 ratings? Not bad at all! I'll celebrate if I get just a 100 when my book is done.

[Donna]

Tomas wrote: "First to say from me: I have no idea about romance and its subgenres - and thus no idea what 'MC' means. So my opinion will be in the form of general advice.
Anyway, if the worse reviews/ratings ar..."

Great insight. The more your blurb lets the reader know in advance what to expect the better. I also believe that different readers will read the blurb and connect it with what they expect based on other readings. It's like when we compare a specific dish that we love from one restaurant to another. The second restaurant didn't claim the dish was equal; however, based on the ingredients and our previous experience we create certain expectations never really taking into account the possibility that the same ingredients could be used in different proportions to create totally different results.

[Sylvia]

I clicked over to find your two books. I definitely agree with the folks here who recommended that you refine your book description. Both book descriptions are a little vague as to what to expect. And please don't use an undefined acronym (MC - motorcycle? motorcycle club? mother and child? main character?) in your book description... it will not be found by search engines, and it is a turn-off for readers "on the edge" of deciding whether they might like your book or not.

It's interesting to note that many of your Book 1 "also-boughts" (which are a huge driver for sales) feature covers showing very interesting tattoos. It appears that some of the appeal for Book 1 is the cover art - congrats, you've got a great cover!

Dwayne commented above about your books having almost 400 reviews... but I checked on both Amazon and Goodreads, and I'm not seeing more than 150 total ratings and reviews. This is puzzling... but I wonder if he was looking at another book of the same title? Anazon lists over 15 books with the title "Falling to Pieces". And, I don't know about the Goodreads technology... but the "Amazon" link on your Goodreads book page goes to the Amazon's LIST of 15 other books, not directly to your book. If this could be fixed, it would help readers find your book.

One thing you could try is being more explicit in your book description regarding your comparables. Identify one or two other very popular books which are very similar to yours, and add them to your book description, e.g., "Readers of aaa and bbb will love this book". This will help assure that you attract primarily readers who will love your book.

[Pamela]

I wonder if you have changed anything with your marketing recently. I imagine that certain promotional companies have different groups of people following them, e.g. one might have more erotica readers than contemporary romance readers. Likewise, if you've run ads, maybe you've not targeted your ideal reader or picked the best keywords - both tricky aspects, but could be why the 'wrong' readers have found your books recently and given lower reviews.
Just my 5c worth. :)

[P.D.]

Sylvia wrote: "One thing you could try is being more explicit in your book description regarding your comparables. Identify one or two other very popular books which are very similar to yours, and add them to your book description, e.g., "Readers of aaa and bbb will love this book". This will help assure that you attract primarily readers who will love your book. "

While a lot of book descriptions do this, it may result in a warning email from Amazon, such as this one that I got:

Error Category: Other; Kindle Location: 2; Comments: Hello, The product description on your book's detail page contains promotional and advertising information.Example:"Fans of XXX and YYY will love ZZZ." We do not allow information of this nature in product descriptions.

[Dwayne, Head of Lettuce]

Sylvia wrote: "Dwayne commented above about your books having almost 400 reviews... but I checked on both Amazon and Goodreads, and I'm not seeing more than 150 total ratings and reviews. This is puzzling..."

It's called making a mistake. It happens to some humans. Sort of like spelling Amazon with two n's. Right?

[Dwayne, Head of Lettuce]

P.D. Workman (Pamela) wrote: "While a lot of book descriptions do this, it may result in a warning email from Amazon, such as this one that I got:

Error Category: Other; Kindle Location: 2; Comments: Hello, The product description on your book's detail page contains promotional and advertising information.Example:"Fans of XXX and YYY will love ZZZ." We do not allow information of this nature in product descriptions. "

Really? I didn't know that. Good to know. I never cared for people telling me I'd like their book if I like this or that other book.

[Sylvia]

P.D. Workman (Pamela) wrote: "...cannot use Fans of XXX and YYY will love ZZZ..."

Very good info, Pam, thanks. Guess I need to do a better job of reading the fine print.

[P.D.]

The terms and conditions are scattered across so many pages for Amazon that it is difficult to find all of the rules. Plus they change over time. It's hard to know something is not allowed - when it seems like everyone is doing it and recommending it - until Amazon slaps your wrists. I had been using that description for two years and had done similar descriptions across half a dozen books before they said anything about it. Now I know better!

[M.L.]

Whether 100 or 400, that's a lot of reviews. My thought is you have reached your target readers, it's just readers are different, not everyone likes the same book.

[Justin]

Sounds like you're targeting the right audience but not every one of those people within your audience will like your book as Dwayne said. I'm sure there's even a percentage of people in your audience who will like and dislike your work but the key is to keep promoting to them. You'll build a rapport and relationship with them and the ones who do enjoy your work will keep coming back for more.

[Dwayne, Head of Lettuce]

Haru wrote: "By the way, I took a gander at your titles, and I think those people who unfairly reviewed are ..."

Psst. We have a rule against negativity, especially in talking about reviews. Just because someone read a book and gave it a negative review is no reason to see it as "unfair" and the name-calling is unnecessary.