I have a notebook (the paper kind) - or rather I used to have a notebook. Actually, I used to have a severe addiction to notebooks. If a notebook was well put together, it usually had my name on it. Around the time that I moved the blog here from blogger, I decided I had way too many and began to cull them. Drastically. This meant starting, finishing, abandoning or postponing the projects that were hidden in said notebooks. I’m about half way through the big cull with the aim of having only one notebook left - and that notebook is called Evernote.
This post is actually leading somewhere else, but if you’re in the same boat as me, Evernote is everything you could ever need and probably more. The other providers may tell you their stuff is the best, but take it from one who knows and who has tested all of them - as somebody that spends every waking hour being productive at home and on the road, Evernote rocks. Hard.
Anyway, back to the post. I was trawling through some notes I had made for myself to check from various online sources and I keep coming back to one. It’s a good one, so I thought I’d share…
Jane Friedman at Writer’s Digest made the following statement a little while back:
“Getting a book published does NOT equate to readership. You must cultivate a readership every day of your life, and you start TODAY. Your readers will not be interested in reading just one book; they will be interested in everything and anything you do—and that includes interacting with you online. Audience development doesn’t happen overnight (or even in 6 months or a year)—and it’s a process that continues for as long as you want to have a readership. It shouldn’t be delayed, postponed, or discounted for one minute.”
I’ve never heard it said quite so succinctly before, but it bangs the nail squarely on the head. As I always like to point out, with a twist in the right direction, that statement can and will stand up to just about anything you’re trying to achieve in life.
It’s not up to anybody else anymore. Whether you’re looking for a publishing deal or determined to go it alone, the work is the same. It’s up to you to make it happen and back up the product. An album lasts what, maybe 40 minutes? I can read an average sized book in a day with no distractions. Is that all the interaction you want with your audience? It’s not enough. To paraphrase some shiny metal soldiers: ‘you will be superceded’ by those who can be bothered to maintain their audience attention - no matter how good your product is.
Le Fin.
Back to work…