Growing Your Audience

This is a subject many have brought up. I guess… the first thing people do, when they visit my blog, is check out the subscriber count. And a four-digit number is pretty big for most blogs. However, that number doesn’t actually equate to active readers. Having gained a following over time, I cannot confidently say that everyone reads. People come, people go – some stay and lurk – and I don’t have control over my audience. But, I can most certainly grow it. How? Well…

#1 Know Your Audience

The first thing you have to ask yourself is ‘who’ – who’s your audience? Is your audience children, potterheads, Japanese, fitness junkies – who are the people you want reading your blog? This is one of the most important questions you’ll have to ask. Establishing your target audience is of top priority, whether you’re running a blog or writing a book. It’s crucial, because the people who read matter as much as the content you publish. If one is without the other, your blog will just be your blog.

#2 Find Your Audience

Now that you know your audience, the next step is to find them. When I first started this blog, I went on a hunt for readers. Since my initial target audience was potterheads, I scoured the internet for Harry Potter related blogposts. Once found, I’d read them and leave an opinion in the comment section. Doing so helped me build an initial following of Harry Potter fans, who read and supported my fan fictions.

This isn’t something I do anymore – with the amount of writing I need to get done, I don’t have the time to go on a manhunt. However, I can safely say that this is the quickest way to grow your audience. You have to first go to people, before people come to you.

#3 Study Your Audience

Do you know your audience? Yes. Have you found them? Some. Great! Now study them.

Your blog will evolve over time, and along with it… your audience. As mentioned above, you have no control over who reads your blog. You cannot beg readers to stay, nor can you shoo them away (even if you wanted to). They have their own desires – their own needs and wants. So how do you keep them engaged? You study them.

Head over to your stats page and you’ll know where your readers are coming from, and which post grabs their attention. Put two and two together, and you’ll learn what your readers are looking for – you’ll discover what piques their interest. But of course, we don’t just blog for our readers. We blog for our own personal reasons too. And with that said, we’re not obligated to accommodate to their wants. However, knowing what they want, will help you find a middle ground – where you can meet your need, while meeting theirs.

Growing your audience takes time – some people take longer, some people take shorter. So build your empire at your own pace. You’re not in a competition with that other blog. You don’t need a million subscribers by midnight. Racing against a non-existent clock will only result in a burnout. And you don’t want to risk your passion for a follower count that isn’t constant. Just do what you can, while focusing on what’s important: your craft.

At the end of the day, your craft is more powerful than your comment on Draco Malfoy’s hair. Your craft is what keeps people reading. Your craft is you. And the worst thing you can do, is lose yourself in your quest for numbers.

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6500 & A New Book

When was the last time I did a thank you post? I think it was during the 5000’s. I decided not to write these posts so frequently, not because I’m not grateful for having you around, but because I don’t want to water down my gratitude. Hence, I have decided to say thank you every 500 new subscribers. So, here I am again!

A big thank you to all 6500 readers of my blog! Thank you for paying my blog a visit, reading my stories, liking and commenting on them, and for spending your precious time on my little space on the internet. The daily growth of my blog is a huge encouragement. Having you say you enjoy my stories, whether new or old, whether original or fanfic, really makes my day. Thank you so much for being my reader and I hope you will continue to support me as I tread the waters of this big ocean of writers.

Thank you!

Now apart from my little gratitude segment, I would also like to announce that I will be releasing a new book in May. No, this is not The Battle For Oz, but another spin off.

If you have been following me since 2013, you would have remembered the blog series called Dr. Slubgob’s Letters. It was written based off C. S Lewis’ book, Screwtape Letters. This year, I was happy to discover that C. S Lewis officially entered the public domain. Which means, I can now self-publish Dr. Slubgob’s Letters!

Of course, my writing style has changed since 2013. So, I’m spending a lot of time editing, editing, and editing this piece of work. Once I’m done, I’ll convert it into a novella. I also have a graphic designer friend working on the book cover. The moment both parts of the book are ready, I’ll put it for sale. Don’t worry, there will also be a giveaway.

The reason why I decided to ‘re-publish’ Dr. Slubgob’s Letters is because The Battle For Oz is still in the process of publication. It has just completed the editing stage and will take a while before it hits the shelves. I wanted to give you something else to read before that book is published.

My plans for my unpublished works has changed since The Battle For Oz was successfully crowd-funded. I might even crowd-fund another novel in the future but for now, I’m just going with the flow. I hope The Battle For Oz will propel me forward as an author and give me a chance to play with the big boys soon. So, if you’re interested in checking the book out, please do so. It’s on Inkshares, Amazon, and a few other online bookstores if you would like to pre-order it.

791 copies have been pre-ordered so far – only 209 before I hit the 1k mark! Would you lend a hand? It’s a milestone I have yet to achieve 🙂

Anyway, there will be more news to come as time goes by. For now, know that I’m releasing a novella soon. I don’t want to write a short story out of this, so I’ll end it here. Once again, thank you so much for your support and readership. I really appreciate it. I hope you have a good weekend and continue to stay awesome!

5,540 : 3,513

#5,540

I have reached 5540 subscribers today 🙂 Yippee yay! Thank you so much for your support. I really appreciate all the comments, shares, likes, and re-blogs, and I’m grateful for your time spent at my little corner of the internet. I’m happy that you have decided to join me on my fictional adventures and I hope you will continue to stay on board. Thank you!

#3,513

As bloggers, you and I have a desire to share our voices with anyone who would listen. So, you understand me more than anyone else. If you’re an indie writer, you get me even more! Help me amplify my voice to the world. I know I’m asking you to support my dream when you have dreams of your own, but you also know that dreams don’t just come true by wishing on a star; dreams come true when you and I believe.

3513 is actually the exact number of dollars I’m short in completing The Battle For Oz crowd-funding project. I’m more than halfway funded, but I need your help to give me a boost. This is the time where I need just a little more from you.

I hate asking people for money, but to have you back me up would mean a lot. After all, you’ve subscribed because you believe in me, right? I would appreciate if you could have a little more faith 🙂 Trust that this would be a huge stepping stone and it would give me a good kick start to publish more books; books I hope to share with you.

I only have  65 days left to complete the funding project and time can really fly. Please check out the project when you have the time. I would appreciate it. You can also read more about the paperback giveaway should you be interested in winning a copy.

I hope you would give me your support. The world may not need me as another author, but the world could use a fresh conviction that dreams can come true when we stand together and believe 🙂

Keeping this short and sweet, thank you once again for staying with me. I’m looking forward to greater adventures with you!

Busy & Blessed

Let’s start with the blessed part of this post first.

I’m blessed to have all of your guys as my readers. Today, I’ve officially hit the 5,400 subscriber mark! A big thank you for all of your support and readership. I honestly don’t know what else to say, because there’s only gratitude for your subscription 🙂 I hope you will continue to support me in my future endeavours, as there are bigger adventures to come.

Now on to the busy part of this post.

I’ve been rather busy these past 10 days; contacting everyone I know, asking for funding for my crowd-funding project. I’ve exhausted my email and Facebook contacts, and I’ve even gone through 2,400 subscribers’ gravatar profiles in search for emails to send a personal message regarding the project. If you’ve gotten an email, please do consider funding me, if you have not, I’m so sorry. I could not find your email, but please consider funding me too! *I’ll still be going through the other 3,000 gravatar profiles, but it’ll take some time.*

So, how has the funding been going? Rather well actually.

In the first 10 days, today being the 10th day, I’ve hit 40% of my goal! So a huge thank you to all my family, friends and readers who have supported me so far. No matter what amount you guys gave, you helped me get this far in such a short period of time. For those who are still on the fence about backing this project, I would be so happy if you would hop on board and give me a hand. In other words, I NEED YOUR HELP! With your help, the project will be completely funded in no time! And that would mean a lot me 🙂

Click HERE to go to the project’s page.

The incentives have been tweaked to cater to smaller backers. Now, you can get an e-book for 5 USD and a paperback for 25 USD! If you would like to be the first few to read The Battle For Oz novel, don’t waste anymore time and visit the project page right now! Or at least check it out 🙂

Anyway, that’s all for this short post. Please do check out the project and thank you once again for all the support. Stay awesome guys and have a wonderful weekend!

Help Me Debut!

Don’t worry, I have not forgotten about my blog project. I will release the introduction next week, as I do not want to crowd my blog with too many posts.

Now, you might be asking why; why did I push back the exciting blog project I have been talking so much about? Well, it’s because of The Battle For Oz.

If you did not read my last post, this will seem new to you, but if you did, I hope this post will nudge you to check out the project. I honestly do not like to repeat the topic of my posts, but I have to be certain I did my best to raise funds for my book.

So, what’s going on with The Battle For Oz?

I have put the novel up on a crowd-funding publishing website.

What is crowd-funding?

Crowd-funding is when you and everyone else decides to fund my book. If the funding goal is met, the book will be published. If it’s not met, you will be refunded.

Inkshares is similar to Kickstarter and Indiegogo, except it is only for books.

How much is the goal?

$7,700. That is why I need all of your help!

What happens after the project meets the goal?

The Battle For Oz will be professionally edited, designed, printed, and distributed to bookstores.

What do funders (a.k.a backers) get?

Depending on the amount funded, some will get e-books while others will receive paperbacks delivered to their doorsteps.

How do you fund this project?

Click HERE and you will be taken to the project page. There, you will be able to read about the project and select an amount to give. You can give any amount you like by clicking ‘Back This Book’.

Inkshares accepts funds through credit and debit cards.

*Minimum funding is 5USD, but with that you can get an e-book.

Until when can you fund this project?

The campaign runs from Oct 2nd 2014 to January 5th 2015.

But from today till October 11, the publisher will add an extra 5USD whenever a person decides to fund the project.

If 1,000 of you fund 5USD in the next few days, the project would be 90% completed. So you see, the minimum can make a HUGE difference! 

I hope this simple break down answers any of your questions. Thank you for all the support you have shown so far and I hope you would consider supporting me in this endeavour too. I also appreciate all the Facebook shares, re-blogs, and tweets on this project. You guys are amazing!

Keeping this short and sweet, I’ll end with a shout out to all my current funders/backers: Joan Tan, Mrs Roberts, Calvin Ng, Jonas Lee, Fuibee, May Foo, Tony To, Mr Ray, Jay Low, Yean Ching & Greg, Kenny Saw, Mei Mei Yap, Angelyn Looi, Douglas, Sharon Lim, Kok Kin, Peng Sheng, Katherine Law, Elaine Ong, Cheng Yee,  and all those friends who have said they would back me up. Thank you for believing in me 🙂

Have a nice day!

Let’s Be Honest

Let’s be honest, I never expected to come this far with my blog. My personal blog barely gets any reads so I never expected my professional one to be any different. But, here I am today.

Let’s be honest, all 5,270 of my subscribers were once very sceptical about my blog. None of you were dead sure you would enjoy my writing and some of you have considered of leaving. But, I’m glad all of you stayed.

Let’s be honest, you guys bring my blog to life as much as I do. So thank you, for being here and supporting my endeavours. I am not the best blogger in the world, certainly not the best writer either, but you guys are the best readers out there. I know, that’s a bias statement. I’m sure other writers have awesome readers too, but I’d like to think mine are the best. Thanks for being the best!

Let’s be honest, I was just trying to be creative with this post. But, it’s not really working in my opinion. Haha!

Anyway, speaking of honesty I’ve decided to try out something new.

I’ve been on this blogosphere long enough to have stumbled across a lot of book blogs and it’s so strange how it never dawned on me to approach any of them. Maybe… I was scared of being bashed? Well, fear is out of the door today.

From this day onwards, I will be on the look out for book bloggers and those who are willing to do honest reviews in exchange for a free e-book. I’m taking this step to improve my writing through constructive criticism and as a way to scatter my name across the World Wide Web. I’m pretty sure some of you are book bloggers too, so if you’re interested, drop me an email at jeynagrace on Gmail.

The books that I’m opening for reviews are:
– Raindrops
– The Battle For Oz: Exitium (which is already free)
– All my future novels including the upcoming ones, The Prince and The Battle For Oz novel.
– The second edition of Dream World: The Lost Child, which will be out in January next year.

My first novel is not on this list, but I don’t mind you doing a comparison of my first and latest novel; I know it’s not up to par with the rest of my works so I don’t want to wave it around. I’m not ashamed of it, in fact I’m glad I wrote it, but it is rather amateurish. I’m just being honest.

Honesty is the best policy, right?

Well, that is all for this ‘thank you’ post. Thanks again for your readership and continue being the best readers out there. I’m honestly happy to have your support and I truly appreciate it. Thank you!

( P.s., I’ll be taking a break for a week, so there will be no post next week. But, I will be back with something awesome! The new project I talked about in my last ‘thank you’ post will be starting then 🙂 It’ll be fun, I promise!)

Transitions & 5,100 Subscribers

First and foremost, I want to say a big thank you to all 5,100 subscribers.

If you are new here, thank you for giving my blog a shot. You might not know what to expect but I hope my work will impress you enough to keep you reading. If you have been here for quite some time, thank you so much for sticking around. Plenty of bloggers have come and gone, but you chose to stay. I really appreciate the support.

Seeing my subscriber count grow everyday is a huge encouragement. It reminds me to do my best for all of you. One reason I don’t give up on this blog is because I know I’m being read… and as a writer and blogger, that means a lot. I’m sure you all will agree on that.

So, thank you! Thank you so much!

Now, let’s talk about transitions.

Since I started my blog, it has gone through a couple of transitions. My blog first started as a place to promote my first novel, but it soon became a platform for me to deal with my post-potter depression; I started writing the Joanna Chen fan fiction and short fan fictions as a way to cope with the end of Harry Potter. But ultimately, it became a way for me to improve on my writing.

If you have been around long enough, you would remember the days where I don’t capitalize my i’s. Oh, wow. Jeyna, you cannot do that ever again! You would also remember writing or reading comments that brought to light my errors. Yes, I had plenty of those and I am very grateful for them. If no one said anything, I would not have improved at all. So old timers, thank you for being grammar Nazis.

Fan fiction was the focus on my blog for quite some time, until I decided to overcome my fear of being plagiarized and began publishing original works. I dropped the short fan fictions and began posting short stories and blog series’ such as Dr. Slubgob’s Letters and The Lucrative Business. I also tried a few reader interactive projects, but they failed. Well, one should not be ashamed of failure.

Now, I believe it has come to a point where another transition should take place. As some of you might have noticed, the FHB fan fiction is coming to an end. After which time, this blog will be completely focused on my own original fictional works. There will no longer be fan fictions. I’m sorry if that news disappoints some of you, but I think it’s about time I move forward. I am glad I started fan fictions and I’m glad many of you have come along for the ride, but I hope you would still remain on board with this new transition. There will also be a special project to kickstart this new phase, but I’ll write about it another time. This is actually one transition I’ve wanted to make for a while, and I would appreciate your continuous support. It means a lot to me 🙂

So, thank you in advance and thank you for reading this now. Also, thank you so much for all your comments, likes, shares, re-blogs, emails, and special features on your own blogs. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of readers and I hope that in the near future, I can look back and say, “Those early subscribers on my blog, they made a difference in my life.”

Thanks guys!

Poetic Milestone

What should I say on a day like today? What right words should I put into play?
I know a simple thank you cannot do. So maybe something else in a similar hue?

In all honestly, I don’t know how to thank you all. Five thousand subscribers! That number is not small.
I must add something different in this special post. I have to try to be a more grateful host.

Maybe I should just say what’s on my mind? I’m sure those words will come out fine.
So please bear with me a little longer. Here comes more words from an indie author.

Firstly thank you for your time, dear reader. You’ve kept the dreams alive in this dreamer.
Thank you also for sparing a word and a thought. The monster of doubt, together we fought.

I truly appreciate all the support you have given me. If not for it, where would I be?
Even with all the ups and downs, your presence has made a smile from a frown.

I hope you will continue to be by my side, even if this journey has an unpredictable ride.
Surely you know that there is no fun, if the dragon is slain by a party of one.

Alas, the climb to the peak is still a long way and my adventure is only starting today.
But I’m ready for whatever tomorrow brings, even if the bee stings at the late arrival of Spring.

I pray my words will inspire much more, as I try to be better than I was the day before.
My dream is not impossible and yours aren’t too. So believe in yourself and don’t let fear stop you.

Let’s continue to dream together. With our passion, we can always go further.
Let’s toast to a greater future, and thank you once again for supporting my endeavour.

 Signed, Jeyna Grace © 2014

4,900 Subs, 3 Steps, 1 Interview

100 more and I’ll hit 5,000 subscribers! But I shall not get ahead of myself. Hitting 4,900 is an exciting moment itself. Who would have thought that I would have this many readers? Certainly not me when I first started. I remember being so happy with my first 100 subscribers and I never expected my blog to keep growing. So I’m very thankful for all of you and your support.

Thank you for being the eyes and ears to my stories, thank you for the encouragement that keeps me writing, and thank you for being the 1 in the 4,900. Without you I wouldn’t be here today, so thank you for being awesome! Your presence makes a difference 🙂

Now, while you accept the fact that you are wonderful, I have something extra to add.

Recently, I’ve noticed a lot of clicks on The Battle For Oz: Exitium but the downloads do not match up. I think I know why; those new on my blog do not know how to get the book for free!

So, I shall use this space to tell you how you can download any of my books that has a ‘0+’ price tag for free.

Step 1: Visit the Gumroad book page and click I want this.

Step 2: Type ‘0’ in the name your price column.

Step 3: Insert your email and download the book.

It’s that easy! I know the credit card part scares a lot of people, but don’t worry, if you’re downloading for free you don’t need to fill that section up 🙂 Now that you know, go ahead and click The Battle For Oz: Exitium book cover again!

If you want to check out my other books, head on to the bookshop page. There, you will find Magnum Opus at ‘0+’ too 🙂 So what are you waiting for? Go, go, go!

On a side note, I recently did an interview on another blogger’s blog. If you wanna read what I have to say about writing, click here! I like doing interviews, because I get to share more about myself without sounding brag-y or know-it-all-ish. So thanks for the platform, Aj Chaudhury 🙂

Well, that is all for this post. Thank you for being awesome and continue on with your awesomeness!

*Current blog post schedule: A post every Thursday alternating between an original short story and a Harry Potter fan fic novel.

Changing Things Up

4,800, yes, 4,800 subscribers! Woo hoo! Just so you know, I’ve never shouted ‘woo hoo’ out loud before… and I probably won’t because it’s a bit strange to do so in front of the computer. So here am I, internally and silently celebrating this new achievement. Come, celebrate with me too 🙂 After all, the number is rather insignificant if not for the the people behind it. Thank you for making that number worth something to me.

I’ve said this many times (saying ‘I’ve said this many times’ have also been said many times), but I’m really thankful for all of you. Your subscription, readership, and support matters a lot to me. I know my words may seem watered down, because I’m posting these ‘thank you’ posts too regularly, but the sincerity is still thick as glue. I really am grateful for your presence. Thank you, thank you, thank you 🙂

Moving on, I have something important to tell you guys.

There is going to be a change to the way I release the rest of the books in The Battle For Oz trilogy. Previously, TBFO was a novelette trilogy that I partnered with an artist. However, due to differing goals between me and the artist, he has decided to pursue other projects instead. BUT that does not mean The Battle For Oz is gone. No way! I promised you guys 3 books and I will now give you 1; The Battle For Oz novel!

The Battle For Oz: Exitium will still be up for download, but it will now be a free teaser for you to taste the story before considering buying the novel. You can download it free here! As for The Battle For Oz novel, even though there will not be an abundance of artwork like in Exitium, I will be converting it into e-pub and mobi formats as well. So now everyone with e-readers can read it too 🙂

Honestly, this is not the change I intended to make, but sometimes you got to work with it. Zaquard is very talented (check out his devianart) but the way we see our trade with The Battle For Oz does not gel. Unfortunately, it has come down to this, but I’m still very excited! I’m hoping to release the full novel May next year, so be sure to keep an eye out for it!

Anyway, for all those that downloaded Exitium, thank you so much and I hope you enjoyed it! I also hope you would be game to read the rest of the novel when it comes out. The plot gets ‘twistier’ than the yellow brick road, I promise 🙂

Well, that is all I have to say for this post. Thank you once again for your subscription and have a great week!