Avatar photoSteven Savage

Distribution Follows Purpose

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com, Steve’s Tumblr, and Pillowfort.  Find out more at my newsletter, and all my social media at my linktr.ee)

As writers it’s easy to find a laundry list of advice on what you should do to reach people – have a Newsletter, have a Blog, use these formats, etc.  There’s so much common wisdom that we never ask if the common part is exceeding the wisdom part.

And no, this was not inspired by the latest Twitter drama.  It reflects on it, so I’m sorry.

I have several writing projects – and not all of them involve what you see here.  I write at work, have side projects, help people out in groups and clubs, etc.  I’m a writer, but I have many facets if you’ll indulge the metaphor – and those facets let me learn.

As of late one of my other writing projects spun up with an agonizingly slow speed, and I had to consider what forms this effort would take.  The old list mentioned above came into mind, but I stopped and asked a question that derailed me from doing “the usual.”

I asked, “How do I want to reach people with this project?” and my mind ground to a halt because we usually assume the audience is “as many people as possible.”  That book, that flyer, that business announcement, we all want it to be spread as far and wide, right?  It’s just what you do, right?

What you want to do is reach the right people and interact with them in a certain way.  You just need to know who the “right people” are and how you really want to interact with them – even if it’s to sell them a book.  The usual “do-this-as-a-writer” list is not universal.

For instance, a fellow author of mine was deep into Facebook marketing as a core way to reach people.  Sure they liked interacting with their audience, but they were so good at marketing they could reach a lot more than through a newsletter.  Their goal was to sell books first, and that worked for them.

For me socializing is a big part of writing.  Even though I have to juggle newsletters and blogs and such, I enjoy the human connection of being around writers and readers.  I’m juggling some wild ideas for my blog and newsletter where I merge some content and do regular zoom chats.  Trust me, I had some crazy ideas during covid I still might act on . . .

For one of my side projects, the goal is to build a newsletter for a group that may also involve outreach and adding new people to the project.  That’s a completely different world – a specified target audience where the goal is outreach but also building archival information.

Different goals.  Different forms of outreach.  None of them fit a checklist of “how to be a writer.”

So when you’re asking the question of all the tools you can use as  a writer, all the ways to distribute work?  Pause.  Ask yourself how you want to reach people and how you want to interact with them.  Find what fits your goals.

Also, at least now when people say “you must be on Twitter” you can just glare at them.  For multiple reasons.

Steven Savage

Steve’s Update 10/30/2022

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com, Steve’s Tumblr, and Pillowfort.  Find out more at my newsletter, and all my social media at my linktr.ee)

Here’s my latest update!

“Think Agile, Write Better”: Haven’t heard back from my pre-readers yet, but I know at least one has gotten busy, so there’s a chance this is going to slip.  I do NOT want this put out without pre-reader input, so I might do another editorial run and then begin then in December.  If you want to pre-read, let me know!

The Way With Worlds series: Continuing to write Disaster Response and Worldbuilding which is, again, really making me think.  The big realization is a lot of our pop culture doesn’t focus on response if it’s not “interesting” – which means we forget worldbuilding.

The Seventh Sanctum rewrite: My November trip is cancelled (probably) so now its just finding a weekend.  Plus turns out I’ve banked too many vacation days at work . . .

Finally, giveaways!

Steven Savage

Down The Audience Hole

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com, Steve’s Tumblr, and Pillowfort.  Find out more at my newsletter, and all my social media at my linktr.ee)

As my regular readers are aware, I’ve been finding myself dissatisfied with a lot of media today.  There’s something unsatisfying about too much of it, at least to my mental palate.  It seems samey, it seems to lack depth, it seems so manufactured.

It’s not necessarily bad, I just feel there’s so much that’s machining and adjustment something is lost, that weirdness and wildness that’s so vital for a work to catch on your soul.  I enjoy weird challenge shows, but they seem to be everywhere and at times oddly specific.  I am glad to see great adaptions out there, but I’d like some more original and new stuff.  I enjoy many a youtube program, but there’s a lot of shouty angry people cluttering my recommendations.

I’ve wanted to understand how creativity can get so channeled into sameness without much of an edge.  Originally I wrote it off as large media conglomerates and feedback loops.  Recently, I encountered something that made see what I’d missed.

I listen to a podcast on conspiracy theories today, the snarky-but-heartfelt QAnonAnonymous.  They’ve started covering weird Influencers that focus on men, and one caught my attention.  In fact, I’m not mentioning the person by name as their story is dismal.

The podcasters and guest charted this Influencer’s gradual evolution from fitness guru to bizarre sexist religious extremist.  The hosts’ usual humor was tempered with pity as they played videos from different eras of the man’s career.  His current – perhaps – final form is a man so obviously unhappy with himself  the hosts felt sad for him despite his radicalization.

One thing the podcasters explored was the idea of Audience Capture.  One tells the audience what they want to hear and they get rewarded.  If audiences have any extreme demands, the Influencer may feed them – and become captured by them.  Charting the degeneration of their subject, it was clear that he’d been an Influencer most of his life, and thus very vulnerable.

I’m thinking Audience Capture is part of my dissatisfaction.  Now I wonder how many repetitive Isekai, samey crime shows, angry Influencers, and good-but-too-manufactured movies and books are due to Audience Capture.  Hell, maybe some failed media is books or shows or whatever that tried to appeal to an audience that moved on.

I’m guessing Audience Capture is something the captured don’t notice.

Now that I have a new tool to understand my experiences and disatisfication, I’m curious as to what I’ll learn.  In fact, ask yourself how many Influencers or authors or films you know that went off the rails went because of Audience Capture.

I’d love to hear your experiences, even if it might depress both of us.

Steven Savage