Networking and building a readership is something I’ve been getting more concerned with in the last few years. Now that the content is there it’s time to stimulate interaction.

I’ve been working my way through HTMW, and so far I hadn’t really read anything too new (just a lot of confirmation that I’ve been doing things right), until I got to Dave‘s chapter on Interacting with your audience. I don’t know if it had to do with the fact that I’ve been a bit of a superfan myself the past few weeks about another artist that I’ve mentioned previously (I met her! I met her! I met her!), but what Dave said really clicked with me.

He talks about the notion that what you represent in your work represents what kind of fans you’ll get. He says:

“The readership you build up over time will be a reflection of the work and the words and the sentiments you put out there. And after a few years of filtering out this type of reader and that type of reader, you inevitably end up with a reader that reflects your basic personality.”

That little nugget of wisdom really opened my eyes! He goes on to comment:

“Think about that next time you’re tempted to say “my readers are lazy” or “they don’t support me”. Are they a reflection of you?”

I’m inclined to say yes, haha!

So I’m going to put together some ideas to stimulate readers a little more, and I’ve recently become involved with a small group of very talented and passionate artists aswell. This is really the next step.

update:
Starting with the return of the advertising and linking page!
update 2:
And a new, easy to use, no-nonsense forum!