Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Speaker’s Corner

I mentioned in the last post, that I’m having trouble generating traffic for both this blog and Teratogenesis.  Generally, I’m using word of mouth / Facebook and linking back to this blog on every profile I have.  But it just isn’t enough.

I’m considering other forms of promotion, but I’m having to weigh the outlay such an effort would require compared to it’s reach.  So far, Teratogenesis is a pure profit project, there are no costs to consider and I’d like to keep it that way.

The first reason is, obviously, financial; it is much more likely to generate a profit without being hampered by the cost of marketing.  Secondly, I like the idea of creating something out of virtually nothing.  The only revenue stream from Teratogenesis are the links to the MP3s, I didn’t want to put ads on to a page and risk the audience’s suspension of disbelief (although there is something of a disclaimer in there so people don’t panic about… But I go too far, too soon.)  Thirdly, I appreciate that it is not Twilight and is unlikely to have a broad audience.

I’m not especially interested in making money out of this.  I’d like to, and I don’t intend to hamstring myself, but I want my writing to have value in and of itself; it has to stand on it’s own value first and any commercial concerns come far down on this list.

But currently, there is little in the way of an audience, and this is particularly demoralising.  Still, I’m not writing for you, I do this for myself because I have to.  Writing is something I’ve always done, apart from in the darkest days of my life, and something I always will do.  The trick is going to be reaching the people who will enjoy my writing.  And it’s proving elusive.