If you could write for The Walking Dead
I won’t drop any spoilers on you, but let it be known that I’m already writhing and shaking like a hopeless dope fiend.
This past Sunday saw the mid-season finale of Walking Dead and once again we’re saddled with open loops that equal endless internet speculation.
Now, THAT is the effect of tight writing.
I’m not going to spend too much time on this today, but I’ll leave you with the one-two punch that makes the Walking Dead work.
The Jab: the hardest part of launching a story, no matter what media you release your work on, is building a following. (You probably didn’t need me telling you that).
Once you have that initial following, the flow begins to march under its own power.
Your fans begin sharing your work with their closest friends, bloggers belonging to your genre start writing reviews and posting on social media…and so it goes.
But first, that audience needs to be built.
Enter Lindsey Buroker.
Lindsey used Wattpad as her launching pad for growing an audience. The platform helped her work get exposed to just under a 900,000 readers.
End Result: Her Kindle books now earn her about $25K to $30K a month (going by sales rank figures/KDP calculator and prices).
No backing from any publishing houses.
Of course, Lindsey accomplished this not only with the jab, but the uppercut:
Writing with a compelling style that leaves loyal followers craving the next injection.
Keeping your readers engrossed with words is one thing.
But having them feel something…take me for example.
After the average episode of The Walking Dead, I feel physically stressed out. When one of my favorite characters is in peril, I start shuffling in my seat and cracking my neck.
Yes, I really do get that tensed up.
But that’s what captivating prose does – it taps into your emotional base, and tapping that base is the only way you’ll get your following to:
- Stick with you once they discover you
- Promote your for free to their entourage
- Buy your books after the Wattpad phase
The cover for my lead-off Wattpad book will be ready at the end of this week and I’ll be posting a link.
If you don’t follow for the story itself, be sure to at least follow to see how I leverage what Wattpad offers.