“When Lives Connect”
Dear writer, I hope you had a good week and had a chance to look at integrating feedback into your story! This week, we’re going to shift gears into the marketing phase of your writing journey. Because here’s the thing…
Building your platform is an important first step in the publishing process. While the word “platform” might sound intimidating, building a platform simply involves discovering where your readers naturally gather and creating a space to connect with them there, whether that’s through an email newsletter, a blog, social media, live events, or something more out of the box!
Now, the first step of any platform building is to identify where your readers spend their time. But before we dive in, let’s take a look at some others who found and met their audience where they were…
Finding Your Audience in History
Amy Carmichael, a missionary to India, is a great example of a woman who discovered who truly needed the love and message of God that she’d been given. When Amy first went to India, she spent her time in evangelistic crusades as many missionaries of her time. But when God brought Preena, a young girl fleeing a life of forced temple prostitution, to her, Amy recognized that this was a unique call from God to rescue and restore these children.
Amy quickly shifted her focus, efforts, and ministry to reach, rescue, and rehabilitate the children who had been sold as temple workers. Giving up her evangelistic travels, Amy instead created a house where rescued children could grow and thrive, raised with the help of Christian Indian women whom Amy trained to be leaders as they served alongside her.
You see, writer, sometimes we may be tempted to take standard marketing advice as we build connections with our readers, but here’s the thing. If God has given you insight into the unique people your book is meant to reach, you can strategically shape your efforts to meet those readers right where they are by asking for God’s unique ideas and creativity to do so. Just like Amy Carmichael.
Finding Your Audience in the Bible
Paul is another great example of a man who knew his God-given audience and met them where they were. When Paul began his ministry, his habit was to begin ministry in every city by visiting the Jewish synagogues. Though he had a clear call to the gentiles, his heart burned for his own people. After meeting with rejection after rejection from Jewish leaders, Paul fully embraced his call to the gentiles, and poured his life into meeting them with the Gospel where they were.
Paul maintained these connections with many follow up trips, and then through his letters, as he helped these fledgling believers grow in their newfound faith. And, through Paul’s embrace of God’s calling, Paul accomplished works that reach both Jewish and gentile believers today.
You see, writer, sometimes we may have an idea of who we want our book to reach and how. But as we write God’s word for God’s people, the path of true fruitfulness will lie in the direction of God’s leading. And when we are faithful to that call, God may either transform or meet our heart’s desires in unexpected ways.
Finding Your Audience in Life
One of my God-given audiences rose when the Ugandan ministry I worked for asked me to teach their Ugandan staff members how to write reports. I was given an afternoon and roughly 50 sets of listening ears as I taught them the basics of “Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How” and asked them to send me sample reports to review.
I received about five reports back and saw immediately that they had understood me perfectly. I also saw that they clearly needed help to understand how to master English grammar and western thinking to reach our supporters with their testimonies. While the Ugandan staff were fully capable of understanding and growing, they needed a teacher to meet them where they were to help them past the initial cultural hurdles to span the gap between continents.
A year later, I returned with a college level course I had created just for them. I lived with them for three months as I helped coach them through the more difficult parts of training to become full blown western-style news writers. And here’s the thing, writer…
Finding Your Audience in Your Life
Taking time to discover and build connections with your readers is about learning to live with them in a space they are familiar with and to experience some of their joys and pains so that you can reach into those places of their greatest need. Let show you…
- How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? – Romans 10:14
- How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” – Isaiah 52:7
- And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. – Mark 16:15
- Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’” – Hebrews 10:5-7
You see, writer, finding your audience is about learning to dwell with people in a way that you may not have experienced before, so that they can receive a message from God they have never heard before. When we learn to do this well, we often discover there are few things sweeter or that make a more lasting impact for the Kingdom of God than fully investing in His clear calling.
Just like Amy’s willingness to go to those who needed her most changed a a generation of children who impacted the future of a nation. Just like Paul’s obedience transformed not just the Gentile believers of his era but Jewish and Gentile believers throughout the centuries. Just like my willingness to walk with my Ugandan brothers and sisters unlocked not just their ability to write but unleashed testimonies that have begun to circle the globe.
Where to Start with Finding Your Audience
So are you ready to discover and start building connections with your readers? Here are some ideas to get you started.
- Know Who. Take some time to prayerfully consider the readers God has called you to reach. Who are they specifically? What are their lives, families, and jobs like? As you pray and think write down everything you currently know about your reader to create a preliminary “profile” of their lives. At this point, don’t worry about what you don’t know. Simply write down everything you do know about them.
- Know Where. Once you’ve written a basic profile of your God-given readers, do a little research to see what places and spaces those readers frequent. Where do they go for information? Where and how do they recreate and rest? What channels do they seek out for further learning? Do some online research for groups that interest them, platforms they frequent, and events they attend. Ask a friend or acquaintance that fits that demographic these questions. Doing this will clarify potential pathways to meet your readers.
- Know Next Steps. Once you have a reader profile and know places and space they frequent, prayerfully consider which specific pathways you can utilize to connect. Are they young mothers on the go? Consider a podcast they can listen to as they run errands. Are they professionals in a particular industry? Consider renting a booth at their conferences or conventions. Identify a pathway or two you can begin developing.
- Know It Takes Time. Understand that building connections with your readers will sometime take a little time, a little creativity, and a willingness to grow and adapt as you go. But here’s the thing: as you remain committed to God’s plan to reach His people through His processes, you can trust that He will guide you along the way. Because here’s the deal…
Often when we start reaching readers, we may not have the perfect method or ideas. Most of us will need to adjust as we go. And all of us will need to lean into the Lord for His favor, open doors, and creative out-of-the-box thinking! But as we seek Him, we can trust that He will indeed give the wisdom we ask for…
Just like He gave Amy the strategy to dye her skin dark and cover her face to slip into temples unnoticed and rescue children there. Just like He gave Paul endurance to maintain his relationships even from prison. Just like He gave me grace to live a context totally different from my own and strategy to shift culture in ways that allowed Him to multiply His blessings in their lives and mine. And here’s the real deal, writer…
Learning to truly connect with our readers is about a willingness to let our lives be touched by theirs and to carry, in some small degree, the incarnational nature of Christ by becoming the word made flesh to them in a way that allows the word He’s given us to become flesh in their lives.
So, I encourage you today, writer, if you’ve felt intimidated by the thought of connecting with your readers, remember that when God gives you a call, He will also give you a grace to meet it. Just like He did with Amy, Paul, and me. And the beautiful thing is that, as you lean into Him to willingly sow a bit of your life into people you’ve never known before, you have no idea when and how He will cause those seeds to grow and spread to impact lives and generations far beyond your own.
#dwell #go #love #trust #grace #EveryWriterWriting
