This is something I've also come across with my choir.
We put on a grand concert for friends and family in a beautiful old Tudor hall
in the town where we rehearse. There was some lovely music, gorgeous home-made
cakes and glasses of wine. It was very well attended and the applause was warm.
We repeated it a few months later. This time the concert was
quite well attended but the applause was a little less enthusiastic. When we
offered a third one, hardly anyone came. Apparently they'd heard our
repertoire. Choral music wasn't really their thing. There was a limit to how
many times they could support us. On the other hand there's that couple who
will travel 120 mile to hear us who don't mind at all that they have to listen
to some firm favourites…
One writing friend of mine sold over 150 copies of one of our
books in the first six weeks. When the second was launched, many of the same friends
attended the launch but didn't buy the book. "We bought a copy of the last
one," they said. Yes they'd been
proud that she'd been published but actually they weren't really bookish
people.
So, the trick is to find those people like the couple who adore
choral music. Find those, who love your work, then make sure they're on your
mailing list and that it's easy for them to find and buy your books.
When you think of it that way, too, isn't it also about writing
something really special that speaks of your own particular brand?
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