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Authors Can You Get 1,000 True Fans?
Here is an interesting concept from Kevin Kelly that authors might want to take a look at. It is called 1,000 true fans. The idea is to build a base of 1,000 true fans who will buy anything an artists create. For an author that might be any book the author gets published or self-publishes. If an author had 1,000 true fans presumably the author would be able to make a living off of his or her writing.
A True Fan is defined as someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce. They will drive 200 miles to see you sing. They will buy the super deluxe re-issued hi-res box set of your stuff even though they have the low-res version. They have a Google Alert set for your name. They bookmark the eBay page where your out-of-print editions show up. They come to your openings. They have you sign their copies. They buy the t-shirt, and the mug, and the hat. They can't wait till you issue your next work. They are true fans...
Assume conservatively that your True Fans will each spend one day's wages per year in support of what you do. That "one-day-wage" is an average, because of course your truest fans will spend a lot more than that. Let's peg that per diem each True Fan spends at $100 per year. If you have 1,000 fans that sums up to $100,000 per year, which minus some modest expenses, is a living for most folks.
One thousand is a feasible number. You could count to 1,000. If you added one fan a day, it would take only three years. True Fanship is doable. Pleasing a True Fan is pleasurable, and invigorating. It rewards the artist to remain true, to focus on the unique aspects of their work, the qualities that True Fans appreciate.
As we all all know an author does not get all of the $100 that his true fan spends annually. There are expenses depending on how the book is published. Problems also arise with the 1,000 true fans concept when you start trying to measure true fans. They sound like something that would be difficult to quantify. But it is certainly something to think about. (via Boing Boing)
Posted on March 13, 2008
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