By C. Hope Clark

The older I get, the more simplified I seem to want my life. That’s why I toned FundsforWriters down over the years from four newsletters, to three, to two. . . and now one, just like I started years ago. More time to write. More time to enjoy myself while writing. I love losing myself in a story.

But marketing, publishing, and so on tend to distract us and rob us of the joy. At a recent conference speaker, I spoke to writers about corralling all the to-do things on their plates and learning how to focus on writing. I suggested they do what I’m doing. . . write for their most avid 100 fans.

You know who those are. They are the ones who review, who respond to your blog, who converse with you on Facebook, who like your Instagram posts. They don’t just say they love your work, but they talk it, naming characters and plot points that resonated with them.

Why just 100? Because those are your concentrated dose of energy. You have a better feel for what they like. Since they’ve contacted you somehow, you feel a few degrees closer to them. You owe them more, and in turn, they deliver back with reviews, emails, and that oh-so-precious word-of-mouth to others about you and your stories.

Simply your writing. Write the stories that you think your top 100 will love. Don’t have 100? If you keep making an appearance in person, on social media, in writing guest posts on blogs, that 100 will materialize. If you keep writing and quit banking on one book. If you keep reminding the few you have in a newsletter who you are (avoiding saying BUY MY BOOK), that 100 will happen.

Who doesn’t feel warm and cozy having 100 fans? And that number grows faster the more you cater to that tribe. They’ll practically spread the word for you.