One Thousand Readers, One Thousand Days

Ever since reading it, I’ve been absolutely fascinated by Kevin Kelly’s blog article entitled “1,000 True Fans”.

It’s a new way of looking at online life, online promotion; of looking at one’s creative life and creative output.
It’s an amazing article that I recommend you read in full, but for now, I’ll let Kelly himself give you the gist of the article:

A creator, such as an artist, musician, photographer, craftsperson, performer, animator, designer, videomaker, or author - in other words, anyone producing works of art - needs to acquire only 1,000 True Fans to make a living.

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.

What an amazing premise. At first blush, you would think that all you needed to do, as a creator, would be to find 1,000 people who are crazy for your work, sell them that same said work, and then hey presto - you are living on easy street.

Not so fast, says I.
It’s very seductive, but easier said than done.

I would caveat that statement by saying that one needs to cultivate at least 1,000 True Fans and have them, like concentric rings, a pebble dropped into a pond, cultivate an additional 5,000 or 10,000 Lesser Fans.

As with most things, more is better, and of course, the more fans you have, the more people will buy your newest book and also buy your back catalog to get caught up, or as gifts for those they are trying to convert to the cult of either Lesser or True Fans.

Someone might read Kelly’s article and think that the journey will be easy. Just send annoying emails or MySpace invites or Facebook nudges to 10,000 random people and hey - some of those have to be True Fans, right?

Wrong.

I would like to think of it as a longer journey. One that should be planned, and carefully tended to, like a garden or a Shelby Mustang in mint condition. You treat your possible fans with more respect, with more gratitude than a cut and paste thanking them for the add on MySpace.

In short, fans must be earned.

Again, fans must be earned.

I will be the first to admit that I have not been the best at this, for various reasons, but the main reason is my anxiety about the online community in general. At different times, I’ve had a MySpace page, a Live Journal, and other little online portals, and usually within 6 months to a year after opening the doors, I quickly shutter them closed and run away.

I think that the key for me is to find the balance between sharing my life online and keeping some things private. When I think that I have over-exposed myself, shared too much, I feel ashamed and the only survival mechanism I can think of is to run away.

Open, close, open, close.
It gets aggravating and annoying on both sides, I’m sure.

Do what I can to work for those 1,000 True Fans, but also know that there will always be a safe barrier between us.
That if I need time away, it’s okay.
Running away from those who care about you and care about your creative work doesn’t do anyone any good.
True Fans become Disgruntled Fans very quickly.

So I’ve brainstormed some ideas - some short term, some long term - that I can put into action to do what I can to 1) earn back the trust of those I have disappointed in my past and 2) earn the new Denton and Monty and William Mize fans.

My goal is aggressive, but not impossible.
Well, not impossible using mathematics and some version of the 7 Degrees of Kevin Bacon theory.

I want to gain 1,000 readers in 1,000 days.
1,000 readers in 2 years, 8 months and 27 days.
1,000 readers by January 27th, 2011.*

Right now, according to the feedburner RSS subscription counter (see the lower right hand corner of my website), I currently have 36 readers.
My assumption is that those are folks who bought “Resurrection Angel”, who bought “Everlasting Life” and are looking forward to buying “Spear of Destiny” and the remaining nine books in the series.
My assumption is that those 36 readers could be True Fans, as defined by Kelly above.

Which means I only have 964 more to go!
Or, conversely, holy crap! I have 964 more to go!

I hope that you all reading this will hang around and see how this works out. I have some very groovy things planned that I think you will enjoy.
I hope that you all reading this might tell a friend or two about the series; send them the free chapters and my website address (either williammize.com or dentonandmonty.com**). There are more suggestions on spreading the gospel on this page.

I know that I haven’t been the best friend, the best writer, the most consistent creator in the past, but I am encouraged and I am hoping that this new inner drive, this new viewpoint of looking at things, will help me get my ass in the chair and get more chapters, more books, more stories, more articles, more blog entries cranked out for you.

Because, I do truly appreciate each and every one of you who have supported me and befriended me in the past.

I promise to work even harder to show you that your faith was not in vain.

*Not responsible for any math errors. Remember, I was an English major in college.
**Yes, this is new. I thought it might be easier to remember than my name, and it puts the focus on where it should be - the characters, not the creator.