Bookcast Epi 83: Who do you write for and are they reading your books?

In this episode, I provide insights into my writing progress, current reads, author branding and the challenges of marketing while maintaining brand authenticity.

I shared  book and podcast recommends, and wax on about the the Friends-to-Lovers romance  trope. I'm prepping for a  work trip, so I've outlined my plans for writing amidst a busy schedule and tease plot developments in my current novel.

it’s #INDIEAPRIL! To celebrate, I have a few books on sale: 

Grab the audiobooks for Dinner at Sam’s and Brunch at Ruby’s on CHIRP - sale ends in 8 days!  Grab the ebooks and audiobooks for Brunch at Ruby’s and Dinner at Sam’s at my website store for a CHOOSE YOUR OWN PRICE- min price $.99! 

 Full show notes can be found at Booksbydlwhite.com/bookcast/83.

CHAPTERS:
0:14 Introduction
3:36 Book Report Recap
5:50 Book Reviews
8:49 Friends to Lovers
15:04 Writing Progress Update

Thank you so much for joining me for today's chat! I truly enjoy having you here and welcome any comments or feedback at booksbydlwhite.com/bookcast. Don’t forget to share the podcast if you enjoyed this episode and if you listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, give a girl a rating! I’d really appreciate it. Do not forget that you can support this podcast with your book purchases, by spreading the good word, or by throwing some coins in the hat at bookcast.buzzsprout.com. Every little bit helps.

I'll be back on Saturday April 20th. We’ll talk about how much writing I didn’t get done (LOL), and what books I got into whilst on my trip. Please enjoy this weekend, have a superlative week and we'll chat again soon. 

Transcript

[0:00] Music.

[0:14] Hello, everyone. Welcome back or welcome in.
This is the book cast my platform for sharing short fiction, which I haven't shared in a while.
I'll get back to that after I'm done writing this book and updates on what I'm reading and writing. This is episode 83.
I am DL White, author of contemporary Southern and romantic fiction novels that center black love and relationships.
I'm also a big fan of books. So we begin with the book report and then we talk about writing and topics of the day.
I'll update you on my weekend writing and progress on The Pearl, A Black Diamond Romance, and then we're going to talk about author branding.
The Book Cast is a production of Books by D.L. White, written, edited, produced, and supported by me.
If you'd love to back me up, I'd be most grateful.
The best way to do that is to talk about the books, but also buy the books.
Booksbydlwhite.com slash books has all of the good stuff in ebook or audio.
We are nearly halfway through Indie April, everyone.
As always, I'm celebrating myself and other independently published authors.
My debut novel, Brunch at Rubies, is still on sale in audio.
There are about eight days left on my sale at Chirp Books, as well as my bookstore.
It's payhip.com slash books by D.L. White.
You can also grab Dinner at Sam's, which is the follow-up to Brunch at Rubies for 99 cents in ebook or audio at my store. Or again, it's payhip.com slash books by D.L. White.

[1:42] Tap audiobooks or ebooks and shop to your heart's content.
If you're a member at Kobo Plus, you can also grab all my ebooks and audiobooks as part of your subscription.
And a reminder that if you're a premium subscriber at Spotify, you get 15 free hours there.
So snatch up an audiobook by D.L. White and get it in, sis, bro, person.
I still get paid. I'm also available at your local library. So if none of those options apply to you, hit up Libby or Hoopla.
I do believe all of my audiobooks are now available on Hoopla, which has been years in the making, and I'm so happy about it. Go borrow them.

[2:18] Do you have a topic you would like me to cover on the book cast?
Shout me out a holler. I'm always on Instagram or Twitter. You can visit the show notes of this here episode at books by DL white.com slash book cast.
I welcome your feedback and your suggestions.
I have a bitty writing update today. It was a very busy week as I thought it would be.
Today's going to be another shortish show because I'm also getting ready to go on a work trip.
So I'm going to do this quick podcast update and get right back to it.
The aggressive timeline line that I invented for myself is starting to stress me out.
So I have no time to waste. Let's get going.
Today, we'll start with the book report as always. Then I'll update on writing.
And I want to talk a bit about audience and branding, but I'm not an expert.
So of course, I'm going to refer you to people who can direct, instruct and encourage you the same way they're encouraging me.
Today is Saturday, April 13. It is 928am. It is so sunny in Atlanta.
It's blinding me and I love of every minute of it.
Summer is my favorite season, even though it's like April, so it's still spring, but it's going to warm up real quick here.
I have a mic and I'm ready to dig in. But But first, let's have some coffee.

[3:25] Music.

[3:36] We begin, as always, with the book report. And I completely skipped over updating the book report portion of my rundown.
So pardon me while I quick, super quick over to my numbers.
I have read 58 books of my quest to read 150 books this year.
I am 16 books ahead of schedule on my Goodreads challenge.
I think I'm going to make it, guys. guys.
Toward later in the year, I do the dance where I try to decide if I'm going to increase my challenge or decrease my challenge.
And then I get a little bit too ambitious and I bump it back to 150 books because I got really busy.
Yeah. So that's where we're at. I don't see slowing down in my future. The books be booking.
So this week I read six books.
I read Happy Hour Ho which is On the Clock No. 2 by Shea Sanders.
This was a good short.

[4:44] Hit, enjoyed it. I also read The Replacements, A Grumpy Boss Romance by Shea Sanders.
And I really, really enjoyed this book. I feel like I would really enjoy this in audio if it's available in audio anywhere.
I didn't find it. But this was a very good novel.
I'm really enjoying Shea Sanders. I also read Take It, which is On the Clock number one by Shea Sanders. So my week was basically dedicated to Shea Sanders.
I listened to Double Lives by Mary Monroe.
And And let me tell you, I think I put in my review, I don't even know how to, I don't even know how to review this book. Like it was good, but it wasn't, but it was, but it wasn't.
The storyline was a lot.
I mean, Mary always has a lot going on in a book. She writes the simultaneously dumbest, but also most entertaining characters I've ever read.
I love her books that are more historical. They're just fun reads.
Mary's writing skill is not my favorite, though.
The writing is not...

[5:50] Writing is not something I would dream about, and so she definitely reels you in with the storylines. I keep reading a Mary because it's always entertaining.
Someone I'm probably not reading again is Mary Kubica. I keep trying.
Some of her books are good. Some of her books are not. She's not sorry.
It just did not hit me at all.
The first part of the book, Drones, on and on, it is a long ramp up to part two and then part two is like seemed like two different books like i don't i didn't i don't understand the storyline there's you get a prologue that's like um really it just grabs you just grabs you by the eyeballs and drags you through the book and you keep hanging on because you know you're going to get to the part that the prologue alludes to and then that part ends up not being all that dramatic.

[6:40] I know I'm not alone in this.
I don't understand the high ratings for this book, but I know there are some that are down in the two and three star trenches with me. I did not enjoy this book at all.
And then I listened to The Way You Tempt Me, which is pure talent number one by Elle Wright. I really enjoy Elle's writing.
And this was a a great book. It was a Friends to Lovers, but like a true...
No, no, no, no, no, no. Here's the thing with Friends to Lovers.
Friends to Lovers is always like one of them pining after the other, or they have like this arrangement where they have sex and they always hang out and they eat every meal together and they always hang out together and they are always the first person each person calls. That's called a relationship.
You two are in love and you don't know it. You're You're not really friends.
You're in a relationship, but you're not calling it a relationship.
Friends to lovers is like fake dating. Like two people who want to date but aren't dating because they're scared they're ruining the relationship.
You're already in a relationship.
So I wanted to call this a true friends to lovers, but mostly because one person is like, yeah, that's my friend.
I really like that person.
They're like family. Everybody knows them. them.

[7:56] I've known them most of my life, that type of thing.
And then when they get around and when they get close, you start acting weird and you start feeling weird. And you're like, what is this? What's happening?
What's going on? Why are we doing this?
Why do I like you? Why am I noticing your smile? Why are you so handsome?
Please stop knowing me. That type of thing is the vibe that I got from this novel.
I like when a friend to lover is like a real friends to lovers.
Maybe we were We're both dating other people, but person A and person B are super close, and they talk all the time, and then they become single.
Then they're like, hey, that person's kind of cute, actually, now that I think about it.
It's like a friends-type friends-to-lover. That's the friends-to-lovers that I like.
I'm not really into this...

[8:50] We live together. We have sex. We do sexual relationship things, but we're not dating.
Y'all are dating. Please give me a break. This week on the reading list, I still have Invasion of Privacy by Imani J, which is a different title on the book, but that's how it's listed at Goodreads. And I can't remember what the actual title is.
Work Song by Danielle Ellen. Those are both workplace romances that I need to read.
And then Some Kind of Love, which is a prelude to a new book that's coming out by Elle Wright.
I believe she has a title in the 420 Bays series that's coming out that I'm kind of looking forward to. The books look good.
So I'm going to probably try to get those down this week while I am out of town for work.
On my recommended listening list, it really ties into the theme that I wanted to talk about this week.
My first recommend is the Stacks podcast, which is a must listen first on my list.

[9:53] Music.
Tracy asks a question in this week's show that absolutely blew my mind to the point of not remembering what the answer was.
She asked, who is your audience? And are those the people reading your book?
That is the best question I've ever heard in my life, asked to a debut author.
And I'll say to anybody, asking anybody that writes books, who is your audience?
And are those the people reading your book? And do you know why people who aren't your audience are reading your book?
I'll add this episode to the show notes for today. The Stacks, again, is my favorite Wednesday and an occasional Friday bonus episode.
Listen, it's pinned to the top of my podcast list.
So it always plays first. Give Tracy a listen and join us in the Stacks Pack.
It's busy in there, but we have a really, really good time.

[9:59] It's like the first thing I listened to on Wednesday morning.

[10:49] The second rec ties into the first rec and it was just kismet that it played right after that episode.
I listened to a long list of writing, author, publishing podcasts.
And one of my favorites is the Wish I'd Known Then podcast.
Authors Jamie Albright and Sarah Rosette interview self-published authors about how they found success as well as lessons that they learned along the way.
And one of the great questions is what do you wish you knew when you first started writing.
This week's episode is on author branding, and it's well worth a listener to.
I'm definitely going to run it back.
How to find your author brand, episode 214. How do you pull in readers who will love your book and push away those readers who won't enjoy your book?
Branding. Branding is about more than fonts and covers and colors.
Join them for an in-depth discussion on how to determine your brand and carry it through everything from your voice to add copy to covers.

[11:45] It's very important to me that the writers that I write for read and enjoy my books.
I don't mind when people outside my intended audience read me, but I'm firmly here for Black women readers over 35.
I have white women readers in their 20s and 30s. I have at least one white male reader.
I have Black male readers who are in their 20s, 30s, 40s, but my focus is on Black women of a certain age.
When I am writing, the cover is a concern. I know I have at least one series.
Shout out to Black Diamond.
Where the covers don't really reveal the spice level. And to be honest, if I could find people that match the mood of the books, I wouldn't have objects on the cover.
I just, when I am looking through stock photos, royalty-free photos, I just don't find scintillating images of attractive black people to put on my covers.
That's an entirely other issue about stock images and the black people that aren't in them, but I digress.
Tracy asked me why I love this question.

[12:45] I had posted in the Stacks Pack Discord that it was just the most amazing question I have ever heard as an author.
And my response is that authors who aren't white have the added hurdle of wanting to write to a siloed audience, i.e. black people, but publishing wanting to be more broad, i.e.
White readers, which makes it hard to reach your target audience because the marketing approach is different.
Asking this question to a debut author gives us insight into whether they see what efforts their agent or publisher, their marketing department are making toward their books?
And is that at the expense of people you're trying to reach?
It's also some of the conversations authors are having on Twitter, on Instagram about book covers.
Slapping those cute, illustrated images on a steamy romance or a lit fiction book works against you because cover branding is a promise to the reader.
If I write a steamy romance, but my cover looks like a funny rom-com, am I reaching the audience that wants to read steamy romance?
And if I hit rom-com audience and I get two-star reviews for all the sex and profanity because they didn't expect that, does that hurt me?

[13:49] I feel like when a book falls into the hands of an audience or not intended for, that's when we get the most criticism, especially as black authors writing to a black audience when white readers are encouraged to read our books.
So when publishing throws out their wide, vast net and they rope in influencers, they rope in influencers who just want to grab any book, any book, they're not even reading them or they might read them and they say they, quote, can't relate.
Then they downrate the book because they weren't centered in it.
They can't self-insert.
They can't imagine themselves in the situation because they're not Black and they maybe don't live in these cities or these towns or that country.
It makes me wonder how my book gets there, how it would fare there.
And it does tempt me to make the book more inclusive of other cultures.
I think publishing would prefer that the reaches wide, so they aim for the wide swath of white readers. But if the book isn't intended for them, it's going to crash and burn.
And this is a long, evocative conversation about what your brand promises your reader and whether or not you can fulfill that promise. Outside of that, it's not my business.
I'm not marketing to anyone outside of my ideal reader.

[15:04] I think my headphones are about to die, so I'm going to try to plug them in super quick. Hold, please. 

[15:10] Music.

[15:25] Okay, they're plugged in. Hopefully they still work. And they will stop beeping at me in my ear.

[15:33] On the writing update, my last reported word count was 63,523 words.
I think that may be a little behind, but that's where I'm at.
Today, I am at 70,559 words, and I am not done.
70,000 was my goal, right?
I'll definitely have to cut some back, but I'm not really worried about I want to assess the story as a whole, maybe engage my editor, a beta reader or two and determine what I don't really need.
I'm nearing the end, but I have chapters to go, not scenes.
So I'm going to end up closer to 80K, but I don't really want to go over. I'm not writing a tome.
But I also remember that my books are like, my full length novels are like 90,000, 110 word novels. That's a lot of book.
But I also want the story to be full, right? Again, I'll give it a a good read through before it hits the editor.
I'm not inclined to cut good words to be within a word count.
That's why I publish indie, right? Because I can do what I want.
I'm so loud on Twitter about how I write long books, read it or don't, only to flail while I'm writing because it's going to be long and nobody's going to read an 80,000 word novel like an island romance romp anyway.

[16:45] This week, the plan will be to write when I can.
I have work travel this week. In fact, I'm running laundry right now.
I need to go through my clothes, decide what I want to wear, It's a business trip. And I don't think I want to change for dinner every night.
Nobody cares what I'm wearing.
So I'm going to keep it simple. I'm wearing my hair back in a pony or up in a bun. I won't have time for fussing with my hair.
I think. I don't know. I might do some twists.

[17:08] Anyway, I also have to get some writing in. So I'm excited about where I am in the book. But it's a little more difficult because it's very intricate.
And I'm definitely in the downhill downhill slide, but still at climax.
Akari is away from the resort dealing with her little sister and Davis is missing her.
But he's busy babysitting a special guest and he's not happy about it.
I have a great scene between Akari and her little sister that I've been looking forward to writing since I started planning this book.
It is going to be great and coming up on it in the next chapter.
So I'm going to end the podcast here and get to it.
Thank you so much for joining Thank you for joining me for today's chat.
I truly enjoy having you here. I welcome any comments or feedback at booksbydlwhite.com slash bookcast.
Don't forget to share the podcast if you enjoyed this episode.
And if you listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, give a girl a rating.
I'd really appreciate it. Do not forget that you can support this podcast with your book purchases by spreading the good word or by throwing some coins in the hat at bookcast.buzzsprout.com.
Every little bit helps. helps i'll be back on saturday april 20th we'll talk about how much writing i didn't get done and what books i got into while on my trip we just enjoyed this weekend have a superlative week and we'll chat again soon.

[18:22] Music.