Should I hook them in with catchy clickbait titles and then have them stay for topics that actually matter?
The thing is, I have a problem with getting readers. At this point, I have published 90 stories here on Medium.
At the heart of my writing, I wish to influence the small audience I have towards topics that matter and to hopefully make a small difference if possible.
What I mean is I write intentionally about topics close to my heart such as parenting, mental health, sustainable environment, social issues, and perspectives on life. Some of these topics can come off as pretty serious and they may not be a casual read.
The problem is readers do not immediately gravitate to these topics, as an effect my audience does not grow significantly, and I do not write frequently enough to churn out top stories one after another.
Frankly, I acknowledge too that there are much better writers on this platform than me.
I also wrote about this a while back about writing with intentionality.
However, I did think of a strategy lately, which I call the Katy Perry method.
To draw an initial viewership for my stories, I can write popular, sensational topics and put up a clickbait title.
For an example, I would make reference to what Katy Perry did when she released her first song entitled ‘I Kissed A Girl’ way back when she just came onto the music scene.
I mean, with a title like this obviously, this song will get attention, throw in some skin and have a I mean, with a title like this obviously, this song will get attention. Throw in some skin and have a pretty face, and you have an immediate audience. Later on, she introduced her listeners to better music which showed off her songwriting skills.
Well, I can’t do that with writing, and I do not wish to draw audiences in with writing trending topics and hope they stay on when they read the other more serious themes in my writing.
At this point, I sound like I am ranting.
How did it go for you and how long did you have to write before you considered your writing a success?
Also, kudos to those who managed to grow their base of readers fast, you have managed to produce writing that attracted the masses and it’s good to see some of you have your hard work pay off.
It just hasn’t happened to me, yet.