THE ELUSIVE FANBASE

MAY 2024

© Chad Corrie

Since I started down the path of writing and publication I've been searching for that seemingly ever-elusive fanbase. I know they are out there but have yet to be able to find them in their entirely. Proving to be an mysterious lot, I'll catch sight of them now and then at conventions and the like, but never see their full number with anything of a grand sort of significance. This isn't to say they aren't out there, just that I'm finding those who happen to read and follow things with my name on them tend to comprise a rather eclectic demographic.

In some ways that's good. Having such a wide swath of the populous that is connecting to what's written can be very encouraging as a writer. In other ways, though, it can be challenging to figure out just how to reach them with news and information when they are spread out into so many different communities and "pop culture factions", as it were.

I've been trying to work with my publisher and others to figure out how best to reach them but so far have only been scratching the surface, leaving me pondering anew just who reads these books and how they find them in the first place. I'll come across stories of folks encountering them in the most interesting of places—from comic shops, to something they happened to see online at some point (though they don't know where), to even some limited word of mouth introductions, which are always interesting to hear. And while its encouraging to hear folks are finding the works it doesn't help me narrow down just who to reach out more effectively to about them.

It's better than what it once was, though, when I first started out when I had no clue who anyone was and where to reach out to them. At least now I have a greater understanding of some of the parameters that outline the demographics, but it's still far from clear on who will show up at the next event and the next, leaving me often to be surprised at just who appears.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still thankful for everyone who has shown up and supported these titles and works in the past. That is always amazing to me and will never change. I'm just reaching a point in my life and career when it would be better to have a clearer sense of who these folks are so we can connect and reach out more effectively and I could begin to more concretely understand just what draws them to these works in general. But that, it seems, will remain the elusive part for the time being...