What authors/creators are actually building toward when they chase followers, subscribers and reach?
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One thing I keep noticing with authors and creators is how easy it is to treat audience growth like the whole game.
You publish the book, start posting more, open a newsletter, maybe try a few Reels, and before long the plan quietly becomes: get more followers first, figure out the money part later.
I get it. Audience size is visible. You can watch the number go from 300 to 500 to 1,000 and feel like something is happening.
Sales are messier. Reader loyalty is harder to measure. Somebody recommending your book to a friend doesn’t show up perfectly on a dashboard.
For those of you who don’t know, outside of writing here I run a Substack newsletter called The Sustainable Solopreneur, and I also host a podcast called Sustainable Side Hustle.
The show is me interviewing people who are building businesses, income streams or creative projects on the side, usually while juggling a job, family or the rest of normal life.
So no, this particular episode MAY NOT BE specifically about authors!
But I still think a lot of authors will get something from it:)
Because the underlying question is the same whether you’re selling books, coaching, memberships, courses or anything else online:
At what point does the audience actually become a business?
Quick thing before I get into the episode. If you’re an author figuring out book marketing, reader lists and the business side of publishing, you can subscribe to my FREE newsletter, The Sustainable Publishers.
My Guest For This Episode
Jill has been building online since 1999 and has tried almost all of the business models under the sun over the years.
That was exactly why I wanted her take.
Because I think a lot of us, myself included, can get a little too obsessed with growing the audience.
More followers.
More subscribers.
More reach.
It feels like progress because the number moves.
But if the end goal is to make money from your work, there is another question sitting underneath all of that.
What are those people actually there for?
That’s where the conversation got interesting.
We talked about whether creators really need thousands of followers before monetizing, the mistakes people make before they even try to sell something, paid subscriptions, podcast appearances, and how to know when you’ve finally found something worth sticking with.
You can listen to the full episode here:
Why I Think This Still Matters for Authors
The more I work on the publishing side, the more I think authors run into the exact same trap.
We’re told to build an audience.
Fair enough.
But what does that audience eventually lead to?
Maybe the answer is simply the next book.
Maybe you want readers on an email list so they don’t disappear after buying Book One.
Maybe you’re building a series where one reader could eventually buy five or six books.
Maybe the book leads into workshops, coaching, courses, a community or something else entirely.
All of those are valid.
The problem is when “get more followers” becomes the strategy by itself.
Because 20,000 people who vaguely know who you are can be less useful than 500 people who actually care about what you make.
I’m still figuring this out too.
That’s probably why I enjoyed the conversation so much.
I spend a lot of time thinking about growth, whether that’s Substack subscribers, podcast listeners, Medium readers or book audiences.
And every now and then it’s useful to ask whether the number I’m chasing is actually connected to anything.
Annoying I know!!
Probably a necessary one.
A big thank you to Jill Hart for taking the time to come on the show and share so much from her experience.
If you’re building an audience around your books right now and wondering when any of it is supposed to turn into actual money, give the episode a listen.
And if you enjoy Sustainable Side Hustle podcast, you can follow or subscribe wherever you listen. If you have another 30 seconds after that, a review helps the show more than you’d think.
What content/topic do you want me to cover next? Let me know in the comments.
See you next week,
Vinayak
If you’re also trying to build the business side around your books, you can subscribe to my FREE newsletter, The Sustainable Publishers. I write about book marketing, email lists, direct sales, publishing economics yada yada!