Sometimes looking at the numbers is discouraging.

Since my last few YouTube videos have been somewhat controversial troll magnets, I decided to check their statistics. While one has close to 3,000 views (it’s since slowed down because it’s designated as “unlisted”), the average amount of time the 12-minute video was viewed was two minutes. (In fact, that was the average for almost all of my videos). In other words, it’s been viewed many times but not often finished (and yet garnered such hate—I guess that’s an accomplishment). 😛 On the other hand, most of my other videos have only a few hundred views, at best.

I could look at this two ways: 1) I’m not as good as making videos as I thought, or 2) people on YouTube have super-short attention spans and get bored more easily than most. The former puts the blame on me and the latter puts the blame on the audience. Honestly, I’m not sure which is true.

Writers aren’t much without readers. They need a fanbase in order to make a living. The problem is building one. Fans are notoriously fickle, particularly in the speculative fiction realm. Striking a balance between giving them what they think they want and what they (or the stories) need is a tightrope act that’d scare most acrobats. I’ve been told by a few publishers and agents that the stories I submitted to them were “well-written” and that I had talent, but what I wrote wasn’t “trendy.” This annoys me. I’ve rarely, if ever, been one to follow trends. I’d rather be a trendsetter. I have far more respect for authors who dream up fresh ideas as opposed to trying to become the next J.R.R. Tolkien, J.K. Rowling, or Stephanie Meyer (God help us if any writers try to become the next E.L. James…). My English professor, Dr. Dennis E. Hensley, always told his students to be themselves as writers instead of watered down versions of other writers.

People sometimes ask me how many copies of my books have sold. I honestly don’t know. I once asked my publisher a few years ago how many copies of Pandora’s Box had sold, but I was disappointed with the numbers so I haven’t asked since. I’m not expecting it to be a New York Times bestseller, but I do hope some people are buying it and enjoying it. While I know number of copies sold and video view counts aren’t necessarily indications of quality, they can be indications of how well the creator is reaching his audience.

Regardless, when I hear people describe themselves as a “fan” of me, I’m surprised. Hopefully someday that won’t be such a shock anymore.

Fellow creators, what do you do to build your fanbase?