by Chris Harris
Autumn has arrived in Sussex, and I’ve been thinking about how growing an audience for Something About England might be rather like growing an oak tree. A few weeks into my eighteen-month journey to find readers, I’m discovering the realities of social media, the mathematics of getting noticed and why patience, persistence and a few small successes might eventually produce something worthwhile.
Autumn has arrived in Sussex, and the acorns are falling everywhere. Thousands of them scattered across paths, roads and fields, most destined to disappear into the undergrowth, be eaten by squirrels or simply rot away. But a few will take root, and some might eventually become magnificent oak trees. I’ve been thinking about acorns recently because I’ve spent the past few weeks attempting to establish myself on social media, and growing an audience for my book, Something About England, might have rather more in common with growing an oak tree than I’d originally imagined.
I’ve now got nine platforms on the go, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Bluesky, WordPress, Medium and Substack. Some are relatively new, while others have been gathering digital dust for years. I’ve been posting short stories, articles, observations and videos, and very gradually things are beginning to happen. A few likes here, another follower there, occasionally somebody reading a story or leaving a comment. Some of my statistics are positively extraordinary, with increases of between 800% and 3,000% over the past few weeks. Which sounds magnificent until you realise that increasing something from practically nothing to slightly more than practically nothing can produce some truly astonishing percentages. Nevertheless, the figures are moving in the right direction.
What Are the Chances of Being Noticed?
The interesting question is how many people encountering something I’ve written are actually likely to take an interest. I’ve been looking at some estimates, and the figures are rather sobering. Suppose 1,000 people come across one of my posts. Perhaps 50 to 150 will notice it for more than a moment, 10 to 30 might show some genuine curiosity, and somewhere between two and ten might actually click through to read something. Perhaps one or two will eventually become regular readers. Welcome to the vacuous world of social media. I’ll quote Jello Biafra, “Forget honesty, forget creativity, the dumbest by the mostest, that’s the name of the game.” MTV Get Off The Air 1985
These are illustrative estimates rather than established conversion rates, but they provide a useful starting point. In percentage terms, perhaps just 0.2% to 1% of the people encountering my material might be interested enough to investigate further. An even smaller proportion might eventually buy a book.
At first glance, that might seem thoroughly depressing. But I don’t find it depressing in the slightest. Why should I expect hundreds of complete strangers to be fascinated by an unknown author writing satirical short stories about English life? I’m certainly not interested in 99% of the things that appear on my own social media feeds. The challenge isn’t to persuade everybody to read my writing. It’s to find the relatively small number who might genuinely enjoy it.
The Long Business of Finding Readers
I’ve allowed myself eighteen months to develop an audience for Something About England and the books I intend to publish afterwards. I’m only a few weeks into the process, and I’m already learning an enormous amount. Over the coming months, I want to improve the presentation of my material, produce better videos, master the fledgling podcast process, write more effective introductions and establish stronger connections between the various platforms. Above all, I want to maintain a regular supply of worthwhile content and discover which subjects actually attract readers.
Perhaps it’ll be the new very short stories, Quick Reads which can be read in five or six minutes. Perhaps the satire, the observations about English life, the occasional excursion into music and popular culture, or the continuing adventures of Denham Phoenix Football Club. I’m also beginning to experiment with the idea of introducing stories on video and reading a short extract, allowing people to hear the writing before deciding whether to investigate further. Some approaches will work, others will disappear without trace, and the only sensible way to discover which is which is to keep experimenting.
Planting the Acorns
The advantage of having eighteen months is that I don’t need everything to happen immediately. Indeed, I suspect the next three months will be devoted largely to learning how to do everything properly. Which platforms work best, which posts attract attention, which stories encourage people to visit my website, and how to make the whole process more efficient without spending half my life staring at a telephone.
I also have to remember that the ultimate objective isn’t likes, views or followers. It’s readers. People who enjoy one story sufficiently to read another, perhaps subscribe to the website, and eventually consider buying Something About England. If I can establish a modest but enthusiastic readership, that will be worth considerably more than a large audience of people who barely notice what I’m doing.
For now, I’m perfectly content with organic growth. A handful of new readers this week, perhaps a few more next week, and eventually a small but established audience who know what to expect. There may be a place for carefully targeted advertising further down the road, but first I want to understand what works and build something worth advertising.
A Long Autumn Ahead
There will undoubtedly be false starts, disappointing statistics and posts that attract virtually no attention. There will also, I hope, be the occasional pleasant surprise. The encouraging thing is that every worthwhile article, short story or video creates another opportunity for somebody to discover the writing, and each small improvement should make the next attempt a little more effective. But I’m not expecting an oak forest by Christmas.
Make both our days by buying a copy of my book!
Something About England: Amazon.co.uk: Harris, Christopher, Turner, Louise: 9798174255661: Books
Welcome to Denham, a fictitious Sussex village where behind respectable doors, well-tended gardens and familiar faces, things have a habit of going badly wrong.
Obsession, ambition, deception, jealousy and petty rivalry run through this collection of tragi-comical and satirical short stories. From poltergeists and lottery winners to cricket club feuds and environmental disasters, ordinary people embark on discovering just how quickly an ordinary life can unravel into an extraordinary mess.
Darkly funny, occasionally poignant and populated by characters who are rarely quite what they seem, these stories explore the peculiarities of Middle England, and the uncomfortable territory between respectability and ruin.
