Our guest post today on Finding Your Ideal Reader is from the always fabulous LaQuette.

Finding your readership is essential to every author’s career.  It doesn’t matter how talented or skilled a writer is, if there’s no one to read it, both the author and the work will fall off into obscurity.

How does an author find their audience?  Simple, by being true to one’s own voice.  Think of your readers as friends you share very specific interests with.  When you hang out with friends to go paintballing, or running, or quilting, it’s because that person(s) thinks you’re interesting enough to spend time with, and you share a common pursuit or perspective.

I know it sounds too simple to be true. But, if you tap into your own authenticity, allow your voice to be heard, and not some creepy imitation of someone else, readers will appreciate you.  Why?  Because you’re being you, and you as an individual is in fact interesting enough to captivate your audience.

Notice, now, I said, “your audience.”  Meaning, your work might not hold every audience’s attention, but it can grasp those who are fascinated by the same things that interest you.

As a reader, I love big complicated plots filled with lots of drama and angst.  I grew up watching loads of soap operas and family dramas like Dynasty, and Knots Landing.  I promise you, those unbelievable storylines fascinated my brain, and you can see their influence in all my work.  Do you want to know something else? I’m not the only person who’s loved soaps, as evidenced by them lasting more than thirty years on network television. I write, for people like me, who just love to see dead spouses appear with secret babies just as their beloved is standing at the altar, ready to pledge their love to another (I know you saw that episode of One Life to Live too.  Tina was a mess for breaking up Cord and Kate’s wedding like that).

That kind of drama is an acutely specific interest.  However, if I were attempting to be someone else, I’d never be able to connect with those readers who were just dying for a story like that.

Ultimately, if you’re being you, pouring your beautiful quirkiness into your work, your readers will come—with some marketing, that is.

This is LaQuette, your friendly erotic romance author, embracing my crazy…one character at a time.

LaQuette is an erotic, multicultural romance author of M/F and M/M love stories.  Her writing style brings intellect to the drama. She often crafts emotionally epic, fantastical tales that are deeply pigmented by reality’s paintbrush. Her novels are filled with a unique mixture of savvy, sarcastic, brazen, and unapologetically sexy characters who are confident in their right to appear on the page.

She loves hearing from readers and discussing the crazy characters that are running around in her head causing so much trouble.  Contact her on Facebook, Twitter, @LaQuetteLikes, her website, www.NovelsbyLaQuette.com, Amazon, her Facebook group, LaQuette’s Lounge, Instagram, @la_quette, and via email at LaQuette@NovelsbyLaQuette.com.