When the Power series was first hot, my cousin said to me: “You should write books like on Power! The way we grew up, I know you can put some stuff together.”
That bothered me for two reasons:
- I am not that kind of writer. Yes, I grew up around drug dealers and addicts, but I don’t write those kinds of books. (TWWBE was the closest book I’ve written with those themes.)
- I interpreted it to mean the kinds of books I write already aren’t good enough for my Black audiences. In my mind she may as well have said: “We Black people wanna read books like the Power TV series.”
Self-Publishing is a lot of work, and not feeling supported by our family and friends can be crushing.
However, consider these facts, with a focus on point two:
- Family and long-time friends don’t know the author you. They are only focused on who you’ve been to them growing up and will probably only jump on the bandwagon if you make the New York Times Best Seller and are introduced by Oprah.
- More seriously, family, relatives, and long-time friends who don’t read the kind of books you write are not your targeted audience anyway.
Meaning you didn’t write this urban romance novel for your auntie.
You wrote it for the 34-to-44-year-old single Black woman who spends her time sharing relationship memes on Facebook, analyzing the breakups of celebrities in the Shaderoom, and devouring novels by Ashley Antoinette Coleman.
This is called appealing to your target audience, or the specific group of people within your market that your marketing is trying to reach.
Put simply: the strangers most interested in the kind of book you write who will likely go from strangers to book besties.
This is why worrying about why your relatives aren’t supporting your writing career is a waste of time.
Because you didn’t write the book for them in the first place.
Not unless they are part of your intended group.
So if auntie is within that wheelhouse, she will be a fan of your books.
But if she is more interested in the Power TV series, she should probably find an author who writes books like that.
Be encouraged.
The PBS Blog 
I know I already said something on Twitter, I mean X or whatever…but this is so poignant. When I first returned to writing, I was really pushing my friends and family to read my blog, read my new book, did you read my blog??? The reality is exactly what you’ve said here; it’s not always for them to read! About 89.7% of the time, it is not for them at all. Once I realized this, I grew as a writer/creative.
On another, but related note, someone was asking me about how I think my extended family is going to receive my upcoming memoir, and my response was simple: I didn’t write it for them. I wrote it for people who need this, people are ready to heal whatever trauma they’re experiencing or have experienced.
Anywho, didn’t mean to go off, but this one really resonated. Thanks for all you do for writers Yecheilyah. It’s important.
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First, somebody needs to get Elon away from the control room or something cause X? 🤣
But yes, that’s exactly it and I think that’s a big fear among many writers with writing their story: what my family gonna think.
And thank you! Whatever I learn or experience I try to pass on as much as possible.
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Thank you for sharing!
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