When No One Reads Your Writing – What Can You Do?

It is disheartening when you believe no one reads your writing, and it can lead to self-doubt, lack of motivation, or even quitting.

Writing is a challenging art that requires a lot of dedication, creativity, and effort.

You need passion and commitment, but sometimes you might get the feeling that it’s a bit like talking to yourself.

But before you think about giving up, here are a few suggestions to help you find more readers for your writing.

The importance of you in your writing

One of the most crucial things you can do to keep going when no one is reading your writing is to remember why you started writing in the first place.

Writing is always a form of self-expression, and it can be therapeutic and fulfilling even if no one reads it.

Yes, it’s essential to write for yourself.

Even if few people read it, you will still have a sense that you have achieved something.

But that’s not a good reason to give up on trying to find readers.

If you are determined, you can always do something more to promote your writing.

Self-publishing and online publishing have allowed writers to publish their work easily and quickly.

But thousands, if not millions, of writers publish their work online now.

Due to this ease of publishing, finding readers takes a lot of work.

The key to success is finding niches online where your writing is more likely to attract attention.

Writing platforms and social media

So many platforms are available for writers to showcase their work.

You can use blogs, social media, ezines, and writing portals.

However, each has a different audience or target market.

Understanding where your writing will fit best to attract readers is essential.

For example, social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are ideal for sharing your short-form content.

But you need to consider the demographics and what users on these platforms find appealing.

Regular Facebook users are probably older than those on Instagram.

But X (Twitter) often appeals to people following political or technology conversations.

If you write romance or fantasy for younger readers, targeting people on social media who are interested in vintage car restoration or WordPress development will lead nowhere.

It’s always better to connect with users or groups on social media that have a genuine interest in the topic, genre, or style of your writing.

When you convince yourself that no one reads your writing, you might believe that using lots of writing platforms and posting regularly on all your social media accounts will help you reach more readers.

But it’s rarely the case.

Targeting a smaller segment with a shared interest is much more effective.

It will increase your chances of reaching and interacting with readers and receiving recognition for your work.

Categories, genres, and search keywords for books

Self-publishing services like Amazon KDP and Draft2Digital make publishing a book or ebook quick and easy.

But there are millions of books and ebooks on Amazon alone.

How will your book compete?

The only way is to select niche categories (genres) that will help your book discovery.

If you select broad genre categories, such as romance or science-fiction, your title will be lost among thousands of similar books.

Yes, millions of readers buy books on Amazon. But perhaps only five hundred will be interested in your book.

If you can position your book where these five hundred readers can find it, you stand a far better chance of selling copies.

This is why search keywords are so important. Always do your keyword research well before you publish your new book.

Selecting the most suitable categories and keywords for your book is the best way to help you attract readers and book buyers.

Blog readers are looking for answers

You are not alone if you struggle to attract readers to your blog.

With so much content on the Internet, it’s becoming harder to have your posts indexed by search engines.

On top of that, some bloggers are now using AI writing and are churning out even more content.

However, the fundamentals of successful blogging remain the same.

Your blog should be narrowly focused on one specific topic and provide information or answers to people’s questions.

You only have to look at Google Search and the More To Ask panel to see why answering questions is vital for bloggers.

If no one reads your writing on your blog, it’s tough to keep writing for no reward or recognition.

But if you concentrate your efforts on answering questions and providing valuable information, search engines will notice.

However, it takes time. It can often be months before search engines index and rank pages or posts.

For example, a post I published nine months ago started gaining lots of traffic months after I published it.

While search engines provide the most traffic and readers to blogs, remember to promote your new posts on social media and by email.

The role of self-promotion

Self-promotion can take many forms, such as writing long-form blog articles, attending writing conferences, posting videos on TikTok, or participating in social media groups.

But for some writers, promoting themselves all the time might feel uncomfortable.

If you fall into this category, don’t worry because there are other ways to find readers.

Concentrate your online efforts on positioning and placement where you stand the best chance of attracting readers.

It could be posting a poem on a poetry portal or writing a blog post that answers a specific question.

You could investigate more promising keywords for your title or write a better book description.

Sometimes, something as simple as adding a comment to a popular blog can attract attention.

Yes, you need to promote your writing, but you don’t have to self-promote yourself to stardom.

Stay motivated and persevere

Attracting readers to your writing is not always easy.

In particular, online readers react to and read information specific to their needs or tastes.

On top of that, they tend to skim-read and only consume information that catches their interest.

That’s why answering questions and doing it quickly is a crucial element of successful online writing.

It can be demotivating and frustrating when you start thinking that no one reads my writing.

But you need to stay motivated and persistent because you have something important to say or a great story to tell.

Conclusion

Yes, it’s tough, but you can find readers.

However, keep in mind that only a very small number of the millions of readers online will appreciate or read your writing.

And that’s the challenge.

Narrowing down your target is the best way to find readers.

However, you might be attracting readers already but don’t realize it.

If you don’t use Google Search Console or Google Analytics or check the analytics on your social media accounts, you might be missing vital information.

You could have many more readers than you realize. It always pays to check.

But if you are still struggling, here are the four best ways to attract readers to your writing.

1. Short-form writing: Choose your social media platforms and connections carefully.

2. Books and ebooks: Position your book with the most appropriate categories and search keywords.

3. Blogs: Answer questions for your blog readers and be super informative.

4. All writing: Stay positive and check your traffic data and statistics.

Related Reading: Using Relationships With Book Buyers For New Authors