Build Your Audience
Grow an audience that knows you, trusts you, and actually wants to show up.
Literary work doesn’t reach people by merit alone. Your audience needs to understand who you are, why your work matters, and why they should keep paying attention before you ever ask them to buy, register, attend, or donate.
Audience building isn’t just posting on social media. Instead, it’s about understanding who you are and what you want to share with the world. It’s about understanding who your audience is, what their interests and needs are, and what resonates with them. It’s about knowing what to say to them, how to say it, and where to say it so that they want to follow and learn more.
This section focuses on audience-building, content strategy, messaging, newsletters, social media, and the visibility systems that help literary organizations and businesses stay connected to the people they’re trying to reach.
Getting Started | Self-Guided
Start Building Your Literary Audience
A practical starting guide and workbook for literary organizations, bookish businesses, and authors who want to start building an audience with more clarity, confidence, and intention.
Intermediate Resource | Self-Guided
The Literary Marketing Playbook
A deeper, more expansive version of Start Building Your Literary Audience. Learn how to create and execute a full marketing strategy for your website, newsletter, and social media, so you can gain confidence in and control over building your audience and telling your stories. Written specifically for the literary community, it’s filled with examples and ideas you can use to guide your literary marketing efforts.
1:1 Strategy Session
What to Fix First Session
Figure out why your marketing, audience-building, or event promotion isn’t working. You may be posting, emailing, promoting, and showing up — but still not seeing the response you hoped for. This 60-minute, one-on-one session is designed to help you stop guessing and identify the first thing to fix.
1:1 Strategy Session
Audience Strategy Session
Build an audience that actually shows up for your work. Posting more won’t build your audience. Clarity on who your audience is and what they want does. If you’re struggling to grow your audience, or feel like you’re talking into the void, this 60-minute, one-on-one session helps you figure out what’s missing.
Done With You/Done For You
Content Marketing Plan
Take charge of your marketing, from planning to execution. I work with you to create a personalized marketing plan for your website/blog, newsletter, and social media that includes goal-setting, identifying your target audience, solidifying your message and brand, strategies for various content channels, analytics, and more. Then, simply take this plan and follow it.
Ongoing Advisory
Audience-Building Advisory
Ongoing support for literary organizations, bookish businesses, and creative projects that want to build a clearer, more consistent audience-building system. Audience-Building Advisory is designed for literary organizations, bookstores, authors, publishers, libraries, and creative businesses that want regular strategic support without hiring a full-time marketing person.
Hi! I’m Jessica A. Kent.
I’ve spent over 25 years in the literary community: founder and director of Literary Boston, published author, bookseller, Boston Book Festival director, lit mag staff, library assistant...
I’ve also spent 15 years in marketing and events management: building audiences through content strategies, and planning and executing events from 10 attendees to 10,000 attendees.
Let’s create great experiences for your audience — from how they experience your brand, to successfully executing meaningful events, both small and large.