An author who wasn't afraid to publish the book he always wanted to write, standing in a grassy field and staring into the sunset.
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Your audience isn’t ready? Publish the book anyway

ByTC Marti

Your audience isn’t ready? Publish the book anyway. Books create readers, not the other way around. Stop waiting for permission and start leading.

One of the most parroted lines in writing circles is this: “Don’t publish until you’ve built an audience. Wait until people are ready for you.”

Translation? Stay in the kiddie pool, keep waiting, prepping, and asking permission.

And I’m here to tell you that’s complete nonsense, just like when someone tells you to bail on a series that ain’t selling.

The myth of the pre-built audience

This advice assumes you can somehow conjure up an eager, book-buying fanbase out of thin air before you’ve even proven you can deliver.

But here’s the problem: Audiences don’t form around potential. They form around products. People don’t rally behind the writer who “might” publish someday. As for writers who already hit “publish” and proved they have something to offer? They’re lapping you.

Waiting to “build an audience first” is like waiting to get strong before you ever set foot in the gym.

Books create audiences

The bold truth is that sometimes, the book creates the audience, not the other way around.

Think about it:

  • Nobody was clamoring for Harry Potter before J.K. Rowling wrote it.

  • Nor were they demanding The Hunger Games before Suzanne Collins dropped it.

  • Nobody was begging for Cursed Mage before I put it out there.

But once those books existed, audiences formed. Readers didn’t know they wanted those worlds until they were staring them in the face.

That’s how this works. The book’s your spark, and the audience is your fire.

Stop overvaluing social media vanity metrics

The “build your audience first” crowd loves to point to follower counts, email lists, and engagement rates. And yes, those things matter. But they don’t mean jack if you don’t have a book for people to actually buy.

An audience without a product is just spectators in an empty stadium. The game starts when you publish. That’s when you separate the curious from the committed.

The courage to lead, not follow

Waiting for an audience is passive. Publishing without one is active. It’s saying:

  • Here’s my vision. Take it or leave it.

  • Here’s my story. If it resonates, stick around.

  • Here’s the foundation. If you want to build with me, let’s go.

That’s how tribes form. You lead with conviction, and the rest will follow.

Your readers are your foundation

Even if your first book only reaches fifty readers, those fifty are your nucleus. They’re the ones who tell their friends, leave reviews, and stick with you when you drop Books II, III, and IV.

You don’t need an army to start. Create that spark and get those first few readers.

And that spark doesn’t come from endless social media posts or “audience-building campaigns.” You only need the courage to publish.

Publish the book anyway

So if you’ve been sitting on your book because some self-proclaimed expert told you to wait until your “audience is ready,” stop wasting your time.

Your audience is ready when you make them ready. They don’t exist until you give them something to gather around, and that “something” is your book.

So publish anyway, shake things up, and let the market decide. Because if you’re waiting for perfect timing, you’re gonna wait forever.

Pro Tip: There’s nothing wrong with writing and polishing the first few chapters of your book and handing it out for readers as a lead magnet. It’s what I’ve done with The Arcane Prophecy, letting readers preorder the book at the one year to launch mark if and when they loved what they read.

Check out those first three chapters, and see how I drew it up.

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