Sorry, just saw this. How? Organically. No bought followers, just a daily half an hour to find cool people who follow other cool people. Lots of interactions and genuine exchanges.
Great question! My "Dirty Deeds" crime thriller series has really taken off, and the eighth book should be out in early 2020. For horror I'd point you toward my "Chelsea Avenue" trilogy... third and last book in the series should also be out in early 2020
My first thriller The Yellow Hibiscus isn't out yet, but it depends on your reason for buying the book. What if you just want to motivate, uplift inspire or encourage. I have my favorite authors too, so I recommend them. Or a similar book by a different author if my book isn't available yet.
It has to be a combination of both if you want to be realistic and treat this like a business and a career. While I love everything I write, there have been some projects I've had to take on in order to pay the bills and keep writing full-time. I make the most of those and they are few and far between, which also helps.
I write what feeds my creativity because I have a day job and my writing is my night job, but whatever some of us write, we will have our fans or followers. If you can do both, more power to you.
Most important: stop eating so much. You're going to become fat and bald, although not sure how you can control the latter. Also, stop stressing about trying to get an agent and be part of the big publishing machine. In the long-term you'll be glad you became a hybrid with self-publishing and small presses and made a career out of this. And stop eating so many M&M's.
Obviously. All the time. Readers will sometimes point out things they've heard me talk about on my podcast, and my wife finds snippets of our conversations in my stories. Sometimes I get in trouble for that...