Marketing Series: Define Your Audience

Today, we launch a new series on marketing. Each post in the series will address a different aspect of marketing your books. In this post, we want to help you define your audience.


Writers, who do you write for?

I know some writers who say they write for themselves. This post isn't for those writers.

This post is for the writers who write for others.

Weekly, I receive e-mails from writers who tell me their audience is the entire world. While we all want that to be true, we know deep down that it's not. To figure out your audience, let's tap into your imagination.

Imagine your book on a shelf in the world's largest bookstore. A reader walks in and begins browsing the books. The reader stops in front of yours and picks it up, reads the back cover, then takes it to the register to buy. The reader takes the book somewhere and begins reading.

Who is that reader? (Your mother as an answer doesn't count.)

Specifically:

What is the reader's gender?
Age?
Occupation?
Lifestyle?
Hobbies?
Family/relationships?
Financial picture?
Beliefs?

Pinpoint that one reader, then build your marketing toward him/her.

To build the marketing, ask more questions.

• Why did this reader choose my book?
• What makes my book different than all the others?
• What are some other tips, insights, helps, resources could I offer to the reader that weren't included in my book?
• What actions might the reader take after reading my book? Is there something I could offer them at that point that might be useful?

Remember, you wrote for the reader, so now think of the reader and how they might find your book as you plan for your marketing.


Other articles of interest:

Marketing Series: Build Your Team
Marketing Series: Define Your Audience
Marketing Series: Think Outside the Box
Marketing Series: Build Your Platform
Marketing Series: You've Got Questions

Recent articles:

Two Keys to Finding Your Author Voice
I Want to Write a Book - Where Do I Start?
From the Edit Desk: Before Sending that Manuscript to Editor or Publisher
From the Edit Desk: Sense of Place
From the Edit Desk: What's the Takeaway?
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