Who Are Your Readers? And What Do They Want?
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The following blog post has been excerpted from the FriesenPress writing guide: How to Write a Book Worth Publishing. Click here or scroll to the end for your free download!
Le Petit Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, has sold over 150 million copies and ranks as one of the highest-selling books of all time. It also holds the record for being translated into the most languages and dialects, totalling 382 foreign editions. Aside from religious texts like the Bible or Qur’an, The Little Prince (as it’s known in English) is one of the very few books ever written to hold truly universal appeal.
Many first-time authors assume that their finished work will have the same global success as de Saint-Exupéry’s masterpiece. They think that they can simply tell the story that’s clamouring to be told and their book will fly off the shelves in every corner of the globe to every imaginable kind of reader. But for most of us mere humans, universal appeal is simply unattainable for our novel or nonfiction book.
Therefore, we must imagine a specific target audience for our writing. Knowing who is most likely to purchase and peruse your finished work can help you complete a far superior manuscript than writing for the so-called “general public.” Understanding basic demographics about your potential audience sharpens the focus of your writing and shapes creative decisions you will need to make.
Having pinpointed your genre means you’ve taken a big step in the right direction. If you decide to write a science fiction book you’re already aiming for a different audience than an author of chick lit. But don’t stop there. You need to go beyond your choice of genre by identifying your reader if you want positive reviews on Amazon, word-of-mouth promotion, and the sales results that matter.
Consider the difference between a sixty-eight-year-old man and a twenty-seven-year-old woman. If you knew in advance that one would be the primary purchaser of your book, wouldn’t that influence how you wrote it? Maybe you’re creating a guide on starting a business and it turns out that women in their late twenties are far more likely to buy a book like that than anyone else. Such information might make you think twice before comparing business startups to the underdog New York Jets winning the Super Bowl in 1969. Because your ideal reader would not relate to your analogy.
Think of your book as an entrepreneurial effort. Do some market research. Today, companies both large and small use data mining to extrapolate details about the people who purchase their products. They want to know everything possible about the likes, dislikes, habits, and budgets of the most important component in their entire business model: their customers. It might seem strange to consider your book as a business. Maybe writing the history of your ancestors immigrating to North America is all about fulfilling a dream on your bucket list. But wouldn’t it be nice to sell ten or twenty thousand books to people with a similar interest in stories of migration, instead of just a couple dozen copies to your closest family members? If you’re willing to research the McDowell Clan all the way back to Prince Fergus of Galloway, it’s worth spending some time on finding out who buys genealogically based books in the first place.
We can begin with a simple either/or question. Are your readers more likely to be male or female or nonbinary? Research shows that women read more books than men, especially when it comes to fiction. But that general statistic may not apply specifically to your genre. Dig a little deeper with an internet search. Check out forums and chats on your subject matter. Do your homework and get to know your reader’s gender. But don’t stop there. Age matters immensely to marketers in all kinds of businesses. It should matter to you as an author as well. The age of your target audience is crucial to someone who’s writing a children’s book. The same importance applies to authors of young adult fiction. You should consider whether a Millennial who reads romance fiction is looking for the same kind of storylines as a Baby Boomer who’s hooked on that genre.
Imagine that you were giving a speech about a subject that you were really comfortable talking about. You were told in advance that the audience would be 90% men and they all worked in construction. The majority of them would have high school degrees but very few had attended college. That demographic information would certainly affect how you prepared your presentation. You can literally see their faces and anticipate their reactions because you have a clear idea of the consumer for your message.
With a book, it’s a bit trickier. The only time you’ll actually see who is buying your product is when you give a reading during a book tour. By then it’s a little late to change the plot in your true crime story. You need to do the audience research. Your efforts will pay off, because a book is often just as much about what not to say as it is about what to say.
Knowing who is most likely to crack open your finished work in a bookstore aisle provides a creative limit that has a multitude of benefits. While you might not be a professional writer (yet), approach your work with the same kind of professionalism by putting in the upfront effort to know your audience. It will make it easier to get started and make it more likely you’ll cross the finish line with a book you will be proud of—one that appeals to readers far outside your circle of family and friends.
Steve Donahue is a professional speaker, book coach, and the author of two bestselling nonfiction books. His works have sold over 100,000 copies and have been translated into Korean, Turkish, Russian and Greek. Steve helps new and experienced authors turn their book ideas into well-crafted publications that delight readers and inspire change. To learn more, visit his website at MyBookCoach.ca.
