WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL ABOUT AUDIENCE?

Writing a book is more than just putting words on paper and getting everything printed. You have to know who is going to read your book. If you don’t consider this, then you will not reach your intended reader and it will appear that your book is a flop.

This is not the case.

Most books that are not doing well in the marketplace are having this issue because the author is not promoting the book; the author simply wrote it without thinking about promoting it beyond the publication date, or the author subconsciously thought it would promote itself or that people would somehow find out about the book without the author having to talk about it. Another reason a book may not do well is the author has not been promoting it to the correct audience, or the author wrote the book without considering who would read it.

Let’s look at understanding the audience before you write first.

We have our topic, and we have created our writing schedule. Now, to ensure we present our information in the best possible way, we have to figure out who will read our book.

If you are writing a book that gives basic information to teach people a new concept, skill, or such, then you are writing at an entry or foundational level. This means you will use some jargon but will include definitions and explain the jargon. In addition, you will give detailed instructions and information, so the person who is new to your topic feels that they have a much better understanding of the topic when they finish the book.

This is where most people start their writing careers—writing the foundation or introductory book. They do this hoping to write more books that delve deeper into the topic and teach more. Or maybe they read a book that was supposed to be a beginner’s level, but for some reason, they felt the book didn’t do the basic level the best service so they wrote one instead.

In any case, the writer has to know to whom they are writing and at what level the reader already knows the topic. Once the writer has identified the audience, they are ready to write.

Another Reason to Know Your Audience

The other reason it is important to know our audience is so that once we have written the book, we can start a targeted promotion to sell our book even before it goes to the printer.

That’s right. When you know your audience, you can start promoting the book even before it is published.

Part of the promotion is the buildup of excitement. You show the targeted audience why this book is so important to them; building excitement with the book's description; explaining why this book gives more, better, or new information; and using excerpts of some content from the book. You can even use the lack of a cover to build excitement by promoting the cover reveal date. These actions not only create excitement. They help get your audience invested in all the events surrounding our book, making them want the book.

All these actions are well and good, but where do you do these promotions?

Everywhere!

We use every social media outlet available to us to run ads and boost posts. However, when you boost posts or run an ad, make sure you have created your targeted audience list because those will be the people who see the boosted post and ad. Not all platforms have this option, so if it does, use it. Leaving the audience completely open gives you a wider base, but it also is more than likely going to be shown to people who would never read your book. Creating the targeted audience ensures your audience sees the book.

Mention Your Book Whether You’re Presenting or Not

You also want to mention the book during any speaking engagements you attend, either as a speaker or an attendee. It may be obvious to do this when you are the speaker. You may be speaking on the topic of the book, so it is the perfect time to promote. You may be speaking on a topic closely related to the book, so again, it’s a great time to promote.

If you are only attending, not a problem. Network! When you go to a conference, you network and meet people, right? Same idea. Network and meet people, then tell them about your book. It doesn’t have to be a long, drawn out explanation, but get the information to them in casual conversation. Make it feel natural, not forced.

The more people that know about your book, the better because they will check it out and hopefully tell friends.

Another option in promoting to your audience is to send a copy of the book—either pre-publication or after publication—to someone who is well-known in the industry and have them review it. If you received a stellar review of your book from an expert, this will definitely help boost your book sales.

These are the main reasons that knowing the audience is so important from the conception of the book idea through the sales and beyond.

If you know your audience, you have the tools to write an incredibly informative book, and you are already prepared to market even before the first word is written, which can lead to best-selling author status!

So, who is your audience?

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Content credit: C. Storm

Image credit: Oleg Laptev