Who is your reader?
If you answered "everyone," think again. Everyone will not buy your books and more importunately, it is impossible to market to "everyone."
Every book has one or more perfect or ideal customers. For example, my first book, Handbook to a Happier Life, although a good, general interest subject, has done extremely well in direct sales companies and among independent business owner's who need to maintain a positive attitude and learn to motivate themselves.
Think about who will be most likely to want to read your book. For example, if you're marketing a business, pitching it towards women in business will result in more sales than a general audience. If it's targeted towards single women business owners, you'd sell even more.
While this may sound strange at first, it makes sense because it is always easier and less costly to market to a highly targeted demographic.
The man who wrote a book for "Waiters" sold over 400,000 copies, largely because he was able to clearly identify his reader - wait staff and restaurant owners - and find ways to reach them.
Action step
To help you get started, please complete the following exercise:
" Who is your ideal customer?
" Where are they?
" What else do they buy?
" What do you know about them? Age, income, hobbies, etc.
" How might you reach them?
" What do they read?
Using our single woman business owner as an example you might schedule talks to singles groups and/or business groups. You can find singles publications and Web sites where you can submit articles. There are several good magazines that target women business owners and may be a good outlet for an excerpt or article from you.
As you progress through the process of writing and publishing, your book, keeping these questions in mind will help you remain focused on your ideal reader.
