Writers and Webs -Writers Archive

Who's Going to Read Your Book?
By Walt Shiel

It usually seems the most difficult question for a writer, particularly a new writer, to answer.

Also the most important.

If your answer falls into the all-too-common "well, everybody will want to read it" category, you're not ready to throw it into the brutal publishing marketplace.

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No book ever written appeals to everyone. Not even the Holy Bible.

Most writers have less trouble identifying the target market for a nonfiction book than for a novel (e.g., a self-help book should target those with the problem it addresses). And yet, that determination is key to successful marketing.

So -- preferably even before you write the book -- ask yourself, "Who's going to want to read it?"

Start with yourself. You must have an interest in your book and its subject or genre. What kind of a person are you? What are your interests? Where do you buy books? How do you find out about new books in which you might be interested?

I hope your answers do not include the fact that you don't read many books. Any writer who hopes to succeed should read a lot and, preferably, not just in their own writing genre. You should read enough of the new stuff being published today and the classics to recognize when your phenomenal "new" concept is really just a rehash of what has gone before.

Now, find out where your potential readers hang out -- both online and off. Don't forget conventions, festivals, etc. Are there magazines that cover your main topics...and for which you could write an article? What are you passionate about? Find the magazines that others with the same passion read. Your proposed articles can be excerpts from your book or, for fiction, articles about subjects that play prominent roles in your novel. The magazines could be print publications or online ezines (depending on your target audience, ezines might be your primary article market).

I recommend that you work to get articles published between the time your start working on your manuscript and its publication date. Be sure you get a solid author bio published with the article, one that highlights your upcoming book.

Once you've finished writing your manuscript, you should have 6-12 months before publication date -- even if you're self-publishing. That allows time for a professional edit, quality typesetting, an eye-catching cover design, and acquisition of blurbs and pre-pub reviews. Skipping any of those steps only makes the marketing mountain ahead of you that much more difficult to scale. Using that time to capitalize on the recognition that those published articles provide will pay off in book sales.

So, right now -- don't delay -- determine who is going to want to read your book. Find them. Figure out how to reach them. The sooner you start, the sooner your sales will start climbing.