One concept that really helps to clarify how to position your book in the market is the idea of your ideal reader. While you want as many people as possible to purchase and read your books, you also need to define exactly who you are targeting. With the myriad of advertising possibilities now available it is more bewildering than ever to limit your audience and make your adverts successful. One key way to improve that is to have a clear idea of who your ideal reader is and what they like.
Your ideal reader
If you try to write a book that everyone will love then you are more likely to end up with something that is not quite right for anybody. By trying to please everyone you can easily end up losing the uniqueness that your ideal reader craves. So spend some time thinking through the following questions and developing your answers.
- How old are they?
- What do they like doing?
- What are their values?
- Where do they live?
- What is their occupation?
- What motivates them?
- What challenges do they have?
- What do they need?
- What are their preferred marketing channels?
The better you understand the person who is ideal to read your books, the better that you can then find real people who fit that profile and put your book in front of them.
How to use an ideal reader profile
Once you’ve developed this profile you can use it to inform your writing, your social media, and your marketing.
By making all your published work suited for one profile means that you are more likely to get read through between different series. As you’re developing ideas you can keep checking back in with your idea of your ideal reader to ensure that you are staying on track. Using this ideal reader as a check in your mind means that your writing has more purpose as you know who you are writing for.
And when you develop your marketing and social media you can use this profile as a focus. Share things they will be interested in. Talk to their needs and challenges. Use the marketing channels they prefer. Tie into what motivates them and their interests. Align with their values. Then from having a coherent and focused social media presence you can build a platform where those who interact with you are those who are closest to your ideal reader and so who will be interested in what you write. And when you do start paid advertising then you know what attributes to use to limit your audience to your ideal reader.
Be authentic and true to yourself, but have your ideal reader in the back of your mind in every interaction you do online. Then your brand and books will be aligned and help funnel readers to your books. Which is after all, one of the main goals for having a social media presence.
