Writing a book can be a stressful process at the best of times. We’ve all been there. Not only have you got to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), but you must come up with a coherent setting, loveable characters, and a storyline that makes sense. All within a few thousand words.
But the hardest part is deciding who and what your target audience is. For instance, writing teen fiction is very different to writing a children’s book. Language, setting, and characters are far more complex, and plots increase in intensity. Essentially, everything is tailored towards people within that target age category.
Though this may sometimes make the actual writing process easier, establishing a target audience is generally quite a difficult task that stumps even the greatest writers. That being said, there are a few things to consider and steps to take to work around this issue. We’ve outlined these below.
- Establish Your Base Audience
While knowing who your exact target audience is can seem like an impossible task, having a vague idea is always a good place to start. That’s because you can tailor every element of your book to more closely match the needs and demands of your audience. For instance, writing about the life experiences of a teenager may automatically mean your work is more relatable, and overall much more suited, towards teenagers of a similar age.
But if you’re really struggling with “who” your audience is, we’d recommend targeting the content of your work to the smallest possible audience group that you can. Instead of considering an exact age, maybe think about an age range instead. Not only does this niche focus ensure that your book reaches the right kind of person, but it will also help to get your audience excited about your writing. It may even inspire existing creative ideas and help to develop them!
You could also think about the following:
The Appearance of Your Ideal Reader
What do they look like? What are their interests? Perhaps you could base your hypothetical audience on someone who energizes you in real life. This may drive your content and make it easier to establish who your exact audience is.
Reader Likes and Dislikes
Does your intended target audience prefer comedy, romance, or action? Fiction or nonfiction? Tailor the genre of your work as much as you can to ensnare the reader’s attention.
- Interact with Your Audience
Though this may sound very self-explanatory, establishing a connection with your readers holds a lot of weight. Especially if your book is newly published, or is set to be released soon. Thankfully, planning a successful book launch to reach your target audience isn’t the most difficult thing in the world! We’d encourage you to interact with readers through social media and in-person signings and events to let them get to know you as a person. Essentially, use all available platforms to form connections. Not only is this a great touch, but it will greatly increase the appeal for your book.
- Stay Niche Instead of Thinking Broadly
Staying in the niche to reach your target audience is a great tactic to employ.
To put it simply, you should never assume everyone will be interested in your book. An author who believes their work can reach everyone is simply setting themselves up for failure. The reality is that not everyone is going to enjoy the genre or storyline that you, as an author, have created – and that’s completely okay! Even the most well-known books today struggle with maintaining an audience base. This includes the Lord of the Rings or the Harry Potter series, to name a few.
A focused book that appeals to a small yet fiercely loyal audience holds far more value than a broader book that is marginally appealing to a larger audience. There is a reason for this. Books covering broad subjects have most likely been covered by many other authors, too, and may not be very actionable for some people. Covering broad topics is something you want to actively avoid when writing your book so that your chosen content is as genre-specific as possible, and so it can reach the right kind of target audience.
- Knowing the Difference Between Psychographics and Demographics
That leads us on to our next tip. A common mistake made by many authors is an intense focus on demographics. While this explains “who” your reader is, psychographics cover “why” they are interested in your work. The best kind of author uses both to deeply understand who their audience is, what they want, and why. Once these boundaries have been established, they are then able to write coherently for a smaller group of people.
Understanding the difference between the two fundamental things is important in modern marketing. The reality is that demographic data used to be all you needed to target and understand audiences, because so much of the market fell into predictable patterns. However, digital media in our current age has exploded consumer options. As a result, demographics are less predictive of human behavior, and psychographics work better. You must consider the role that these play in terms of your reader when writing and marketing your book.
- Understanding Why An Audience Cares
Finally, it’s vital to understand the reader’s perspective in order to reach your target audience. As an author, if you can’t understand why your book may have a significant impact on your audience, then the chances are you haven’t spent much time truly considering who your reader may be. This can raise many problems and may cause the audience to detach themselves from your content.
If this is the case, you need to retrace your steps back to the beginning. Picture why you want to write your book. How can your knowledge of the world you’re writing about make a difference in someone else’s life? Can you teach or introduce them to something new? Can you add something valuable to their lives?
If you can picture these things, then figuring out your audience will be a much simpler process.
Conclusion
Reaching your target audience is all about communication. Whether that’s from you personally to your readers, or the way the words on the page influence the reader, it is all important.
