OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna Penn
There are a lot of brilliant sites online for self-publishing these days but the site I recommend most often is still TheBookDesigner.com.
Here's a guest post from Joel (while I am sunning myself in Carcassonne, south of France!)
If you're a nonfiction author, there's one question that's crucial to the success of your books:
“Exactly whom am I publishing this book for?”
Happily, there a lot of ways you can start to get answers to this question. How well you understand your market is second only to the quality of your content in determining the success or failure of your book. Yeah, it's that big.
Recent surveys have shown that most self-published authors don’t sell many books in the end, and that’s a shame. Part of the problem, I think, is that the authors didn’t take the time to really think about this question and all that it implies for their publishing prospects.
But don’t despair. There are ways you can start working this out even before your book is finished.
The most important and direct way to figure out who your book is for is to take some time to sit down and profile your ideal reader or readers.
In the same way that a novelist might create a portrait of an important character in a story, the nonfiction author can create a profile of their readers.
The more specific you can be in describing your typical reader, the easier it will be to locate them and understand what they need from you.
Niche Publishing Works Well for Self-Published Authors
Most self-published books are on niche subjects, and that makes good sense. A niche subject is, by definition, one that isn't served by mass-market publishing.
It's a subject with a narrower group of people who are interested in the topic. Although this limits the universe of people who may be readers and buyers of your books, it also guarantees that your book will be of interest, and hopefully usefulness, to those people.
For example, in the famous (originally self-published) book “What Color is Your Parachute?” author Richard Bolles appealed to one group of people—those looking to find a career they can truly enjoy—to help.
His book is of little interest outside that group, but incredibly useful and totally in sync with people up in the air about their future.
That's a great example of niche marketing. Throughout the history of self-publishing there have been entrepreneurial authors who have taken a similar approach, each in their own niche, category or genre.
Even Dan Poynter, the “godfather” of modern self-publishing started the same way, writing and publishing books for parachuting hobbyists.
In each case, these authors would have no trouble telling you in an instant who they are publishing for, and why. Besides creating the absolutely best book you can, there's nothing that will have as big an effect on your sales as knowing your readers–what motivates them and what they are looking for.
Can you answer this simple question? Here it is again, in case you’ve forgotten:
“Exactly whom am I publishing this book for?”
Help is On the Way
In order to get you started, here are three quick tips that might help you find out new things about your readers you haven't tried before.
- Start spending time in discussion forums concerned with your topic, niche, category or genre. One of the great things about these forums is that they are places people turn to for answers to problems they are encountering. That alone makes them incredibly useful places to do your research. Pay particular attention to the topics that come up over and over again, because these are points where people frequently get stuck, and where you might be able to help the most.
- Read through reviews of comparable books on retailer websites. Readers frequently point out what's really good—or really bad—about books when they write reviews. This makes the reviews a great place to learn about what people are looking for in your field. Pay particular attention to the negative reviews. Why? That’s where reviewers are going to point out the shortcomings of current offerings and state explicitly what they are looking for.
- Run a survey of your readers. Use at least one open-ended question to ask them what problems or difficulties they are having. If you have a blog, this is pretty easy to do by querying your readers, and you'll get great feedback from people in your field. You can also get a free account at a service like SurveyMonkey.com where you can send an email to your list directing them to the survey. Think about offering a free download or other incentive to make it more attractive to fill out the survey. After all, you are getting very valuable information from people who take the trouble to help you out.
Once you start thinking about this you’ll find there are lots of ways to explore what your readers are looking for. And by the way, doing any of these will put you way ahead of other people in your field.
And even if you’re just one person sitting in front of a computer, it's the kind of “market research” that's within your reach.
I’m going to be talking a lot about book marketing tips and ideas in a series of free videos coming up in the next few days. I’ll be passing along the lessons I've learned in over 30 years of book publishing experience.
You can get notified when these free videos are ready by signing up here and I'll let you know when they’re ready.
Let’s face it, almost all authors need help in finding the best ways to connect to their readers. Whether you need that help now or not, I hope you'll use the tips outlined above. Self-publishing is a whole lot more fun when you have readers, and your message is too important to let it go unread.
Who are you publishing your book for? Are you still confused about your target audience? Please do leave a comment below.
View Comments (8)
One of my aims for the next 12 months is to create profiles of my various target audiences. I have a good idea who they are, but don't this isn't enough
Like you say, you really need to understand them. Just about everything I do at the moment is to try and discover who they are. In the long run, this should help
Loving the tips, Joel
Matthew (Turndog Millionaire)
Matt, I think that's a great idea. I took that same concept from internet marketing and spent quite a while developing 5 separate avatars, it was an incredible experience and one that I go back to repeatedly. Good luck with it.
It was fun and refreshing to see a guest post from a name that I've grown familiar with! And the context of this is very helpful, not surprisingly. Thank you for sharing such great advice!
Yes Joel, as usual you are giving great advice. I coach authors how to get on TV and not knowing your readers means trouble all down the line. When an author gets to the point they want to pitch TV producers, if they don't know their audience, they can't know what shows to pitch. It makes for a weak and diluted pitching effort that usually ends in failure. It doesn't have to be that way. With the right system an author can have a whole different outcome and knowing your readers is a big part of that. OK, thanks, Edward Smith.
Edward, that's a great point, and it's equally true for pitching articles to magazines, interviews to radio show bookers or books to catalog buyers. While many authors think defining their market will decrease their sales, in practice the opposite is usually more true. Thanks for your input.
I have a mental illness and want to write for others with it. But I'm nervous about going public because of the stigma. I know there is a significant percentage of people who would be glad of more information doctors and social workers don't provide.
Obviously publishing means going public. But there are people in my community who protested when I taught Sunday school because they found out I have bipolar and assumed I was unsafe for their children to be around. If I publicize, the discrimination will only increase. Maybe it doesn't matter? People manage to find out anyhow.
Hi Mary, check out this post from author Vrinda Pendred who has OCD and started a publishing group for people with conditions.
http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2011/01/25/writers-neurological-conditions-vrinda-pendred/
You might also check out World's strongest Librarian on Tourettes http://worldsstrongestlibrarian.com/how-to-have-tourettes/
He got a book deal based on sharing his life - so I think authenticity and helping others makes a difference. Also, one of my recent interviews with Win Charles, who suffers from cerebral palsy
http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2013/03/09/overcoming-challenges-win-charles/
Brilliant advice Joel. Thank you very much