You know that defining moment, when you see your book in print. It’s available for people to buy. Well, that is not the defining moment for you as an author. In reality, the big moment is when you decide to write. The bigger moment is, when you figure out the answers to these two questions.
- Who is your target audience?
- Why should they care about your book?
Who is your Target Audience – It is the specific group of people your book is aimed at. This doesn’t mean other people cannot buy the book or benefit from it. But, the book is written, designed and the book marketing plan is created only with the target audience in mind and no one else. The idea behind defining a target audience is to focus your energies on the people or groups who are MOST likely to buy your book. All the decisions you make depends on your target audience – how you write, how your book is designed, how it is priced and how and where it is sold or marketed.
Example: A book on ‘Parenting Infants’ is positioned towards expecting mothers. So, the target audience is, Women in the age group of 23 to 35, who live in urban cities in India. Why urban cities alone? Because, awareness about the need to learn proper parenting is high among women in urban India as compared to rural areas.
Why should they care about it – You realize that it is not just enough to arrive at the right audience. It is also super important to convince them to spend money on YOUR book. This is the value quotient. What value is your book adding to their life? Is it extremely entertaining or is it super informative or is it inspiring? Today, you don’t just compete for attention with other books but also with other mediums like blogs, YouTube videos, games, movies etc.
If you are able to articulate clearly the reason why your book is a must-read for your Target Audience, it makes it infinitely easy for you sell.
I know all this is easy to talk about but really hard to implement. Especially, when your book is Fiction or Poetry. Authors of Non-Fiction and Academic books find it easier to define their audience. Don’t worry. Check out our article on ‘How to find your Target Audience’.