What type of demographic(s) do you want your book to appeal to? You may want your book to be read by people of certain groups: gender, age, ethnicity, or people of a specific social or economic standing. Even though categorizing people by these groups might seem simple to begin with, certain groupings will soon complicate your expectations of who you think will want to read your book. Writing with these specific categories in mind might help you determine your writing style, but do not limit your book to only these people because you might later find that your book inspires even the most unexpected reader. Consider that who you want to read the book might be different to who actually reads the book. A good example of this is a children’s book, depending on the age group, it is actually the parent or care-giver that reads the book (and makes the buying decision), rather than the actual child. Once the child reaches a certain age, it is now the child that makes the decision, although the guardian generally has to approve the choice, since they are the actual buyer of the book. This information will change how the book is found and including parent reading notes might actually help the success of the book.

Alternatively, you might be focused on having your book read by different kinds of groups altogether: New Age, Spiritual, Meditators, Business-Oriented Professionals, Physicians, Hipsters, Politicians, Parents, Actors, Teachers, Teenagers, Art Students, Journalists, Engineers, Travellers, Television Fanatics… You name it and add it to this list—the list is endless. You could feel like your book will be more applicable to people that have a specific career, live a certain lifestyle, or to people who are more focused on their personal relationships. No matter whom you initially intend to read your book, you want to use this question to focus your subject matter, your writing style, and the delivery of your book’s message. The more niche you can make the reader, the better chance of success you will have with your book in a very competitive market. The spiritual group is a good example of this. Your reader might just be seeking information on spirituality and does not know the basic spiritual terms, or it might be an advanced spiritual seeker who is familiar with terms such as quantum physics and consciousness levels, without further explanation. This will determine the language you use when you write the book.

Next week we will explore the question, “what do you want your reader to learn from your book?”

These questions are used in the InspireABook® Webinar program to help the writer understand who they are writing the book for, and what language they will use for that reader. In discussion groups, the answers to these questions helps the writer to understand how to write the book for their specific readership and how to market to that readership.

For more information on the InsprireABook® Webinar program and to watch a free educational seminar please go to www.inspireabook.com/publishing-coaching/

This blog is an excerpt from the E-Book “All you need to know about publishing your book” by Amy O’Hara. To get this E-Book for Free, register for our newsletter here.