When you write a non-fiction book to share your expertise, you should have a clear idea of who you’re writing for. It’s surprising how many authors start writing before having real clarity on what their reader wants. But, of course, you wouldn’t do that, would you?
The more you know about your reader, the better your book will be – and, of course, you will have people you’ve already identified as potential purchasers.
If you’re writing about what you do for a living, you may be three-quarters of the way there as you probably have ideal client profiles to work with.
But, just in case you’re starting with a blank sheet, let’s look at what you need to know about your reader.
What is their name?
It’s impossible to focus on ‘a reader’, you’ll need an actual person – with a name – that you can imagine clearly. They’re going to be your writing muse as your book develops. If you know someone who fits your ideal, then use them. If you don’t have a specific person in mind, create one in your imagination.
Are they predominantly male or female? How old are they?
What is their personal style? Are they movers and shakers, or planners and thinkers? What do they like doing? What do they avoid?
What do your readers have in common?
It might be the industry they’re in, or the size of company they work in – either by the number of people who work there or in turnover. It could be their geographical location – for example things that might be relevant in the UK may not be useful to someone living in the USA or Croatia.
It might be their skill set – are you writing for human resources professionals, marketers, or business owners?
They may have an interest in a particular subject or groups of subjects – like personal development, management, marketing or speaking.
What you’re looking for is the defining factors for all the people who will really appreciate the content in your book and will benefit from it.
What influences them?
If you know what they read – online and offline, it’s going to be much easier to put your book in front of them.
This will include industry blogs they read, online and offline groups/forums they belong to. Think about which industry or specialist journals they subscribe to.
Which social media platforms are they active on and who do they follow?
Create an avatar that you can relate to. If you’re writing for the kind of people you already serve in your business, pick one of them and describe them.
You’ve got the who – now for the ‘what’
Now for the nitty gritty – this is where your content will be shaped. The first thing is to understand what keeps them awake at night. What problems plague them? What do they want, but can’t find or don’t have at present? What do they want to do, but don’t know where or how to start? What causes them stress? Are they personal, skill-based, financial, people-related issues?
This isn’t the end of the answer, because we’re human, they’ll have a whole lot of reasons why they haven’t tackled these issues … yet.
What are the barriers – or excuses – they have for not taking action?
Ready to plan your book
All this information will give you invaluable insight into what your reader needs. You know what you want to write about – AND – your know what your reader wants. Putting together your outline should tick every box.
