When
promoting – and writing – a book, one must always think about the readership
demographics. Which types of media will
you pursue? What kind of fan do you hope
to create?
The writer who answers “my book is for everyone and anyone” actually writes for no one.
The writer who answers “my book is for everyone and anyone” actually writes for no one.
Just
as advertisers, politicians, and major corporations look to serve and target
key demographics, so should writers and publishers.
Is
your target mainstream or alternative, pop culture or intellectual, young or
old, male, or female, Democrat or
Republican, atheist or devout Christian, pet-lover or animal avoider,
unregulated gun owner or anti-violence advocate, pro-choice or pro-life, and on
and on? Know your target.
Of
course, groups can overlap. You can be
an ethnic minority and be a soccer mom and be a green environmentalist or you
can be some or all of those things and be gay or be for the legalization of pot
or be a senior citizen. There are just
so many groups and segments out there.
Does
you reader have:
A
phobia?
An
addiction?
A
criminal record?
A
college degree?
A
disability?
Is
he or she of a certain:
Age
Gender
Physical
build
Sexual
preference/past
Religion
Regional
connection
Relationship
status
Is
your reader:
An immigrant?
A hobbyist?
A jock?
A nerd?
A parent, child,
sibling?
Recovering from a
loss or injury?
A manager or
unemployed?
Part of the 1% or is homeless?
A socialist,
capitalist, or Communist?
Liberal, libertarian, or anarchist?
Do
you appeal to those for or against:
Capitol
Hill
Hollywood
Wall
Street
Corporate
America
Big
Pharma
Madison
Avenue
Main
Street
Silicon
Valley
Ivy
League
Terrorism
NRA,
Planned Parenthood
Pentagon
Small
Business
Unions
Charities
News
Media
You
almost need to consult a psychology test, a dating profile, or the U.S. Census
in order to identify the different types of people that are out there –
mentally, physically, spiritually, financial, educationally, sexually,
etc. Now think about for whom you write
and how you can pitch the media and use social media to appeal to targeted
segments of the population.
Something
people choose one side or another when there are two extreme, polar-opposite
choices – and sometimes people learn a certain way but are not exclusive and
one even oscillates between which camp they fall under. People’s circumstance and thus, their views,
could change over time as they age, and the world evolves.
To write or promote a book wildly successfully, you only have to reach a small
percentage of your targeted readership.
Define whom you write for – and for whom you want to promote to – and
narrow your pitches and efforts to fulfill their needs. Sometimes, by going after fewer people, you
sell more books.
Reading
“Through
the eyes of the writer, readers examine life – history, the present, and the
future. The best writers let us see through binoculars that magnify and enrich
experience; they allow us to see with broader, deeper insight. Through the
careful choice of books, through the vision of writers that we trust, we as
readers can better understand our own lives as well as the lives of others. Reading can also help us understand our
hardships, build our aspirations, live in someone else’s shoes, learn to make a
knot or plant a garden or construct a sentence. By building a broader context
around our thinking – one that allows absolute answers and beliefs to give way
to a much subtler understanding of life’s mysteries – reading becomes an
essential life tool, a dynamic process that continues to engage and challenge
us.”-- Helena Hjalmarsson
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