Writing For Your Target Audience

So you’re writing regularly, and have a number of ideas you’d like to expand. The next step toward a manuscript is defining the target audience for your writing. After all, if you don’t know where you’re going with your book project, you’ll have a hard time getting there.

Most authors want their work read by the widest audience possible, but you should identify the most likely group of people who will want to read your book. If you write for everyone, you might not be read by anyone. Start by defining what you intend to accomplish with your book. The motivations for writing a book can vary dramatically, and defining them will help you understand what you want to write, how you’ll write it and who will read your book.

Is your goal to write a family history that can be distributed as gifts to your loved ones? Do you want to focus on genre fiction, such as writing a detective story or a sci-fi adventure? Are you hoping to boost your career by writing a book about your business interests to sell at speaking engagements? Or do you want to write the next great American novel with widespread market appeal?

Understanding the answers to these questions will prompt you to write your manuscript with your target audience in mind and will help you create a product that your audience will buy.

• When a reader finishes your book, what new knowledge, understanding or skill set will he or she have gained from the experience?
  
  
• Does your book show people how to create something?
  
  
• Does it outline the steps for accomplishing a task?
  
  
• Does your book offer insights or unique perspectives into common life stages, issues or problems?
  
  
• Does your book fall into a subset of a popular genre?
  
  
• Can readers save time or money using the information you provide?
  
  
• Does your book offer information useful for people who have no previous experience in your book’s topic area, or are its benefits greater for intermediate and advanced audiences?
  
  
• Is your book solely for entertainment, offering readers an opportunity to relax over an engaging story?
  
  
• What makes your book unique? Among all of the books published on your topic, what does your book offer that most others don’t?
  
  
• Does your book address issues, ideas or interests that would appeal to a specific community, region or other locale?
  
  
• Is your book like others that have been successful, such that you can use their success to help you define, reach and write to target groups?
  

Once you have a clear goal for the project and understand who you are writing for, the process of outlining and writing your book will become more manageable. When it comes time to publish your work and begin to promote your book, you’ll also be prepared to identify the best ways to market to your target audience.