If you write to a specific audience, then you can market your book to that audience.
Makes sense.
That doesn’t mean go chase the teen vampires; it means know who you specifically are writing to. You can figure that out by asking some questions to your hypothetical reader. To that end, I found a blog that had such questions.
As I started down the list, I stopped right away. Have a look.
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What are their favorite books (besides yours)?
Who are their favorite authors (besides you)?
What genres do they read most often? Are they loyal genre readers?
How many books do they read per month?
Do they read mainly for work or for pleasure?
What kinds of movies and TV shows do they watch?
How do they spend their free time, aside from reading? What are their hobbies?
What kind of vacation do they like best? Or do they prefer to stay home?
What are their buying habits? Do they make impulse purchases or hunt for great deals?
How do they choose what book to buy next? Do they rely on recommendations from friends, are they loyal to particular authors, or do they grab the best deal they find?
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These are great questions that will help you define your target audience. So I started answering them.
Starting with the first one, after which I immediately quit.
Over the last 12 months, the author I have mostly read was… Bill O’Reilly!
Noooooooooooooooo!!!!!
He writes these history thrillers about Killing Lincoln and Killing Kennedy. They’re really good! There are, like, ten of them now or something. The guy’s a machine.
But do I want to be known as a guy who reads history for fun?
I do not.
That sounds boring as hell, doesn’t it? You can tell the truth. It does. I may have to take up race car driving just to get the taste of that proclamation out of my mouth.
The books I write are fun, funny, crazy things! They have drama and unlikely romances and unexpected twists and turns.
THEY ARE NOT DULL.
Neither am I.
Why is my reading list so… dull? I guess I’m not my intended audience for my books – although how can that be, really?
Well, I’m stumped. But you guys have a look at the list and see what you think. Maybe you’ll get farther than I did.
Who’s YOUR favorite author over the last 12 months?
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Dan Alatorre is the author of several bestsellers and the hilarious upcoming novel “Poggibonsi: an italian misadventure.” Check out his other works HERE.
Dan Alatorre 
Reading history for fun? Too right. I may no write those books myself but I thoroughly enjoyed all the Brother Cadfael books by Ellis Peters and her quartet about the brothers of Gwynedd under her real name of Edith Pargeter. Boring? Not a bit of it.Entertainment all the way.
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Thanks, David. I feel a little less silly now.
No… no I don’t.
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Hey, that’s not fair… 😀 I read history books for fun, have the entire collection of WIll Durant’s The Story of Civilization apart from a ton of other history books. Am I boring? You better ask my friends 😀
But then, who knows, maybe I am just weird 🙂
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Tejaswi, here’s the thing. I do/have done LOTS of interesting things. Traveled to a dozen countries, dived a WWII wreck off Florida, swam with sharks, rode a dolphin, flew in a hot air balloon, walked on a glacier, visited a volcano, climbed a waterfall, saw whales in Hawaii – on and on. If you asked what I prefer to read, I’d say comedies. But the fact is, what I HAVE read over the last 12 months: history. But considering each of those history books is a bestseller, I’m not the only one who reads them. I’m sure the other people have walked on glaciers and stuff, too!
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wow, that’s a lot of things that I haven’t done.. 🙂
I like history though.. and I guess I like reading and the genre does not really matter 🙂 I have done a lot of other things in life, but not glaciers haha.. some day maybe, if I can first get over my little disability.. but I will, for sure, some day …
You are in good company, Dan… Michael Crichton apparently did a few of those things you mentioned 🙂 (Or so he says in his biographical book, Travels… ) 🙂
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laughing. I read actual history books for fun. Not historical fiction but actual history. Laughing. Of course I also read True Crime for fun. shrug. I am weird. And maybe a little boring, but I like that. I had enough excitement in my 20s to keep me covered for a good long time. LOL
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Good point. I remember a road trip to Chicago on my 20’s. We had a LOT of fun and our host family, my college roommate’s dad (who was president of an aviation supply company and let us borrow how convertible while we were in town) and second wife ( a stunning lady about 15 years younger than wife #1) commented one morning over breakfast about we seemed to be having a good time staying out late and meeting lots of nice girls.
Dee, the wife, said “It doesn’t look like ‘youth is wasted on the young” with you!”
I said, “I hope not. I couldn’t do this twice.”
I barely got through it once – but I have the memories (most of them)
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Same here about history. Sounds like you have a boring audience :). And maybe that’s okay. I TRY to write about what I love and am concerned with as a writer. At least then people will know I am authentic.
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I agree, Robert. A book written on a subject the author wasn’t even interested in? That sounds like it wouldn’t be very interesting at all, and the lack of passion would show.
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Reblogged this on MDellert-dot-Com.
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Thank you, mdellert!
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Who is your target reader? That then prompts: what kind of reader am I? Simple questions until you ask them. I’ll have to ponder those a bit. Interesting, glad I read this post.
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