009 - Writing a Purposeful and Aligned Book and Targeting Your Audience

I’ve been asked many times by would-be authors whether or not their content is valuable and something people would want to read.

Now of course, my first thought or response is “would you read it?” My next response is that the content always depends on your motivation. Why do you feel compelled to write on that topic? And, what do you plan to do with after you’ve written it?

If you’re simply wanting to draw out your experiential stories and bind them into a book it might be a bit more like a diary or memoire. If you can relate to your reader or pose “what-if” questions you might better engage them. You can talk in terms of “you” verses “I”. But, when you write to your reader with an intent and provide them value and help give them what they want then you are creating an audience. But, as always, with any book you have to take it beyond the pages and get out from behind it.

Most writers don’t think when they are writing about why they are writing. Many people have a unique story to tell and want to take it to a book. And this is fabulous and I’d be happy to help guide you on the steps of writing such a book. But, what I love to see is that a writer finds ways to reach out from beyond the pages and holds hands with the reader.

• What do you do for your day job and how do you make your income?
• Is this in alignment with who you are?
• Are you hoping to write a book to enhance your life or elaborate on a particular topic to define your niche?
• What are you an expert of and can a book help define your offering?
• What do people come to you for advice on?
• If you write the book your thinking about—how are you an expert in that subject?
• Are you telling a story for a reason or are you simply writing for personal healing?

There are many reasons why people write books and no reason is a wrong reason, but when you write purposefully you might be better aligning with:

• Ways to make an income using your book
• Creating a movement that you are prepared to spearhead
• Creating awareness of a topic you are on fire about promoting or bringing to light 

The key really is knowing why you are writing in the first place. Of course, when people ask what I do for a living the first response I generally get is they tell me about their lives and why they should write a book…they generally have gone through something they survived and came out better on the other side. So perhaps this would lend itself to becoming a motivational speech or an inspirational story. For most people it is chatter and they move on. It’s those that are really fired up about the topic that move forward. So I guess you could say it’s passion that drives one to persevere and pursue the effort of writing.

Let’s talk briefly about targeting your audience…

One of the most critical areas in content development is learning to talk to your audience…those you wrote the book for.

Is there is an overall message, language, tone, voice, and specific content that might pull from research from members of that audience and can it be presented in a relatable way?

You want to provide clear information, give reassurance or testimonials or research for validation or approval. Sell your ideas or story in a relatable way by knowing your audience. If you are writing a memoir, your audience may be your family. If you are selling a business idea or trying to attract new clients you’ll want to provide informative content. As your writing you might ask:

• Are all of your chapters given titles that can relate to your audience?
• Are there key things they are looking for when they pull the pages apart and peer inside? What are they looking for?
• Who you are talking to as you write?
• Who will buy your book and why?
• Why would someone buy your book verses any other book?
• Did you know that women buy three times more books than men? Are you talking to them?
• What value are you providing your reader? Entertainment? New Ideas? A movement?

However you approach this, identifying your audience means the entire image must match. From the content all the way down to the book cover and marketing materials. If you have support staff, whether it be a sales team or a customer support or administrative assistant, you want to make sure your message is clearly present from what you define in your book to how you interact in the office. The message should be consistent. The content supportive.

If you have a website for your book or your business you can watch your audience for insights. You can track your competitors through many online tools as well. You might want your content to showcase your offerings to address what your competition is doing.

The point is, you want to be sure your book is not just your personal platform serving you. You want your book to ultimately serve your staff, your clients, your customers, your reader, and you.

So much more to say but out of time for now…I’ll catch you next time! I’ll do my best to keep up here during the holidays, but tis the season. Wishing you peace, love, and light as you begin to close out the year. Wouldn’t it be exciting to become an author in 2020? Keep up and I’d love to help you!

(Repurposed from podcast 009)