Writing Tip: Stake Out Your Readers
July 8th, 2009I’ve talked before about getting to know your potential readers before you begin to write for them. Here are some more ideas that might help you find out what your readers care about.
Go out to coffee with a friend or acquaintance who typifies your ideal reader, and have an in-depth conversation with them. Ask them what they care about, in terms of your topic. What questions does he or she have? Does he or she have any objections to your position? What problems do they have that your book might solve for them? A good idea is to record these conversations (with their permission, of course.)
Or you might want to take surveys of your potential readership. If you have a email distribution list, or a group of friends on a social networking site, or have joined clubs or other interest groups, ask these same kinds of questions of them. There are websites such as www.surveymonkey.com that can help you easily take surveys online.
Social networking sites can be very valuable for finding out what people are thinking. For instance, when I want to find out what my potential readers are thinking about a particular subject, I’ve learned that asking a question in my status line on Facebook or Twitter will bring me many opinions. Or I might ask that same question in a Facebook group that pertains to my subject.
Find out what your potential readers are thinking and wondering about. How will your book help them? Ask them and find out!
I sometimes share writing tips that have worked for me or my clients/students. Do you have a writing tip you’d like to share? If so, leave a comment here. You might win something! At the end of each month I’ll gather up the “Writing Tip” comments from the month and pick one at random from a drawing, and send the winner of the drawing one of my e-books: your choice of “How to WOW Your Readers” or “You Can Be An Author, Even If You’re Not a Writer.”
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