This blog is for authors who want to write a nonfiction book where they can turn their experience and their expertise into a tool that will help people.
So many authors agonise over who their target reader is because they genuinely want to help people and they are afraid that if they choose too specific a group of people they will miss out on reaching a whole lot of other people who would benefit from what they have to share. And that really is a fair enough concern.
If you haven’t already given thought to who your ideal reader is, you will soon find out how difficult it is to choose a specific niche for your writing. Amongst other things, there is a fair amount of FOMO that goes on. And rightfully so.
So this particular blog is all about saving you a lot of time procrastinating and languishing in indecision instead of getting your book written and published.
What exactly am I talking about when I say don’t try to be all things to all people?
Essentially, I am talking about not trying to please all people. Because in the same way that if you try to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one; if you try to write to everyone, you will connect with no one.
So this particular blog is all about saving you a lot of time procrastinating and languishing in indecision instead of getting your book written and published.
What exactly am I talking about when I say don’t try to be all things to all people?
Essentially, I am talking about not trying to please all people. Because in the same way that if you try to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one; if you try to write to everyone, you will connect with no one.
So while we are afraid to choose a specific group of people to write to, what happens is actually the opposite to what we are afraid will happen, and in fact, more opportunities will open up for you as an author and speaker if you just trust me on this.
I think essentially it comes down to what we refer to as the ‘know, like and trust factor’ and our language and our experiences convey a manner or way of being that not everyone is going to relate to or be able to connect with..
Not everyone is going to know they need you, for starters, unless you spell it out for them.
And not everyone is going to like you, like your style, like your attitude, like your look, like the way you talk, or like your approach to what you are writing about.
So what can you do about this?
The solution is to write for a really specific audience using their specific language, their specific experiences around their specific problems. Start with the most obvious group of people.
Then, if you feel another audience can benefit from your experience and your expertise, and you feel you know them and their unique set if challenges well enough, then write for that audience too.
That means you are specifically engaging one group at a time, which means the potential is there for you to write more books, attract more speaking engagements, and help more people.
And isn’t that ultimately what you are hoping to achieve? To help more people?
If you want to know more about writing and publishing a book, download our free ebook 7 Things an author must know about writing and publishing a book before they take the plunge.
And if you want to take a look at our author community – the Authorpreneur’s Bootcamp – where we teach authors everything they need to know about writing and publishing a book, follow the link below. We’d love to have you join us.
That’s it for this week,
Bye for now.