You can’t build your platform if you don’t KNOW your reader.
(Please click on image to enlarge.)
I’m hoping, since our last post, that you’ve given some thought to how YOU can become an SBM (Savvy Book Marketer). Last time, we talked about how vital your platform is to selling books. Another term for platform is a multitude of raving fans and supporters, people who know about you before your book comes out and who can’t wait to buy it. In order to build that platform, it’s essential that you know your reader inside and out.
Whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction, you must know everything you can about your reader. This includes two components: demographics and psychographics. Demographics means measureable things like age, education, and marital/parenting status. Psychographics, on the other hand, are the things that make your reader unique, such as their personality traits, values, and attitudes.
The better grasp you have of who your ideal reader is, the better you can connect with them and interest them not only in the subject of your book, but in getting to know YOU better. And the more they like and connect with YOU, the more likely they will be to eagerly anticipate your book’s release, recommend your book to others, and to enthusiastically await your next project.
Additionally, getting to know things about your reader like the Web sites they visit, their hobbies, and their civic and business associations might give you ideas about innovative ways and places to sell your book. For example, take Suzie Q’s Guide to Great Quilting. Since Suzie Q knows quilters as well as she knows her own mother, she’s aware that they tend to visit crafting and sewing blogs, hang out in fabric stores, and occasionally frequent sewing machine repair shops. So guess where she’s going to be spending lots of her marketing time and energy?
How can you model Suzie Q and apply her ideas for meeting readers to YOUR book?
See you Thursday!
MARCIE
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Visit Write | Market | Design to download your Marketing Skills Evaluation. This will help you determine how close you are to SBM status, and where you may need a little extra boost.
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We welcome and encourage your thoughtful, courteous comments below.
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Additionally, Marcie would be happy to make a guest appearance on your writing/self-publishing/book marketing blog. Just let us know the theme or your idea (preferably including a 6-panel concept), and we’ll see what we can draft for you.
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