Know Your Readers

In this day of customized-everything, everyone expects to be able to get their coffee, their pens and notebooks, and everything else just to their liking. To make this happen, they seek out the places that cater to their preferences. 

The reader experience is no different. Readers go to a certain shelf in the bookstore or a certain blog to read reviews of the kind of books that they prefer. They hop on Goodreads to check out one of the site’s many Top Ten genre lists or over to Amazon’s unlimited number of suggestions.   

It is more important than ever to know who your readers are. As the writer, you know your book better than anybody else. Think about who you envision reading your book. Now think about what else that reader would have on his shelf or stocked in their ereader. What genre is it? Horror? Romance? Self-help?

Now dig deeper and really think about what sub-category your book would fall under. So it’s horror – are there ghosts? Zombies? Crazy people? Now think about the reader some more – How old are they? Young adults? Teens? Your average 30-something workaholic? 

By narrowing your book’s genre and envisioning your reader, you give yourself a starting point and focus in your promotion efforts. Now go connect with them.

The Importance of Goodreads

Goodreads is a social site connecting over 13million book lovers. Create a free account to have access to millions of book reviews, suggestions tailored to your preferences, and access to hundreds of lists organized by subject, genre, or just somebody’s favorite books.  You can keep a running tab of books you have read, want to read, and are currently reading and also join a book discussion group that fits your reading preferences.  Also, keep an eye out for giveaways, polls, and contests.

As an author, this is great place to make connections with your target audience.  It’s very important to keep in mind that as a social site specifically designed for book lovers, people come to Goodreads to find books to add to the To Be Read list and also to make reading suggestions—not to be spammed by authors who, justified or not, are just trying to share their great book. The strategy here is to connect to other readers through posting reviews of books you have read, joining a group, and commenting on other readers’ reviews and book lists. There are so many ways to connect!

In addition to connecting to readers through these various measures, you should create an Author Page where you can list your own book(s) and also where to purchase or download them. Every time your earn another connection, that reader will more than likely view your profile and read about your book. By making sure to have a wonderfully written summary that highlights why your book is a great book, that connection will be likely to add your book to their To Be Read list or – even better – purchase your book to read.  Listing your book on your Author Page has the added benefit of keeping track of who is reviewing your book and what they have to say.

Check out our page on Goodreads!

Congratulations! You finished your manuscript! Now what?

Finishing a first draft is equally satisfying and overwhelming.  It’s hard to know how to feel once this story you created and sweated over for so long is finished. But fear not because you’re not finished! There’s still so much to be done… in a good way, of course!

  Here are a few steps to take after finishing your first draft to make sure your book is ready for the world to read.    1. Take a break – You’re going to be equally elated and exhausted. Spend a few days—heck, how about a week?—letting your brain relax and focus on something, anything, other than your manuscript. Regaining your energy and a fresh perspective is crucial this point.
  2. Read like a stranger – In order to catch any inconsistencies in plot or character development, you need to read critically and not let yourself fill in the blanks. Read slowly and judiciously. Where are the holes? Would a stranger understand why certain things are happening?

“Try to read your own work as a stranger would read it, or even better, as an enemy would.” —Zadie Smith 

3. Now read even slower…  This time pay careful attention to all the little things the human brain can easily gloss over like simple grammar and spelling mistakes.  Be sure to look for inadvertent tense changes, passive voice, and any instances of not abiding by the all-important rule: Show, don’t tell.

4. Get a second opinion  – Even after two thorough reads, there will still be problem areas. After working with your manuscript so closely, the brain almost becomes blind to mistakes. A fresh pair of eyes, whether they belong to a friend, writing group, or professional editor, will be able to catch these inconsistencies and mistakes. Sometimes criticism can be hard to take but remember – it’s only to help take your great book and make it even better!
 
3. Now read even slower…  This time pay careful attention to all the little things the human brain can easily gloss over like simple grammar and spelling mistakes.  Be sure to look for inadvertent tense changes, passive voice, and any instances of not abiding by the all-important rule: Show, don’t tell.
 
4. Get a second opinion  – Even after two thorough reads, there will still be problem areas. After working with your manuscript so closely, the brain almost becomes blind to mistakes. A fresh pair of eyes, whether they belong to a friend, writing group, or professional editor, will be able to catch these inconsistencies and mistakes. Sometimes criticism can be hard to take but remember – it’s only to help take your great book and make it even better!