Book Writing Journey: Who Is My Readership?

Years as a professional writer have taught me that the best way for a writer to connect with her readers is to know who is drawn to the topic. And, more specifically, to know who cares enough about the subject to spend time and energy reading what the book offers. Otherwise, I’m writing for one reader and one reader only— me!

Identifying my readership is always a challenging step. Admittedly, I’d like to take the easy way out and say, "This book is for everyone!" or "The ones who are meant to read this will find it." But that would be like throwing a hissy fit and telling my life calling I didn’t want to play unless I could do it my way.

The importance of identifying my ideal readers doesn’t just happen when the book is finished. It happens before the first word gets written! I need to know my ideal readers so that my writing speaks directly to them. And I need to know who they are so my decisions about what language, tone and style to use and what content to include are based on what resonates with them.

So I will do this essential step before I start writing and follow the techniques that I know work.

Fortunately, I have a great resource to guide me in identifying the ideal readership for this book—the monthly Writing from Source teleseminars I have held for nearly two years.

Here’s how I’ll go about identifying my ideal readers:

1. I’ll brainstorm about the qualities, values, needs and challenges of the participants in the Writing from Source teleseminars.
2. From that information, I’ll identify a real-life person who most closely represents those qualities and characteristics. If I don’t manage to identify one person, I’ll create a  "persona" who embodies them.
3. Once I am able to visualize that specific person or composite persona , I will claim him or her as my ideal reader.

To capture the ideas that percolate during brainstorming, I decided to sketch a mind map. The results are shown here:

Mind Map to identify the ideal reader for my Writing from Source book

My ideal readers are open and heart-centered, feel connected to something greater than themselves, and are seekers, especially of their purpose or calling in life. Within each of these attributes, I’ve identified additional values and qualities.

As I look at the characteristics on the mind map and the participants who come to the Writing from Source teleseminars, I see that my ideal reader is:

• 50+ years of age
• Female
• Involved in a role that enriches personal growth and well-being
• Believes in a higher power
• Knows that she has a purpose (calling) that she is meant to fulfill

I can see this ideal reader in my mind's eye. I can even call her by name. This is the reader I will visualize and chat with as I write my book about Writing from Source.