Blogger: Rachel Kent
Location: Books & Such main office, Santa Rosa, Calif.
This week I would like to focus on the Who, What, When, Where, Why (and How) questions you should answer for each project before creating a book proposal.
Naturally, today I will start with Who.
The first Who question to ask is: Who is my audience?
Knowing your audience is one of the most important parts of writing a book. If you write a book that’s not focused on an audience, you write a book that will end up in “no man’s land.” To find your audience, I suggest you take a look at similar books either online or in your local bookstore.You should also test your book with the audience you suspect is the correct one.
The next Who question is: Who are you to write this book?
What do you uniquely bring to the market through your project? Is this topic something God has laid on your heart? The motivations behind writing the book need to be clear to you. If you are writing just to make money, I suggest you take a step back and reevaluate your motivations. Perhaps you aren’t the person to write this project. A good book comes out of a passion for a topic, and if the only thing you are passionate about is a big payoff, it’s unlikely that you will write a good book.
The third question you will want to ask is: Who might publish this book?
You may have an audience and a passion for your topic, but are publishing houses out there looking for a book like yours? Before you start in on developing an idea, be sure that you’re writing something that will appeal to many publishers. The more publishers looking for the type of story you are writing, the better. If you do a little research, online and with the Christian Writers’ Market Guide, and discover that there’s only one possible publisher for your book, you probably need to reevaluate your audience.
Can you answer these questions about the current book you’re working on? I know that the second and third questions might not be something you want to share with everyone, but can you share your audience with us?
This is great, Rachel!
My audience is women ranging from 20 to 80 who have strong core values and are family oriented. (This may need more tweeking, so if anyone has suggestions, fire away.)
My novel is a historical romance set on one of the first cattle drives from Texas to the Calfornia gold fields. I was raised on a small cattle ranch, so I’m able to draw from those experiences.
Primarily, my novel is about God’s mercy. We are all sinners and we all have access to God’s mercy through Jesus. I wanted to draw on that and illustrate that w/ my characters.
Historical romance is going fairly well right now, so I know there are multiple publishers in this genre. But, I know a great agent will have an even better handle on this.
Looking forward to this week’s posts. Of course, that’s always the case. 🙂
My audience tends to be Christian Women. I have a hard time knowing what age group I would categorize. I write Historical Romance. So is it too much to say that my audience would encompass women from say 20-40?
Wow, Rachel, how timely and thought-provoking your post is today!
The target audience for my novel is younger women, though I believe it has mass appeal for the “seasoned” ladies, as well. The purity aspect, I believe will resonate with young women who are at a crossroads in their lives. Those who are a little older will appreciate not only the romance/sanctity of marriage aspect, but also the growth of the characters as they seek to strengthen their relationships with Christ.
Thank you for covering this today!
Thanks so much for this post, Rachel. It’s a very timely one for me, as I have been polishing up my proposal the last couple of weeks.
I have my audience as “Women, eighteen years and older interested in World War II and Massachusetts history.” I often wonder if I should be even more specific with the age category.
Looking forward to these posts!
When I first started writing my current project, I had no audience in mind. I didn’t even have publication in mind. But when I finished the manuscript and decided I wanted to pursue publication, my dad (who spent years in marketing) asked me, “Who’s your target audience?” My response was slightly less eloquent than, “Er, eh… uh… I…”
Once I realized that I was writing for my youth kids, starting at age 14 and up through college, I made some revisions (in other words, I rewrote the entire ms – twice) and it significantly improved the quality of my writing. Having a focused target makes a huge difference, not only in what you say, but how you say it. The romance subplot became very deliberate as I realized I was writing to my beloved Twi-hards. 🙂
Thanks for this reminder, Rachel. I’m looking forward to taking this audience-focus to my blog in the next month, or so. Ridiculously, it never occurred to me that I ought to blog for my target audience, too.
Rachel,
These are great questions. My target audience is women in their 20’s-40’s, especially women in this age bracket who have been or are currently in troubled marriages looking for hope. I’m looking forward to the posts this week.
Indeed Rachel, it is surprising how often we as writers forget these basic things; writing down thoughts and chasing after stories as if they are butterflies in a field. It is well and good to pursue the craft, but there is that other bit about making sure we can get people to actually read what we write 🙂
1. My target audience is teens and adults in their early to mid-twenties. So often they are assaulted by warped messages regarding love, leadership, and personal responsibility. Many do not have family, community, or spiritual leaders to help guide them; thus when they turn to various entertainment media for information or ideas regarding how the average person their age is supposed to be, is it any wonder that they follow the horrid examples our debased popular culture offers?
2. Who I am? Someone who has worked with various secular organizations, youth groups and college ministries, thus gaining intimate insight into the realities and fragile hopes and dreams of this generation, and the poison they swallow trying to obtain some measure of control in their shattered personal lives. Someone who know how to listen…that is the biggest problem many people make in writing for this audience; respect the dangers and pitfalls they might encounter or perhaps have already fallen into, for they are real and waiting to snare them.
3. Who might publish the book? It compliments several titles in the Random House and Little, Brown libraries, yet is set apart by the main protagonist being male. Not too many of those in modern day fairy-tale romances. That’s something that readers are missing out on, and currently there is nothing like it in the market. I know plenty of young ladies who would like to know just what the heck guys really think about love and romance!
Great post! My audience is disabled/sick Christians and their families and caregivers.
I’m the right person to write this book because I’ve lived through the circumstances I address and I have information to help others get through it.
Not going there with the publisher 😉
Great post Rachel … and once these questions are answered it’s a great first step to getting the book proposal done.
I also know that along with the “Who Are You” you are right on track about passion. I got my first non-fiction book “Life Interrupted: The Scoop On Being a Teen Mom” published because of my passion for the teen moms I work with.
I also encourage new writers to work on their “Who Are You” by building their audience–through a blog, Twitter followers, speaking,and magazine articles. If you can tell publishers, “I have this passion and I’m already connecting with readers on my blog, with Twitter, at speaking events and with articles,” that will really get an editor’s attention! (It’ll also help you hone your message as you connect with your audience.)
Thanks, Rachel!
I write picture books and my audience is mothers with children ages 4 to 8 and their grandparents.
While working in children’s ministry for over 30 years, it was obvious how chidlren could be self centered. During that time, I found how to bring them to a place of working together while sharing.
Right now I’m searching for publishers of children’s picture books who are looking for a story similar to Stone Soup but different enough to surprise even the adult reading the story to the child.
Thanks for putting order to my thoughts with this posting!
Donna
Getting input from other readers is a great way to uncover audiences you may not realize you’d appeal to. I had my target audience in mind, but a careful reader pointed out that there’s a great secondary audience that I hadn’t even thought about. Now my proposal talks about primary and secondary audiences.
With fiction, the topic of audience always gives me pause for reflection. For instance, if someone were to ask me, “What’s the target audience for The Bourne Identity?” about all I could answer might be, “Adult readers who love a thriller.” Suspense novels and thrillers seem to enjoy wide potential audiences, much wider than, say, prairie romances could.
After my WW II adventure was published, I was astonished to receive fan mail from readers as young as 6th grade and as old as an 89-year-old former B-24 pilot. I don’t think I could’ve planned that response if I tried!
So, is there a scientific way to nail down the target audience? I basically picture the people I know who might like to read a story (including me) and then slant it for that group. Thanks for an interesting topic!
My novel is for the 18- 40-year-old age group, though I believe high school bookworms would enjoy it, too, as would older women. Age range is a hard thing to pinpoint. It would depend more on what the reader likes than their age, as far as I’m concerned. My readers will enjoy mysteries and the arts.
I am passionate about the arts, and about marriage, which qualifies me to write a novel about those topics, though I am researching art theft. I think Tyndale House would be a good fit, though I understand the likelihood (or rather, the un-likelihood) of that as an unpublished novelist.
My children’s book is for ages 8-12, perhaps 5-12 as a read-aloud. I spent a school-year studying the topic in a Community Bible Study, and have a pastor who lived in Israel read it for historical and cultural accuracy. As far as a publisher? I haven’t placed that yet, but I’m working on it.
I’ll be paying attention to this topic this week! Thanks.
Blessings,
Voni
Great post, Rachel, and so many interesting answers. I love hearing what other people are working on.
One of my current WIPs is geared toward girls ages 7 to 12. It’s a MG historical that should appeal to readers of American Girl books. I’ve tried to create a strong female heroine whose impulsive nature is often at odds with the proper society into which she has been born. Doing the right thing and friendship is more important to her than acting like someone of her social stature.
I decided to write it because I’ve always enjoyed characters like Anne Shirley or Laura Ingalls Wilder, whose feisty nature often leads them to leap before they look. I’ve also read some other historical novels for this age group and slightly older that feature strong female leads who do what they feel they must.
I’m hoping my current publisher would be interested in picking up this book, but I think it would be appropriate for other publishers as well.
Thanks for addressing this topic today. It’s just what I needed to motivate me.
Cheryl, your book sounds intriguing! I hope to read it some day! 🙂 Best of luck!
I’ve loved reading through the comments today! It’s clear that every commenter is passionate for their project.
My current project’s audience is mainly women in their 20’s to 50’s, but it is appropriate for people of all ages. I know my grandma would read it!
I like how you’re setting up these posts this week, Rachel. I can see myself writing out “who, what, why, and when” for each plausible future book idea. (Or perhaps mainly to test plausibility!)
My current project is geared towards believers who have already accepted Christ but who either struggle with, are confused with how to, or feel unable/unworthy to serve Him wholly. The audience will likely be 20s to 50s, though can expand outside of that age range (depending on the person’s circumstances).
This is so timely for me, I am polishing up my proposal this week in preparation for a conference I’m attending this weekend 🙂
My audience is adult victims of child sexual abuse, 18-45 years of age even though the audience is wider I want to aim at the majority of the readers for the book. Narrowing down your target age is important. You have to aim at a majority group even though some readers sit outside that range. I’m sure Rachel could give us five reasons why this is important for our proposals.
I’m writing this book because I was a victim, and I have been a mentor and counsellor for over eight years for women with a history of abuse.
sallynapthali.com.au
Thanks Salena. I appreciate it.
Caroline, this sounds like a great idea. I know I fall into this category.
Thank you so much for the encouragement, Cheryl! I sincerely appreciate it. I think many of us fall into this category, myself included when I’m not fully focusing on Him. Even one small area can slow us from serving wholly.
Thank you for the wonderful comments! I can tell that you have been really thinking about these questions. I’m glad the post was useful!