Review: Helpful Guide
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 21, 2013
In this book, Toni and Shannon introduce the concept of reader-centered marketing. Rather than try to identify a target market by demographics like age and income, they suggest coming up with a profile of an ideal reader, someone who could become an avid fan.I have to admit, the first time I tried to follow their instructions to develop the profile of my ideal reader, I came up with nothing. I gave it a rest, re-read that section, and tried again. Something must have clicked, because I was able to do it. If you have trouble with this, stop by the authors' website and check out their Weekend Book Marketing Makeover. It goes into a bit more detail on creating the ideal reader profile.The key point to the ideal reader exercise is you want to focus your marketing somewhere, and the profile helps you do that. Over time, you'll be able to tweak that profile as you see where your results in terms of sales come from. But you need a starting point, and that's where the profile comes in.Then they tell you how to find people like your idea reader and provide lots of suggestions. So that this doesn't become overwhelming, they say pick two try and focus on those two only for two months. If you meet your objectives, great. If not, try something else.The idea is to build your fan base slowly, without burning all your time on marketing. This is a sensible, easy-to-understand plan that helps make sense of the chaotic world of book marketing.