Why it’s important to target a specific audience in writing

In 1904, at the age of 48, Sigmund Freud, the father of modern psychoanalysis, finally fulfilled his childhood dream of visiting the immortal city of Athens; the city of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.

On the morning of 4th September, Sigmund Freud put on his best shirt and went with his brother Alexander to spend the morning on the Acropolis of Athens.

Standing at the Acropolis, the highest point in the city, he was overwhelmed by the landscape and experienced feelings of utter bliss. Then, he suddenly felt strangely disappointed, which the great psychologist later called “derealisation”.

Many writers, like Freud, feel strangely disappointed after getting published. The journey to getting published, with its high voltage drama, its sweat and sleepless nights is no different from the terrifying steamy jungles of tropical Africa that reverberate with the dangerous sounds of screeches, growls and grunts.

It probably takes as much bravery to endure the publishing journey as it takes to cross an African jungle with all manner of dangers from the snapping jaws of the Lion King, the bloody kiss of the Vampire Bat to the razor-sharp teeth of the swift cheetah.

However, after braving all the work and finally getting published, figuratively standing on the Acropolis like Freud, writers suddenly feel strangely disappointed especially with the sales and the measly royalties.

Many writers have asked me why their books are not selling. The answer to this question is complex but one of the foundational solutions should come long before a book is written; at the conception stage.

There is a French phrase, la belle indifférence, or “the beautiful calm” that aptly applies to publishing. It is considered glamorous, beautiful and may look easy but it’s not! After a book is published, the hard work of marketing starts.

THE PROCESS IS COMPLETE WHEN...

Publishing is not completed by having a book on the shelf; the process is complete when the book is in the hands of the reader.

The right content for the target audience will make marketing it easier to the right audience. And since marketing one’s book is the hardest, longest part of the publishing process, a writer should think about it long before a book is written as it has been rightly said that, “there is only one recipe — to care a great deal for the cookery”.

This “cooking” process can be helped a great deal by the writer thinking about and writing for a specific target market.

Whenever I ask writers what their target audience is, the most common answer is, “My book is for everyone”.

Whereas your novel, play or short story may have a broad audience, if the writer thinks the audience is everyone, they will miss the bulk of their sales as they won’t write for that audience or target it after the book is published.

There is a specific audience for every book because it should address certain desires, pressing problems or issues that affect certain people more than others.

The writer, through market research, long before he writes the book, should define who the target audience is in terms of audience profile like gender, age or other characteristics. Literary award organisers are very much aware of this. Almost every literary award has a specified target audience.

No matter how good the story, if it doesn’t meet the set target audience criteria, it cannot win an award. For instance, some literary awards make it clear that the novel has to be for teenagers with not only themes appropriate for teens but that the main character has to be a teenager.

Publishers many times have to internally knock out many manuscripts before submitting them for various literary awards because, somehow, the writers did not take heed to the target audience criteria clearly set out in the submission guidelines.

Apart from knowing the “who” of the target audience, it’s important for the writer to know “where” this audience is and how best it can be reached after the book is published. In our digital era, the writer doesn’t have to physically visit the customers; they can be reached with Facebook posts, tweets and hashtags. And the book can be available digitally on eBay or amazon.com, but the client must be informed that the book is available.

Audience targeting during writing is like shooting an arrow towards the right direction as it will later make marketing the book easier — the customer will feel like the book was tailor-made for them, addressing their needs, dreams, desires and wishes.

Consequently, the publisher’s sales representative will face less rejection from the target audience, sell more books and both the writer and publisher will laugh all the way to the bank.