Finding Your Book's Target Market (an excerpt from the book)

The first decision you’ll need to make as a self-publisher is: What is your purpose for publishing your book?

• Do you merely want to record your family history or preserve a collection of favorite recipes to share with family members? 
• Are you a business professional who wants to produce a booklet to give to your clients to help clarify terms that are specific to your industry? 
• Do you envision writing a book to sell to the general public and generate a source of income?

The answer to this question will determine most of the choices you make regarding your book, from the number of copies you’ll print, to the cover style and production cost per copy.

Finding Your Market

If your goal is to make a profit from self-publishing, then the first task on your publishing journey is to determine your sales market.

A good way to do this is by drafting a book proposal or marketing plan. Even if you’re the only person who will ever read it, this proposal will help you clearly define what information you want to include in your book and how to present that information.

You should be able to write in just a short paragraph or two what your book is about, what you hope to accomplish by writing it, what benefits or solutions it offers to readers, who will buy it and how you can reach your buyers. Even if your book is fiction, creating this condensed version of your story will help you stay focused during the writing process.

A good model to follow for your proposal is the “sales pitch” found on the backs of books on book store shelves—especially those in the same category as the one you plan to publish. Compare several of these to get ideas for writing your “back copy”. 

See the "back copy" example for this book at right (click on the image to enlarge it).

The sales pitch you create will help you get a clear focus for writing your book. Do your homework to make sure that the information you include is concise, accurate, well written and right on target for the market you want to reach.

Other topics in this chapter:

Promote Your Sales From the Start 

Check Out Your Competition

 

Order Self-Publishing On a Budget: A Do-It-All Yourself Guide in these formats:

 

Print version for $6.95 on Amazon.com

 

E-Book for $2.99 on Amazon.com