Target Readers Academy

We’ll kick things off nice and easy by starting with what you know - your book! This is where you’ll create a bulletproof foundation for growing your readership with total confidence. Remember, the main reason you get overwhelmed with all the book marketing tactics out there is because they aren’t rooted in a SOLID foundation and strategic framework that guarantees a visible and consistent payoff. By the time you’re finished with Module 1, you’ll have a clear understanding of what you have to offer as an author, and what makes your books special, so you can focus on attracting your most loyal, genuinely interested readers.

In Module 1 you thought about what you had to offer and who might be attracted to that. Now, it’s time to look beyond your own books and think about what your potential readers are reading now. This is the shortcut to finding die-hard fans. I’m talking about LEVERAGE! By looking at your book’s genre and its typical readers, as well as identifying your comps, you’ll step a long way towards defining your ideal readers. Plus, you’ll know where to start looking for them online. Why reinvent the wheel when readers are already out there devouring books similar to yours? As you consider why they are attracted to those books and what it is they love about your genre, you’ll flesh out what you know about your own readers.

Before you can attract your target reader, you need to be crystal clear on who it is that you’re trying to reach. That’s where your Target Reader Avatar comes in. This is the detailed description of the perfect reader for your book. When you have one person in mind as you write your Amazon description, post on social media or draft an author newsletter, you’ll feel more confident about what to say. You’ll know exactly what your reader needs to hear in order to click buy, which will save you time, energy and $$. Drawing on all the research you have done in modules 1 and 2, you’ll define your Target Reader Avatar using psychographic and demographic information. With your TRA firmly in mind, every book marketing and publishing decision will become easier. All you have to ask yourself is, “What would John want?”, or “What would Jane prefer?” You’ll walk away with total clarity around WHO your ideal reader is, HOW to talk to them, and WHERE to find them.

So you’ve created your TRA, your work is done, right? WRONG! Not many authors take the time to figure out their TRA. But those that do often make a fundamental mistake with it - they fail to test if it’s correct. In this module, you’ll don your lab coat to test your theories about your TRA. You’ll go where you believe they’re hanging out and put yourself in front of them, with the aim of checking that your TRA really exists, and really wants your books. This is also where the rubber meets the road as you start to implement effective book marketing strategies, which you can continue to use for years to come. You’ll discover what works, and what doesn’t, when it comes to attracting your target readers. This is where you get to ditch all those activities that drain your energy, and focus instead on what truly works to get your books into the hands of the readers who will most value them.

High five! You now know who your target reader is, how they think, where to find them and how to talk to them about your books. You know the best ways to reach them with your marketing, which is saving you both time and money. As you have worked through the program you will have moved from making decisions based on your gut, to testing your theories, to finding real readers. In this final module, you’ll explore powerful strategies for learning even more about your real readers as you start attracting them to your books. If you had to make instinctive choices earlier in the program, you’ll now be able to confidently replace these with solid facts. Your reader avatar will continue to evolve and may change for different books. Your job is to keep paying attention and iterating your avatar as you grow, as your audience grows and as you learn more about your real readers. By the end of this module, you'll know how to continue your research to get to know readers even better and further refine your strategies for finding them and getting in front of them, so you can continue to improve your book sales.