How to Know What Your Readers Want (Before You Write One Word)
An ounce of prevention…
There’s a lot of conventional wisdom about audiences. One is the common belief that writers should ask their audience what they want, then give it to them.
Steve Jobs said it [sorta] right when he said:
Some people say, “Give the customers what they want.” But that’s not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they’re going to want before they do. I think Henry Ford once said, “If I’d asked customers what they wanted, they would have told me, ‘A faster horse!’
While asking your readers what they want will actually produce writing that sells, but the direct route won’t work.
As Ryan Levesque shares in his book, Ask, you find out what people want by asking them what they don’t want.
This is the secret sauce.
Most readers won’t be able to tell you what they want, beyond general categories, maybe some example books, and a couple favorite authors. If you went and asked your readers what book they’d like next, you might get some fantastic answers.
But when it came time to sell your book, I’d bet that sure-thing would be a flop.
We don’t buy with logic. We buy with emotion.
Now, while asking your readers what they want, might feel like you’re taking the art from the process, this doesn’t mean your audience will write the book for you.
This process is how your audience will help you remove the ‘black plague’ portions of your book — those audience killers you’ve got hidden in your manuscript.
So, we ask them… and there are a few ways we can go about doing this.
Uncover what they don’t want
It is true that your audience will help you uncover what you should write next, but it’s not in the way you’d think.
Steve Jobs only had it half right.
Plus Jobs took stuff that already worked (MP3 players, laptops, WIFI TV, and phones) and just made it better, so he’s not a good one to reference either.
There are two methods I like to use:
- Use your actual customer list
- Use Amazon
The second one is out of the scope of this story. But if you want to know more, I’ve got an entire micro-course about it, called the Book Review Spy. Feel free to check it out. I’ll show you how to avoid one-star mistakes in your next book, and get more of the five-star stuff baked-in.
In this story however, we’ll focus on the first method.
As your readers work their way through your automated email welcome sequence, one of the emails will be a one-sentence question.
Surveys don’t do well in email. Most people ignore them, because hey, we all know surveys don’t do much for the reader, they help the business owner.
But the ‘one question’ survey is different.
We ask the reader a specific thing they don’t want in regards to your genre. Now, don’t go and say, “hey I’ve got a survey for you.” People won’t even open those emails.
Instead, use a subject line like, “Got a second?” or “Can I have your two cents?” …something like that.
We love to share our opinions, we just don’t want to be surveyed. It’s all in the positioning (and the wrist). The difference between the two is astronomical as far as responses go.
Ask for a specific thing they don’t want in a book/story/product. Ask them if they could wave a magic wand and change something about their current situation (in regard to your specific niche, not life in general), what would they change?
The responses will flood (or trickle) your mailbox (depending on the size of your audience).
Copy and save them all in a central location.
Once you’ve got a few hundred responses you’ll begin to see a pattern among the people you serve. We’re not all that different.
“This is great and fun and all, August, but what in the hell does this have to do with my next hit?”
You’ll uncover the main categories — maybe 4–7 different buckets of responses. Sort the responses into these general buckets and see what shakes out.
Some buckets will have fewer answers. These are the nice-to-haves.
You’ll also uncover the ‘80% answers’ (content that suits 80% of your audience). This is where you sock ’em in the money-maker.
There you have it. This is how to get your readers to tell you what they want by asking them what they don’t want (or want to escape from). We can’t answer that question directly.
Frankly, it’s not our job as your reader to tell you what we want.
That’s the creator’s job to uncover it. But, like a fish-finder on a lake, you might as well start with a few tools to help you drop the line in the right place. Else, your fishing blind… and speculative books take too long to write only to find out they suck once they’re done.
You need a tribe before you can ask them
Your tribe is the most-important piece of a writer’s business plan. Without your tribe, writing will be an uphill, expensive battle. Yes, you can reach people through paid ads, and you should. But without a tribe, I don’t know how you’ll do it.
These are the people you serve.
A tribe can be build on the back of social, but then you don’t own the list. The platform does. If you don’t own your list you don’t own your business. You can’t take your social followers with you.
If you want a group of people to ask what they [don’t] want, and subsequently a group to serve — you need a tribe.
We’re talking email.
It doesn’t matter if you’re just getting started. In fact, it’s better. We love a good journey story. If you try to build an email list after you write your book, it’s almost too late.
…oh, and I’ve got something for you — the writer or creators.
I built a free email masterclass for you. I hand-crafted the whole thing. It took me a couple months. I call the masterclass the Tribe 1K.
I’ll show you how to get your first 1,000 (or your next 1,000) readers without spending a hot nickel on ads. Past students include New York Times bestselling authors. Yep, the ones you see in the bookstore.
Your email list will help you build a legacy writing business.
If you want to grow your writing business you need email before you lose that valuable reader. Start your list before you need one. Once you need one it’s almost too late.
Guarantee your seat before I start charging an enrollment fee.
We’re waiting for you.
Enroll in my Email Masterclass. Get Your First 1,000 Subscribers
August Birch (AKA the Book Mechanic) is both a fiction and non-fiction author from Michigan, USA. As a self-appointed guardian of writers and creators, August helps folks who want to make work that sells and sell work they make. When he’s not writing or thinking about writing, August carries a pocket knife and shaves his head with a safety razor.
