Writing a book — Part 1: Know your audience
(This is the first in a series of posts to guide authors through the process of planning, writing, editing, and publishing a nonfiction book.)
“Who are you writing this book for?” That’s the first thing we ask clients who co
Step one: Know who will your readers will be
me to us for help in writing or editing their book.
Nine out of ten times, the answer is: “Everyone!”
Sorry, but NO book is for everyone. The adage, “Try to please everyone and you’ll end up pleasing nobody” definitely applies to books. Try writing a book meant to appeal to all readers and you’ll end up with a book that no one will want to read.
The first – and essential – step in writing is to know your audience. Understanding who you’re writing for will improve the marketability of your book, and make the process of creating the book much easier since it will determine the content and style you’ll use.
A wonderful explanation of this concept was given to students at The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill:
“To illustrate the impact of audience, imagine you’re writing a letter to your grandmother to tell her about your first month of college. What details and stories might you include? What might you leave out? Now imagine that you’re writing on the same topic but your audience is your best friend. Unless you have an extremely cool grandma to whom you’re very close, it’s likely that your two letters would look quite different in terms of content, structure, and even tone.”
The same goes for your book.
In publishing terms, the two factors you need to examine are demographics and psychographics.
Demographics refer to the basic traits of your ideal reader (age, gender, education, income, marital status, ethnic background, religious beliefs, geographic location, etc.). While some of this information may be immaterial to your book, it’s obvious that when writing for a 55-year old Ph.D., the content and style will be much different than for a 20-something blue collar worker with a high school education. Inclusion of scientific datum or technical explanations, and a higher Flesch-Kincaid reading level is appropriate for a sophisticated and educated demographic. A “mass market” audience requires a more simplified approach. There’s no value judgment implied in this … simply a realistic evaluation of audience needs.
Psychographics gets a little trickier and involves readers’ likes and dislikes, personality, values, interests, or lifestyle. Let’s use the alternative health field as an example since most BARD Enterprises clients fit in that category. The content of a book written by a chiropractor for other chiropractors will be completely different than one written about chiropractic for a lay audience. Further, a book intended for lay readers already open to alternative care (chiropractic patients, for instance) will contain information not necessarily suitable for an audience that’s more medically-oriented. A book targeting readers interested in “new science” health won’t be the same as one directed to an audience looking for immediate help with acute health problems.
So, who are you going to write your book for?”
** A highly specialized market. This would include groups such as fellow professionals; graduate school students; single parents with young children; highly educated, upscale readers; etc.
** A mass market audience. This still has to be narrowed down to demographic and psychographic subsets such as people who are interested in wellness rather than symptom relief or readers who prefer breezy, first-person narratives.
** Yourself. This is a perfectly legitimate answer and many people feel the urge to write for their own private reasons. They may wish to be a published author, have a personal story they feel driven to document, or want to tell their story their own way without worrying about pleasing a publisher or an audience. While very few of these books generate significant sales – and most must be self published or published only in electronic form – it’s definitely an option for writers prepared to sacrifice the possibility of being on the The New York Times bestseller list in exchange for total control of their product.
Think long and hard about your audience, decide who you’re writing your book for, and then go to step two: Decide how you’ll publish the book (options include seeking a mainstream publisher, using a “vanity press” publisher, and self publishing and printing).
All of that will be covered in Part 2 of this series.
NOTE: BARD Enterprises has been honored to help clients write, edit and publish books, articles, newsletters, and other material. Our posts and articles reflect decades of experience in writing and editing for print and electronic format.
He is not a they (or is he?)
He? She? They?
Confession time.
I’m a long-time feminist and strong advocate of non-sexist, gender-neutral language, but I hate the awkward his/her, he/she phrasing.
I dislike and have long resisted the use of the plural pronoun they (and its related forms their and them) to refer to a singular person, although this is becoming more commonly used and therefore will no doubt be accepted as “proper” in the near future.
I refuse to accept the excuse that “he,” “him” or “man” are generic terms that can apply to either sex.
Some examples:
Each client should be given his/her record to review. Hate it. I wish English had a truly gender neutral singular pronoun, as do some languages. But it doesn’t.
Each client should be given their record to review. Don’t like it. A single person is NOT a “they” and therefore doesn’t have “their” records. You wouldn’t say “John Doe should be given their record to review.”
Each client should be given his record to review. Just plain wrong – unless all your clients are male.
All clients should be given their records to review. Right answer!
Unfortunately, there are instances where this just isn’t going to work, for example when you’re specifically referring to a person of unspecified gender, such as: The first client of the day should be shown his/her record to review.
You could change the sentence to read: “The first clients of the day.” Yet, that’s confusing, since you only have one first client each day. There are other, even more convoluted ways to phrase it, but that’s the problem. They’re convoluted and usually add barriers to comprehension.
My solution (and here, my high school English teacher Dr. Von Lukanovich will turn in his grave and purists gasp with horror) is to use the plural as a singular. That is: “The first client of the day should be shown their record to review.”
I take solace in knowing that the controversial use of “they” and other plural forms as singular pronouns is nothing new. It didn’t begin with electronic media and texting. As Patricia T. O’Conner and Stewart Kellerman noted in their New York Times article:
“…many great writers – Byron, Austen, Thackeray, Eliot, Dickens, Trollope and more – continued to use they and company as singulars… In fact, so many people now use they in the old singular way that dictionaries and usage guides are taking a critical look at the prohibition against it. R. W. Burchfield, editor of The New Fowler’s Modern English Usage, has written that it’s only a matter of time before this practice becomes standard English: “The process now seems irreversible.” Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th ed.) already finds the singular they acceptable “even in literary and formal contexts,” but the Usage Panel of The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th ed.) isn’t there yet. (via On Language – All-Purpose Pronoun – NYTimes.com.)
I still don’t like it, but I suppose if Dickens and Austen did it, we might as well give in to the inevitable and do it, too! Sorry, Dr. Von!
7 writing mistakes that make you look dumb
These days, hardly anyone (other than me, that is) seems to care if you dangle a participle or split an infinitive. But there are a few errors that are so blatant they can make even the most literate person look dumb.
Often, these are simply the result of fingers flying too fast over the keyboard. I consider myself knowledgeable about the rules of grammar and I’m a fairly decent speller (although I’ll be forever grateful to the person who invented the spellchecker). But some of my posts and e-mails look like they were written by a not-very-bright six-year-old. That is definitely NOT the image I want to project to the world (especially in my business).
Unless you’re a professional writer or editor, you might think it doesn’t matter if you make writing mistakes, but if you’re a professional anything, it does. You can’t afford to look like a dumb doctor, lawyer, accountant, teacher, or banker. You can lose too many potential clients that way.
The 7 most common writing errors that can make you look dumb are:
7) Affect vs. effect
This one ranks only 7th on my list because so many people are confused by it, and most won’t be sure you’re wrong. I have a lot of trouble with this one myself, so I posted this mnemonic over my desk: “A Very Easy Noun.” (Affect = Verb; Effect = Noun).
There’s even a cartoon that’s made the rounds on the Internet:
I haven’t tracked down the originator of this cartoon, but it works for me.
6) Mixing up “there” and “their”
“There” is a place, as in “here and there” (which is a good way to remember it). “Their” is a possessive pronoun: “their website” or “their book.” This is often that case of flying fingers outdistancing brainwaves, so slow down and be careful.
5) It’s vs. its
The best way to avoid this mistake is to remember that an apostrophe takes the place of a missing letter, in this case, an “i”. If you’re not sure which to use, say the sentence using “it is” instead of “it’s” and you can tell instantly.
It’s a great book (It is a great book) – correct
The book is in it’s place (The book is in it is place) – WRONG
The book is in its place — correct
4) Using “your” when you mean “you’re” (and vice versa)
Similar to the problem with “it’s/its” this one has the same solution: the apostrophe stands in for the missing “a” so read the sentence as “you are” to see if you’re (that is, you are) using the right form.
You’re definitely right (You are definitely right) – correct
You’re book is here (You are book is here) – WRONG
3) Too many exclamation points
If your writing is dull, inserting a dozen exclamation points won’t make it exciting. Use them sparingly. Think of them like swear words – if you overuse them, they lose their impact.
2) Using texting abbreviations
If you’re texting, use them. If you’re writing, don’t. Nothing looks less professional than saying “thx 4 ur feedbk” in an e-mail. Take the extra four seconds to type out your message in full words and sentences.
and take a sec to use the shft key and add caps instead of writing all in lowercase
1) Qualifying the word “unique”
Although this mistakes jumps out at me every time I see it, it’s almost a lost cause today since the word “unique” is losing its, well, unique meaning. The word UNIQUE means one of a kind, singular, unparalleled. An item can’t be very unique or really unique or almost unique or a little unique. It is either unique or it isn’t. Rather like being pregnant. You either are or you’re not – there’s no almost or very about it (although a few women in their third trimester might argue … they feel very, very pregnant by that point).
Recently, I saw an eBay listing that read: “Unique, one of a kind item. Only 10 left.”
Talk about looking dumb! (My one and only exclamation point.)
To comma or not to comma …
One of the most common questions I’m asked is about the “serial” comma (also known as the Oxford comma, a name I personally prefer because it sounds oh so British upper crust).
By whatever name, it’s the comma that comes before the last item in a series:
I saw Jane, John, Mike and Sue. – Without the serial comma
I saw Jane, John, Mike, and Sue. – With the serial comma
First of all, for most sentences, it doesn’t really matter much which way you go on this since even so-called grammar experts can’t agree which is “correct.” The two major style books used by most journalists differ. While the “Chicago Manual of Style” says to use the comma, the “AP Stylebook” says don’t.
People who know me won’t be surprised to learn that I disagree with BOTH of these bastions of grammatical authority. My answer is: it depends.
Believe it or not, my elementary school grammar teacher taught us the rule through a reference to the Three Stooges.
Are you visiting Moe, Larry, and Curly? Or are you visiting Moe, Larry and Curly. There’s a subtle but possibly important distinction between the two (although, on second thought, how important could a visit to the Stooges be?).
The first construct implies that you visited Larry and then Moe and Curly together. The inclusion of the serial comma makes it clear that you visited all three separately. Please note that neither sentence has you visiting Shemp or Curly Joe, which is just as well if you ask me.
With apologies to the teacher who first shared that insightful illustration, there are far better examples to demonstrate the role of this controversial punctuation mark.
Let’s look at a common activity: shopping. What I buy in the grocery story can depend on the placement of that lowly comma. For instance:
Wine, bread, macaroni and cheese
Wine, bread, macaroni, and cheese
This is probably why we make a list from these items and just ignore the whole problem of Oxford commas!
One of my favorite examples is the often-cited book dedication:
“Thanks to my parents, Ayn Rand and God.” Hmmm…. Sounds like you have an odd set of parents.
Now read it this way – with the serial comma:
“Thanks to my parents, Ayn Rand, and God.” Here we have three distinct recipients of our thanks.
Yet, the added comma doesn’t work if you’re writing:
“Thanks to my mother, Ayn Rand, and God.” Now it sounds as if Ms. Rand is your mom! In this case, since Ayn Rand and God together cannot be mistaken for your mother, the sentence is clearly less ambiguous without the final comma.
So you see, I’m right – it depends. Read sentences carefully and think about possible misinterpretations. You’re safe with or without the serial comma, as long as you’re conveying the meaning clearly.
If in doubt, change the entire structure of the sentence if you have to:
“Thanks to my mother for her guidance, to Ayn Rand for her philosophy, and to God for everything else.”
The “as opposed to” rule in writing
You won’t find it in any English grammar textbook, but the “as opposed to” (AOT) rule has always been one of the most useful techniques I use to keep my writing concise and uncluttered. It goes a long way to eliminating unnecessary adjectives and reducing redundancies. When you’re editing your material (whether it’s a full length book, a magazine article, or a letter to a client) put every sentence to the AOT test and use the delete key liberally.
Here are a few AOT law breakers I’ve come across (with the unnecessary word in italics):
“I joined her at 5 pm in the evening.”(As opposed to what? 5 pm in the morning?)
“We need to carefully plan our future actions.” (AOT what? Planning our past actions?)
“He was approached by an armed gunman.” (AOT what? An unarmed gunman wouldn’t pose much of a threat, now would he?)
“I made advance reservations for the seminar.” (AOT what? Retroactive reservations?)
“The peach was smooth to the touch.” (AOT what? Smooth to the smelling?)
“The convention featured several well-known celebrities.” (AOT what? Obscure celebrities?)
“…at least 20 or more.” (AOT what? At least 20 or less?)
“Let me repeat that again.” (AOT what? I can’t even think of a sarcastic comeback for this one!)
“It was in close proximity to the airport.” (AOT what? Far away proximity?
“
He’s the bald-headed man in the corner.” (AOT what? The bald-footed guy?
“The patient’s vertebrae had fused together.” (AOT what? Fused apart?)
“She was nostalgic for the past.” (AOT what? Nostalgic for the future?)
“They were all personal friends of mine.” (AOT what? Impersonal friends of someone else?)
How many can you spot in your writing? Don’t feel badly when you do. I’ve been a professional writer and editor for four decades and I still find at least two in every article I write!
p.s. The funniest example of an AOT violation is “tuna fish.” (AOT what? Tuna bird?)
