Who is your book for? How to define the one reader

Why one reader beats "everyone"

The Scribe Method's chapter on figuring out your audience calls skipping this step one of the biggest mistakes aspiring authors make. It gives three reasons the reader matters: clarity in the writing, a message that lands harder, and marketing that reaches the right people. It offers "anyone who likes books" as the example of an audience so broad it gives you nothing to work with.

Here is what a specific reader does for you in practice:

• It settles arguments with yourself. Should chapter four explain the basics? Ask whether your reader already knows them.
• It sets the tone. You write differently to a surgeon than to a first-year nursing student, even about the same procedure.
• It tells you what to cut. A great story that your reader does not need is a story for a different book.
• It makes the book easy to recommend. People pass books to friends who match a description: "You should read this, it is for people who just took over the family business."

Your goal picks the reader

The reader is not a free choice. It follows from what you want the book to do. If the book is meant to bring in clients, the reader has to be someone who could hire you. If it is meant to put you on stages, write for the people who book speakers or the audiences they book for. If it is a legacy book, the reader may be your grandchildren.

Chris Belchamber spent 42 years in finance and wrote Invest Like the Best to set out his low-risk approach. His story on scribemedia.com calls the book a lighthouse: "The book draws his right-fit clients". The book worked as a filter because it was written for the investor who would agree with his method, not for every investor.

The Scribe Method ties all three together in what it calls the North Star check, a single sentence: I will use my book to target [primary audience] by teaching them [book idea], which leads to my goal of more [objectives]. If the reader in that sentence could never help you reach the goal at the end of it, one of them has to change.

The five parts of a reader profile

A useful reader profile answers five questions. Write them as if describing one real person. You can use the printable reader profile worksheet.

These map closely onto the five steps in The Scribe Method's audience chapter: define the ideal reader with both facts (age, profession) and inner life (goals, challenges), understand their pain points, identify their goals, research and validate, then write for one person.

Pay most attention to the fourth question, what they have tried. It is the one people leave blank, and it is the one that tells you what your book has to beat. If your reader has read three books on delegation and is still stuck, a fourth book that explains delegation the same way will fail them.

Check it against real people

A reader profile you invented at your desk is a guess. The Scribe Method's audience chapter says plainly not to rely only on assumptions: study the forums, social media groups and industry publications your reader uses, note the questions they ask, and interview or survey real people where you can.

Three practical ways to do it:

1. Talk to three to five people who fit the profile. Ask about their situation and what they have tried, not whether they would buy your book. The book The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick, written for founders testing business ideas, sets out rules that work just as well here; as summarized in this review: talk about their life instead of your idea, ask about specifics in the past, and talk less and listen more.
2. Read the reviews of books your reader already bought. The two- and three-star reviews are the most useful. They say what the reader hoped for and did not get.
3. Collect their exact words. When a reader describes the problem, write down their phrasing. It belongs in your subtitle, your introduction and your chapter titles.

The guide on testing a book idea goes further into conversations, posts and talks.

When two audiences compete

Many expert authors have two possible readers: the people they serve and the people they work alongside. A recruiter could write for job seekers or for hiring managers. A therapist could write for clients or for other therapists. You can only write for one first.

Pick the one your goal points to and accept that the other will read over their shoulder. Peers often respect a book written plainly for clients more than one written to impress them. If both audiences matter a great deal, that is often a sign of two books, not one.

What most people get wrong

• Describing a category, not a person. "Entrepreneurs" or "women in leadership" are categories. Add the situation that makes the book urgent for someone in it right now.
• Choosing the reader who flatters the author. Writing for senior executives feels impressive. If your clients are first-time managers, write for them.
• Picking a reader who cannot help with the goal. A clients goal with a general-public reader is the most common mismatch the book idea starter flags.
• Assuming the reader shares your vocabulary. Professionals name problems in professional terms. Readers name them in plain words. Use theirs.
• Never meeting the reader. If you cannot name one real person who fits your profile, the profile needs work.

If you want an experienced coach to pressure-test the reader with you, Scribe Media, which makes this site, offers that as part of Scribe Compass ($5,000, listed on scribemedia.com/pricing). The profile and the conversations above are free and get most people a long way.