Reader profile worksheet
Describe the one person your book is for, closely enough that you could find them this week. This worksheet asks the five questions that matter, with an example and the mistakes to avoid. Print it, or fill it in on screen with the book idea starter.
How to use it
Fill this in before you outline, ideally in pencil, because it will change once you talk to real readers. Write about one person, not a group. If you notice yourself writing "people who" or "anyone who", stop and describe the single person who has the problem worst.
Each question has a reason:
- Who they are tells you the vocabulary, the examples and the level to write at.
- Their situation now is what makes the book urgent. Most weak reader profiles skip it.
- The problem in their words becomes your subtitle, your introduction and your chapter titles.
- What they have tried is what your book has to beat. If they have read three books on it, a fourth that says the same thing fails them.
- What they want instead is the raw material for your promise.
- What they are to you checks your reader against your goal. A book meant to win clients needs a reader who could hire you.
The thinking behind the worksheet is in the guide Who is your book for?, which draws on the audience chapter of The Scribe Method.
A filled-in example
Who: the owner of a landscaping company with 12 staff who has never hired a manager.
Situation: works 70-hour weeks in season, turned down two contracts last spring, spouse wants them home more.
Problem, in their words: "I can't step back because nobody else knows how to run a job site."
Tried: promoted the best crew lead, who quit within months; bought a delegation course and never finished it.
Wants instead: one trained manager running daily jobs, so they can take two weeks off in July.
To me, they are: exactly the kind of owner who hires my consulting firm.
An illustrative example, not a real person.
Reader profile
Common mistakes
- A category instead of a person. "Entrepreneurs" is a category. "A founder whose company just passed 20 staff and who is still doing all the hiring" is a reader.
- Writing what you wish they wanted. The Scribe Method's audience chapter warns against writing what you think readers should want rather than what they do want.
- Leaving question 4 blank. If you do not know what they have tried, that is the first question for your reader conversations.
- A reader who cannot help your goal. If your goal is clients and the answer to question 6 is "a stranger", one of them needs to change.
Next: turn the last two answers into a promise with the promise worksheet, or put everything into the book idea starter for feedback.
Questions
Should I base the reader profile on a real person?
Ideally, yes: a real client, colleague or reader you know well, adjusted so it represents the people you want to reach. A real person keeps you honest, because you can ask them what they think.
What if my answers are guesses?
Mark them. Anything you are guessing is a question to ask in your first reader conversations. The Scribe Method's audience chapter recommends checking assumptions against real data and feedback.
Based on The Scribe Method, chapter 7, Figure Out Your Audience, checked October 20, 2026. Published by Scribe Media. Free to print and share.