Targeting Book Titles To Specific Readers

In this article, the author outlines how to sell more books by targeting the books title to specific, intended readers.

"Who are your book's intended readers?" One of the most important ways you can increase book sales and find new readers is to choose a title for your book that clearly indicates the type of reader you had in mind while writing your book. There are several ways you can create a book title that clearly identifies the readers--or market segment--you are writing for.

The better you describe your intended readers in the title, the more your intended readers will respond to your title's promise of change and want to buy your book.

Importance of book titles that target specific readers

Book titles that target specific markets, or "speak to," different categories of readers, create an immediate identification, or resonance, that magnetically attracts and engages the intended reader's attention.

Targeted titles signal that the book was written with them in mind. Given a choice between a book written for "everyone," versus one written specifically for readers like you, wouldn't you choose the targeted title? If you're a coach or a consultant, for example, and you want to improve your graphic design skills, which of the following book titles would you be more likely to want to take a closer look at:

• Graphic Design Tips
• Graphic Design Tips for Coaches and Consultants

If you were a coach or consultant, or someone who could identify with coaches or consultants, which of the above titles do you think you'd choose?

Choosing book titles that target your market

There are at least 10 ways that you can target your books to specific types of readers.

These include:

1. Age. How old are your intended readers? Their age determines their interests.
2. Income. Are you writing for those with limited budgets or unlimited budgets? Are you writing for those with money, or those who want to gain money?
3. Marital status. Are you writing for singles or married couples? Or, perhaps, divorcees or widowers?
4. Occupation. Are you writing for employees or entrepreneurs? Fortune 500 managers or self-employed professionals? If you're writing for health professionals, are you writing for midwives, general practitioners, or heart surgeons?
5. Experience. How much does your intended reader know about the topic? Are you writing for newcomers or experienced professionals?
6. Desired change. What is the problem you want to help your readers solve, or the goal that you want to help them achieve?
7. Health status. Are you writing for healthy readers who want to remain healthy, or are you writing for patients or caregivers dealing with particular health conditions?
8. Resources. Is it possible to target your book's title on the level of resources, i.e., income, knowledge, time, etc. that they possess?
9. Geographic region. Are your readers more likely to live in urban or rural areas, or in specific cities or states?
10. Niche. What other terms can you use to identify your target market, i.e., your ideal readers? How specifically can you describe them in terms of attitudes, abilities, hobbies, education, or aspirations?

The more time you spend addressing the above issues, the easier it will be to enhance the selling power of your book title by targeting it to the specific market you're writing for.
Examples

The following are some of my favorite examples of book titles that sell by combining the promise of change with obvious relevance to a specific market segment:

The Single Mother's Survival Guide, by Patrice Karst. Married mothers probably won't respond to this, but single mother's certainly will!

What to Expect When You're Expecting, by Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Maizel. I love this title because it targets its market, without using the term "pregnant." The title is in its 4th edition, a testament to the sales power of the title.

The Corporate Blogging Book, by Debbie Weil. If you're in top management, this title calls out to you with far more urgency than "The Blogging Book" which fails to indicate it is written specifically for you.

Cooking for Two: 120 Recipes for Every Day and Those Special Evenings. If you have an important date coming up, you're far more likely to pick up this book than a "Health Eating for Large Families" book!

Guerrilla Marketing for Writers: 100 Weapons for Selling Your Work. The title succeeds because it builds on the popularity of the Guerrilla Marketing brand, but fine-tunes it for a particular audience.Note the way this tile not only targets writers, but emphasizes the benefit of "selling your work."

Selling to Big Companies by Jill Konrath.This book obviously "calls out" to a specific type of entrepreneur or marketing executive. There are lots of books on selling, but this is the one that attracts the interest of those who want to sell to big companies.

Putting ideas to work

Start by making a list of your intended readers. Include as many details as possible. Define not only the change that they desire, but describe everything you know about them.

If you're a self-employed professional, you can easily do this by making a list of your best clients during the past few years, and identifying their common characteristics.

Conclusion

Avoid the trap of universality! Broad-based books, those intended for "everybody," often fail because of their lack of deep appeal to a specific market segment. To increase sales of your book and find new readers, choose a a title that targets your message to a specific market segment--readers you know about and can address with confidence and passion. Go deep, instead of broad!

Make the title of your book as relevant and magnetically attractive to your intended market as possible. By targeting specific readers in the title, your book will gain an immediate advantage over general interest books that lack the urgency of the specific.You'll also find it easier to promote books with targeted titles to specific markets, rather than to promote to "everyone."

Take a fresh look at your book's proposed title. Ask yourself: How effectively does your title address the concerns of a specific market segment?

Author: Roger C. Parker. Visit the Published & Profitable Blog for more title ideas and to sign-up for free weekly writing tips and advance notice of free upcoming teleseminar interviews with authors, editors, and publishing insiders.

Also See:

Using Metaphor-based Titles to Sell More Books

Sell More Books Using Curiosity Titles

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