Episode 160: Figuring Out Your Ideal Reader

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This week on Fable and the Verbivore, we’re taking the concept of identifying your ideal audience member that book marketing expert Jenn Hanson-dePaula mentioned in last week’s conversation and in real time and without preparation engaging in the thought excercise of creating the character of our podcast superfan.

Using an article from YourWriterPlatform.com called "Finding Your Ideal Audience: A Step by Step Guide" by Kimberley Grabas, we ask each other questions and consider details and facets of who the character of our “Imaginary Superfan” of this podcast would be. All of our answers are spur-of-the-moment gut responses, so that you can get the idea of what this type of session would look and feel like.

We answer questions on this person’s high level demographics, internal psychographics, personal styles, and budget. We came up with many practical details, but also some fun and quirky things such as:

  • Loves chocolate and warm beverages

  • Dresses for comfort first and self expression next

  • Has a collection of mugs with bookish quotes, journals, pens, highlighters, and stickynotes 

  • Likes going to the library, the movies, the theatre, long talks that go deep

  • When she gets stuck on writing and needs a different creative outlet, she likes knitting and other crafty pursuits

  • Fears putting something out in the world and getting no response

As we asked ourselves these questions, it quickly became clear that we were also sorting through some of the aspects or facets of ourselves that we jointly lean into within our podcast conversations. And there are other aspects of ourselves too that we don’t highlight on the podcast, but that’s ok because it’s not within the scope.

After going through this process, it feels like we now have a better idea of what content might connect and what choices might make sense for us to pursue. We also talk about how we went trough a slightly similar discussion when we first developed our $5 Writing Classes.

We also want to be clear that this practice is not meant in any way to exclude. The Fable and the Verbivore podcast is for anyone and everyone who enjoys it. We strive to choose topics and areas of story that cover a wide range of genre and feature a variety of author voices. If you’re here, we love you and hope you get something out of our conversations and content.

We hope you enjoy this conversation! It definitely took us by surprise how much we enjoyed and learned from this exercise.

Keep reading, writing, and putting your voice out there!

Into the woods,

Fable & The Verbivore

Notes:

Jenn is a book marketing professional and co-creator of Mixtus Media. She regularly posts marketing advice and tips on social media, provides free content creation tools, and offers services to help authors connect with readers, simplify book marketing, and sell more books.

Jenn posts regularly on Instagram @mixtusmedia and her YouTube channel Mixtusmedia. Her website is https://www.mixtusmedia.com/ which includes her blog posts, podcast episodes, marketing and social media tools, The Author Circle marketing membership, and personal book marketing coaching program.

As part of our interview Here is the link to our conversation with her:

The questions for this episode came from Your Writer Platform’s article “Finding Your Ideal Audience: A Step-by-Step Guide” by Kimberley Grabas.

Here are the questions we use from this article:

  • What are their demographics? Demographics refer to the outward-facing characteristics of a person—it’s the differences that the Census uses to categorize people. Think about your ideal reader’s age, gender, location, ethnic background, education level, and career.

What do they do for a living? Do they live in a big city on the East Coast or in a small town in the Midwest? Are they male or female? Married or single? Are they a cool twenty-something Spanish-speaker or an older, active grandma of five?

Demographics are the dry facts behind your ideal superfan: the who, what, and where. Next, you’ll want to figure out the “why” behind your ideal fan.

  • What are their psychographics? Psychographics are a person’s internal, mental qualities. Everyone has a different attitude and mindset, and psychographics look to help us understand people based on their broad responses to certain issues.

    Are they laid-back or frequently stressed? Do they lie awake at night worrying? Are they open to new experiences? Are they loud or quiet? Outgoing or reserved?

    Think about your ideal fan’s personal values, interests, ideals, goals, and aspirations. What makes them tick? Again, be as specific as you can.

  • What’s their personal style? How do they dress? What do they like to eat? Where do they shop?

  • What’s their budget? Do they have a lot of disposable income, or are things a little tight? Are they cash-strapped working moms? Rich, successful business people? Folks who want to move up the ladder? Are they spending $5 a day on fancy lattes, or do they make coffee at home?

Here are a few other articles we referenced for this conversation:

Books Mentioned:

Music from: https://filmmusic.io
‘Friendly day’ by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
Licence: CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Bethany Stedman