Your Book Is Not for Everyone (and that's okay)

Your best book might not be someone else's "thing."

As someone in the publishing industry, I’m often asked if I read specific authors’ books. Since I’m well beyond the “fake it to make it” years of my career, l can freely admit that I’ve never read books by:

Stephen King

Jonathan Franzen

David Sedaris 

Zadie Smith 

Cormac McCarthy

Margaret Atwood 

And many others.

I can hear you gasping. Please stop it. I’ve read Philip Roth’s books, deeply loved Laurie Colwin, and wrote my college thesis on Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes. I love books, but some aren’t for me, and that’s okay.

Authors want everyone to like their books, but that’s an impossibility tall order. How should we think about the popularity of books? Let us begin.

We are human algorithms.

Social media can’t function without human beings. Every platform knows our vacation preferences, clothes, music, home decor, sports, pets, and books. Our devices listen to our conversations and use our search histories for advertisers. Hashtags assist us in searching for trending topics or posts about things that interest us. How does this affect the publishing ecosystem? For starters, people become human algorithms when they discuss books. Someone not on social media might tell their friend with thousands of followers on a particular platform about a book they loved. The friend then posts about it, uses a hashtag, and writes a great caption. Maybe there’s a visual component, and the post is shared by 10% of the friend’s followers. Does it lead to book sales? Sometimes, but more important here is the act of discovery.

Working hard for the right audience.

If your book isn’t for everyone, who is the audience? Use the graphic below as a guide (I’m working on my Canva skills):

Your book idea, writing style, and voice will attract specific audiences, but you must know how to find them. Let’s analyze a fiction and nonfiction example differently (this is interchangeable):

If your memoir is about motherhood and specific topics drive the narrative, consider the qualities your readers share with you and why your story appeals to them. Be honest because, again, this is an exercise in understanding why your book isn’t for everyone and finding who it is for.

Next, assess where your audience lives on social media—because they are not present on every platform. As I’ve previously written, social media is more fragmented now than ever. The only way to reach your readers on social media is to recognize where they spend their time on specific platforms. Are you using the same platforms as them? If so, does your content align with your memoir? Will your readers recognize you on social media AND in the book?

Once you identify your audience on social media, notice what links they post. What kind of digital media do they consume? What kind of digital media do you consume? Is it similar to your audience’s?

Finally, what are your audience’s retail and entertainment habits? Are they similar to yours? Should they be identical to yours? Is the version of yourself in your memoir the same as you are currently? If not, segment your audience into “memoir you” and “present you.” This gives you a better idea of your readers.

I’m applying a business school methodology to a hypothetical work of fiction. A SWOT analysis is a strategic planning tool individuals, businesses, and organizations use to assess their current situation and make informed decisions about their future. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Publishers should employ this at some point, but authors and agents can work on it, too:

Every author/book has strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Weaknesses and threats are not negative; instead, they assist with filling in potential gaps. The challenge in doing this exercise is being honest with yourself and your work. Strengths and opportunities don’t equate to a larger audience; they correlate to the right audience.

If you’ve written a romance book, you can pinpoint opportunities by looking at what marketing other romance authors have done. Similarly, you can assess the threat of those authors cornering significant market share in the genre. If you’ve written a thriller, you can determine weaknesses in other authors’ promotional efforts in the genre and capitalize on them.

You’ve got this.

All you need to complete the exercises I’ve demonstrated is paper and pen. If you want to have a little fun, create graphics. You know your book best, but your audience doesn’t (yet). Refining your author assets and audience will clarify where your book fits into the marketplace.

Next up for paid subscribers:

Thank you for being patient while I get into the groove of writing two weekly newsletters. On Tuesday, paid subscribers will receive a deeper dive into what I’ve covered in this edition of Publishing Confidential, and I will answer the question, “Are trade reviews important?”

End Notes:

October is Mental Health Awareness Month. Please check on your friends, even if you think they’re okay.

Did you know…

Attention Economy

is Leigh Stein’s newsletter, and I’m so glad she’s now on Substack!

This week has been hellish, so in my downtime, I’ve been scrolling through way too many Sex & the City clips on TikTok.

As always, questions/comments: publishingconfidential@gmail.com

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