Going from Blogger to Book Author Step 5: Define Your Book’s USP

By Guest Blogger Susan Daffron

In step 3, I encouraged you to look at other books and think about how your book will be different and in step 4, I asked you to put on your marketing hat and write out some of the elements of a book proposal, including who will read your book.

Once you're in that marketing copywriting mood, I want you to dig deeper into the mindset of your target reader. Create a clear picture in your mind of exactly who is reading your book and why.

You might be thinking I'm kind of harping on this idea, but there's a reason for it. Before I started writing and publishing my own books, I was a non-fiction editor for a lot of years. Whenever I was asked to "take a look" at a book project where the book author got "stuck," it almost always came down to the same problem. The author was flailing around struggling to complete the book because he had no idea who would actually read it.

If you really think about the reader and get inside his or her head, it's not only easier to write the book, the book itself is much better in the end. So when you're writing your marketing copy and also the book itself, visualize your reader:

• Is your reader is male or female? (It doesn't matter if both genders will read your book; it's just easier to pick one so you can imagine him or her more easily.)
• Is he a beginner or does he know a lot about the subject?
• What are his day to day concerns
• What is he interested in?
• Where does he live?
• Where does he work?

By getting into the mindset of the target reader, you can drill down to the book's unique selling proposition. This USP is the big idea or solution that will cause your target reader to pull out his or her credit card and buy the book.

Next time in step 6, I'll talk about how you can make time to work on your book (and still have a life).

Until next time, live long and publish!

Susan Daffron, aka The Book Consultant owns a book and software publishing company. She spends most of her time writing, laying out books in InDesign, or taking her dogs out for romps in the forest. She also teaches people how to write and publish profitable client-attracting books at www.SelfPubU.com and puts on the Self-Publishers Online conference every May.

Look for the next post on August 23.