Richard Ridley: Your Average Reader

Read any advice about marketing, and you will invariably find a common refrain: know your average reader. That's easy to write, but how do you know whom your average reader is or where your average reader can be found? Here is my best advice on how to easily locate your average reader.

1- Genre: Your book belongs to a certain genre, and that is great news. Genres come with baseline demographics. True, it won't provide a representation of every reader you want to reach, but it gives you a good indication of whom your average reader is.

2- Other Books: As original as your book may be, it still bears some similarity to other books. Again, that is great news, particularly if the book was a bestseller. You will more than likely find fan groups online, and you will get an ideal virtual snapshot of your average reader.

3- The Mirror: Provided you haven't written a young adult novel or a book for children, your average reader could look and act a lot like you. After all, the odds are you wrote with passion, and that passion came from being a fan before you started writing your first book. Reverse engineer your own habits and hangouts.

4- Subject Matter: Let's say you've written a crime novel featuring a protagonist who psychically communicates with cats. You, my friend, have a niche book, and niche books have well defined average readers. I'm guessing it would take you no time at all on a search engine to find groups that are fascinated by cats with psychic abilities.

Once you've found your average readers, reaching out is a matter of getting involved in their online communities and introducing yourself as an author. Don't push. Participate. Be a valued member of their communities, and they will become curious until they aren't just average readers, but your readers.

*Award-winning author and paid CreateSpace contributor

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