How Your Book Will be Judged by Readers, Media, and More

Your book will be judged by its cover and so much more. Should that impact how you write and publish your book? I know Jack Hollenbeck was wondering that because he asked the question on one of my YouTube videos and I shot this video for him. So if you're wondering how your book will be judged and read and how that should impact your writing, then this video is for you. Hey there. I'm Julie the Book Broad, founder of a fabulous self publishing services team called Book Launchers. So Jack sent in this great question. Check it out. He said, why do readers read books and how should that affect how I write my book? I love this question because it means you're thinking about your reader and that's going to set you up for successful book marketing and book writing. The best books are the ones that are written for the reader, designed for the reader, and guess what? Marketed for the reader. So, so what does that mean? It's not about you and all the fame and fortune you'll gain as a result of your book. It's about how much your reader will benefit from reading your book. And the more clear you are on the person you're writing for, the better. When I wrote my book Self Publish and Succeed, Isn't it Beautiful? I wrote it for folks like my YouTube besties, Alan West, Tobias Balda Brady, Brian Krieger, Ben Preston, Martha Tetenborn and many others. These are folks who want to write a nonfiction book that has an impact on their reader and that makes money, builds a brand, or grows their business. And the first step in doing that isn't thinking about yourself, it's thinking about who exactly you'll help and how. And it's not about helping them with inspiration, it's digging deeper to see specifically what are they going to be inspired to do or feel or become. It's not about financial security. It's about a strategy for people who work 9 to 5 in a job who have a small amount of money left over at the end of the day to invest or grow into a retirement fund or it's for the person in debt that just doesn't see how they can save, let alone pay off their debt. And they work full time and have a part time job too, and they have kids and they want to spend time with those kids and they still have to financially support them as well. Your reader is specific, so start with a clear understanding of what they're worried about and what you have to offer that they really need to hear. Then write your book for them. When you write that first draft don't worry about how it will be read or judged. Just focus on getting the material out of your head onto the page to deliver the outcome that you want to deliver to that specific reader. Just dump it out. Don't spend years and years writing, yes, I'm talking to you. Don't nitpick every word and edit and edit and edit over and over. Save some energy for some of the really important things that come after that first draft is done. You know, little things like editing your title, your book cover, your design, your description, marketing efforts like interviews and blogs and so forth. Because when someone judges your book, they aren't actually judging that content first. Sure, if you do enough things right, they'll buy your book and read it and then they're going to judge the content. And that's why book Launchers editors are rock stars. Brian Krieger always says that. Thanks Brian. But content is actually far from the first thing that you will be judged on. And it's not going to matter how a reader reads your book if they never get to the point where they get the book in their hand. So let's ask a scary question. How will my book be judged by potential readers? Well, every person is a little different and readers aren't really conscious of how they're judging a book. But here's what will be judged, and loosely in order of importance, although it really will vary from person to person. So the things we're worried about being judged for. Number one, who recommended the book? If it's a reputable source, almost nothing else will matter. They will buy the book if it's a fit with what they need or want. Right now I am personally guilty of doing this many times and then I've been unimpressed with some of the books or I've been ecstatic with with some of the books that I bought with no research, no other thought other than somebody I trusted recommended the book. 2. The title of the book. The title sells your book or it doesn't. It's that simple. Number three, the book cover. We've talked about book covers a lot here. 4. The customer reviews, especially on Amazon. 5. Your book description. Number six, the blurbs. Check out Kindle Printers heat map on the Amazon page. Data that shows you the endorsements you upload to your Amazon author central page and what people are looking at. It's really fascinating. I'll put a link in the description below. Number seven, the look inside feature. If buying on Amazon and if on a shelf, they'll judge it by how it feels what they see when they flip through. By the way, this is your table of contents, your introduction or your chapter one. Hook them with these things and you're set. Number eight the author bio and picture. Who are you to write this book? Does your author brand in that picture match the book and make you look credible for that topic? Number nine the price free equals cheap. High price equals you better deliver massive specific value like tactical lock picking which gets you through locks, obstacles in emergencies. A pretty high value skill. Couple of notes here. Your title is above the COVID because people referring to your book will be saying that title and will sell it or won't. Also, when you do podcast interviews, which are a big way of promoting a book these days, you will be saying the title and listeners have to hear it and remember it and be sold by it. That's asking a lot of a few words. Also, for search engines, searchability is really important with your title. So title is number one. In a bookstore, the COVID would be first thing. But let's face it, how often are people standing in a bookstore buying books right now? If your title and cover do the job, it's up to your Amazon page to sell them. If that's where they went. Reviews, descriptions, blurbs. I'm going to share a video at the end so you get this page right, but that is where you'll be judged. And you better believe two reviews and a bad book description will result in a not so good kind of judgment. If you're judged favorably on all of the above, now is when you have to consider the reader and how they're going to read your book. The question to focus on is what is the experience you want your reader to have when they're reading your book? Do you want them to kick back and just read your book cover to cover? Or do you want them to work through the material, writing things down and doing the activities or action items and thinking hard? Or would you like your book to be a tips book where they can, you know, pick up the book whenever they want or wherever they want and just choose the chapter that they're going to learn that day? Overall, when you're designing your book, think experience. Use images and graphs to explain complex things, use humor to break up heavy subjects, stories to activate their emotional responses. And most important, remember your reader is the person that matters for every decision you make. The writing should be written to their expertise level. We once had a well educated client who wrote a book that was intended for the everyday person, the person who needed his help, not his colleagues with the same PhD credentials. He insisted on writing his book so his colleagues would think he was smart. At one point, our editors were even berated for their lack of skill and experience as they toned down the four syllable medical terminology into common language. The thing was, they were editing for the reader, not for his ego. Imagine the reader experience. For someone who's trying to solve a problem with no education on a subject, reading a book written at a PhD level, I feel frustrated thinking about it. That's not what writing for the reader or editing for the reader experience is about. That's worrying about being judged, but not by being judged by the person who matters. Now, thinking about your reader is who you want to consider. So great question Jack. And because you're asking how to write for your reader, I know you're thinking about your reader and setting your book up for success. Keep it up and keep that reader in mind throughout the entire process and your book is probably going to sell and have a massive impact. And that gets me so excited. Since we're talking about writing, these five writing techniques will help you connect with your reader. Check that out. Or you can also check out this one on your Amazon Author Central page. Both are really important for that reader experience. Now can we hang out a little more? I think we could be friends. Maybe even YouTube besties, don't you.