Who do you think will love your book?

Plus: My last week of self-employment!!?

Plotting: Last week of self-employment!

This is my last week before I start my new role at Marketing Director of One More Chapter. AHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I AM NERVOUS.

On the plus side, I have managed to get myself looking forward to the ‘in the office’ bit, which was the one thing I was feeling very hesitant about. I a) had a day in the office where I bumped into lots of people are rememberd that I do enjoy being social, and b) remembered how much I LOVED being back in the office after my first maternity leave, when I would leave the house with a skip and a jump.

This week and last week have been all about winding down my work, and leaning into the things I won’t be able to do after I go back in house.

• I took a random Tuesday off and spent most of it in bed.

• I went in to an art workshop at school and painted Yayoi Kusama inspired squashes.

• This week I have Sports Day

• And a secondary school visit

• And my BFF in town briefly

• And a massage booked.

It should be a lovely week. (I also do have quite a bit of work to finish off, so when I’m not doing the above, I will be at my laptop ploughing through it!)

I’m also hosting this Friday’s Seasonal Map planning workshop, so if you’re a paid subscriber, please do RSVP if you’re aiming to come along to that (and if you’re NOT a paid subscriber, and would like to think about what you want to bring to fruition over the next three months, you can upgrade your membership here).

Spotting: Who is your ideal reader?

Last week, I talked a little bit about why setting goals is useful when you’re building a marketing plan, and how to set goals that are actually useful, not things you feel you ‘should’ be doing.

This week, we’re talking about figuring out your ideal reader. Because no, it’s not ‘everyone’, as much as you would like it to be.

The clearer your idea of who your reader is, the easier it will be to find them. Where are they hanging out, and how can you put your book in front of them?

If you have a big audience, you can ask people for feedback on what they love about your books or find out where they are spending their time to find others like them. If you’re still growing your audience you’ll have to make some educated guesses and refine those as you learn more.

Think about similar authors your readers might also enjoy. What are their readers saying they love about their books? Do they give clues as to where they found out about the book in their reviews? What kind of marketing are those authors doing, and is there anything you can learn from them?

Look at the people already engaging with your writing (or your posts on social media, if you haven’t published anything yet). What do they have in common?

This week, take some time to get specific. Who are you really writing for, where can you talk to them about your book, and what will you say when you’re there?

Lately I’ve been…

Reading: A Court of Frost and Starlight. This is clearly a filler book in this series, as it’s nowhere near as long as the other books and so far, nothing much has happened. I’m not really enjoying it! But it’s short, and I’m sure there’ll be some kind of cliffhanger that sucks me into reading the next book. We’ll see! If there isn’t, that might be the end of my relationship with this series…

Watching: Gossip Girl and Parenthood, two series I hadn’t watched the first time around, which I’m very much enjoying now.

Listening to: And Just Like That… The Writer’s Room. Thanks to

Charlotte Duckworth

for the recommendation. I’m also watching season 3 of And Just Like That and it’s RIDICULOUS, but this accompanying podcast is weirdly both extremely irritating and making me enjoy the TV show more.

Eating: Sourdough with homemade hummus and scrambled eggs on top.

Enjoying: The summer weather. Not needing to pack an umbrella or an extra layer is so rare in the UK that I really, really appreciate the warm days when we have them.

How was your week last week? What do you have coming up? What have you found useful when thinking about your ideal reader? Please drop me a note or leave your thoughts in the comments - I would love to hear from you!