Squeeze the Stone

Build and expand on the discussion of the market for your book that you included in the overview section. Quantify the size of the specific groups and demographics that you identified as those most likely to buy your book, and state the buying power of each. Describe your market in terms of
Statistics, facts, and figures on who will buy your book, why they will buy it, and the amount of money that is annually spent in each market.
List how your audience gets information from sources such as magazines, radio,TV, cable, and Internet sites. Specifically name what they read, listen to, watch, and browse. Provide the circulation or viewership numbers for each source.
Outline what the members ofyour market do, theirjobs, duties, hobbies, and interests. State where they vacation, travel or go for entertainment, health, and conditioning, or for stimulation or relaxation.
If they will buy your book in some special or unique way such as through schools; businesses; and religious, community, or charitable organizations; state how and explain why.
To obtain hard data for your proposal, conduct research via the Internet and at libraries. Check your subject matter and everything related to it on Google and other search engines. Also research online booksellers.
The government, specifically the Department of Labor, is a great source for figures, trends, and statistics. So are industry and trade associations. Indexes of trade and industry associations can be found on the Internet by checking such sites such as http://dir.yahoo.com/Businessand_Economy / Organizations /Trade_Associations and www. marketingsource. corn /associations.
Most industry and trade associations put out publications that are loaded with helpful statistics and projections. They usually report the number of people the industry serves and the size of the market. You may also find great articles on trends and wonderful quotes. Some of these publications, or portions of them, are online. Other helpful industry and trade information can be found on associations’ Web sites. Make sure to check news, publicity; and pressroom sections.
Regularly read these publications and clip out items with information that you could include in your proposal. In addition, check these publications’ archives to see if any of them have published articles on your book’s subject. If so, get copies and attach them to your proposal. Articles from such sources will give your book’s champion powerful information to take to the board.
Also speak with people in your field(s) of interest. Find out what publications they read and how they get information on their businesses, careers, interests, hobbies, etc. See which of those sources are online and how you can access the others. Ask them to put you in touch with knowledgeable people in their fields.

Leave a Reply