Working on an adapted Anna Karenina principle, all successful scholarly books are alike in the same way – their authors understand their audience. Thus, a key element of a book proposal involves identifying the primary audience for the book. Books which successfully reach a wide variety of audiences are rare indeed.
To simplify this question, let’s look at three core audiences:
1. Scholars: this audience includes advanced students, early career and established researchers. Such readers actively search for relevant new material in their specialist areas – how do you ensure your book appeals to them?
2. Students: this audience are only likely to buy a book if it is recommended for their class – in this case, appealing to the lecturer/instructor is as important as appealing to the student:
3. Practitioners: this audience is more disparate, and can be trickier to reach – ask yourself whether your book will genuinely offer a service to this readership that’s not available elsewhere.
Beyond this simple understanding of core audiences, there is potential for crossover. It’s best to be honest about whether and how your book can appeal to more than one audience.
Some books travel better than others. As a global publisher, we are keen to exploit our strengths and sell the book internationally. If there are key regions where your book is likely to succeed, now’s the time to highlight that and explain why an audience in a specific territory will find your book valuable.
Open access titles have the benefit of being more discoverable as the online version will be available to anyone with an internet connection. So, if your proposal is for an open access title, let the publisher know where your work would make the most impact.
For more help defining the audidence for your book, read our free guide: 3 key tips to consider when determining your book audience. Click on image to read.