The moment I realized I had to pivot my book
How a beta reader's comment turned things upside down
On Sunday afternoon, I felt close to finishing my upcoming book. But then something unexpected happened…
I felt amazing since I had just finished writing the first draft of the final chapter. Hooray!
I went on to review the comments on my LinkedIn post on possible book titles, and I noticed that there were over 50 people who responded. Two options received by far the most votes:
Unblock: A No-Nonsense Guide to Effective Strategy, Faster Decisions and Better Results
Unblock: Get Shit Done with Effective Strategy, Faster Decisions, and More Ownership
Satisfied with these, I started looking for designers to help me with my book cover based on both title ideas. However, the following day, I was startled by an email from Justin Zimmer, one of my 86(!) beta readers.
This is what he wrote:
You need to think about who your ideal reader is. Right now it seems like you're aiming at all the possible leaders, which is the general audience for the sales of the book, but it causes you to try and describe every kind of scenario which makes it hard to follow. The narrative should be focused on one person, a SAM - Single Audience Member. Create this person from your stock of experience consulting with Leaders, executives, etc. Who has all the problems you are solving, and who can make all these solutions happen? Then think about what their core problem is, why do they need to do all these things?
Alright, I can see what he means, but I’m not sure I agree. The book should be relevant to all sorts of leaders. But the next bit made it apparent I should take it seriously:
This should help you write clearly without loading your chapters with "maybe you noticed this or maybe you noticed that, and leaders make this mistake and screw this up all the time and oh my look at the time, the chapter is over." Specificity breeds universality - the more focused your narrative without worrying about all the possible angles, the more your reader will relate because they can relate to your stories and see how you can help. When you give them lots of examples of other leaders making bad decisions, you push them away from the context.
Oof, yes, I can’t deny that I’ve structured some parts of my manuscript like that. Then Justin went on to comment on my title options - and score a homerun:
Lastly, the subtitle. Your trouble with the subtitle seems to mirror your uncertainty about the central theme of the book. I made some comments but I really can't support any of your combinations because they all try to say too much in too many words that don't mean anything. Go search for books in your market on Amazon and see what the top 5 subtitles look like. You won't see comma separated lists of adjective qualified generalities.
Ouch.
It took me a few moments to overcome my sad realization that my book was far from finished.
He was right. So far, my reader profile was “any leader who is frustrated at how their workplace functions and wants to try something new,” which leads to the writing style described by Justin.
And the fact that it was so hard to pick a subtitle is simply because I didn’t know who or what my book was for!
I spent the last two days reflecting on his feedback and considering my options. And I decided to refocus my book.
The book’s new focus
The new target audience is leaders who urgently need to realize a big, ambitious goal. Perhaps they just took on a new role that allows them to introduce a new strategy. The goal doesn’t matter for the book, whether to double their sales, bring a new innovative product to life, or transform their business model to become sustainable.
However, they realize that some organizational barriers are in the way and need to be unblocked first. Furthermore, they are interested in a modern approach (based on empowerment, participation, and feedback loops) instead of what they may have learned in business school (restructuring or more layers of control).
By following the book’s advice and changing how the organization works, they can get more done than they ever thought was possible.
How does that pitch sound to you? Let me know by hitting ‘reply’ on this message.
How I feel about it now
The restructuring is a significant amount of work. I have to rewrite some parts of the manuscript, but it will lead to a more focused, useful book. I feel relieved because the clear focus gives me the permission to be ruthless in my edits, and picking a book title becomes much easier.
I’m also highly grateful for having such an active beta reading community and for Justin being as frank as he was. Without it, I may have published a irrelevant book, which would have been a terrible waste of time.
I have paused beta reading until I’m ready to share the new draft - hopefully in a week or two. I’m already excited about the prospect of getting more feedback.
Until next time,
Jurriaan
SAM is a concept that trips up a lot of writers and can be difficult to get your head around. "Of course I want to serve a broad audience!" But your book is a conversation with one person at a time and you want them to feel like you are speaking to them through the pages. It's like eye contact during a presentation, you're looking at one person at a time and everybody in the audience feels your message is more direct even if you aren't looking at them. But there are no eyes for you to look into as you write, so you create a pair, and then talk to them directly.
"The new target audience is leaders who urgently need to realize a big, ambitious goal." - great! Now thin that smaller crowd and invent a leader named Sam that embodies the kind of big goal you are looking to help them realize. Turn the following "perhaps" into a person and write to them about your solutions as if "this is the way you should approach the goal". You don't have to address them literally by name and the solutions you offer can apply to many other leaders like Sam, but this approach will help you, as the writer, communicate your ideas clearly without worrying about other possibilities that will only confuse Sam and ultimately the reader.
Besides, if you solve everyone's problems then who is going to put an appointment on your calendar to help them with their own unique situation because you seem like you know what you're talking about?