#4 in an occasional series on writing non fiction
Know your market is one of those truisms thrust at novelists and it is doubly true for non-fiction writers. It helps to frame your book, directs your research, dictates your writing style, and constrains your expectations. A huge number of books are published each year, and many vanish without trace – chiefly I suspect because they do not stand out from the crowd. You may be writing a passion project, not caring how commercial your book is, but if sales are important you must identify who you intend to sell to at the outset.
Do your homework before embarking on your history of pit-ponies in the North-East of England. Is there another similar book on the subject? Is it any good? Is it still in print? Does it have lots of pictures? These considerations provide metaphorical bookends for what you can achieve. Hopefully you will have a clear field, but if not you must aim to write a book that the reading public can distinguish from the others currently on sale.
Without apology I’m going to give three examples from my own career as a way of illustrating the problem and its solutions.
My first published book was a cleaned-up version of my PhD thesis with a plain blue cover and the enticing title Upchurch and Thameside Roman Pottery. It’s a heavyweight archaeological reference book by specialist publisher British Archaeological Reports that principally sold to academic libraries plus the few dozen people with an active interest in pottery made in Kent under the Romans. There are only some two hundred Roman pottery experts in Britain, so the market was always going to be limited. However, it does deliver exactly the kind of information that those people seek, was still the standard reference work on its subject thirty five years later and was ultimately republished.
Whilst working as the Museum Director for the island of Guernsey I realised there was no easily accessible short history of the island in print. The Museum also did not have a ‘guidebook’ in which to showcase key items from its collection. Bringing both ideas together, I wrote The Story of Guernsey almost off the top of my head. It’s only 12,000 words long and 50% of the book is composed of illustrations using artworks, historic photographs and newly taken shots of museum objects. I wrote specifically for the ‘interested non-specialist’; people who knew only a little about the island and its history. By careful choice of language, I made it accessible to older school children without ‘dumbing down’. It sold chiefly in the museum shops to tourists, but island residents often bought it as presents for their off-island friends. Still in print after ten years and translated now into both French and German it has been my all-time bestselling book.
Just before the pandemic made a mess of everyone’s lives, I was approached by environmental artist Peter Le Vasseur to write the story of his life and work. I’m not an art historian but Peter specifically did not want a book packed with art-babble. Written during lockdown, A Brush with Life was published by Lutterworth Press in summer 2022. Within the publisher’s questionnaire they asked what markets the book will appeal to, and what similar books will it be competing with. Happily, there are very few artists that have spent the last forty years chronicling ecological threats through their work, so the competition is slight. Some artists, actors and musicians have colourful lives that almost overshadow their achievements, but Peter is not one of them, so the book was never going to be a salacious stream of rock n’ roll confessions. Illustrations of his art became central to the book, and the environmental issues he raises form the core of the text. The primary market became art lovers, art students and people concerned with the environment. As he was born in Guernsey the local connection was also a selling point, and the publishers recognised there should be ongoing interest from collectors and galleries as early Le Vasseurs from the sixties and seventies were re-appearing in London auction rooms.
Enough about me, what about you? Once you spot your opening, decide whether you are writing for adults, children, or learners of any age. Will your readers be experts, enthusiasts or ‘interested non-specialists’? Be aware that there is no true ‘general reader’, especially for non-fiction. We all have our interests and a limitation on how far away from them we will stray. Make your book too general and you will put off the enthusiasts, too parochial and your potential market contracts. These are not necessarily bad things so long as it is part of your plan. Your own skill set may determine which target audiences you can please. Realistically, only experts can write for experts (see the previous blog) and a book aimed at young readers demands different approaches to one aimed at adults.
Writing books for children can be very rewarding, but beware of the idea it will be easier than writing one for adults. A book for younger children will need a lot of illustrations, possibly fifty per cent of the content or more, so work out how you will source or produce these from the outset. From a commercial point of view the children’s market is broken into quite small slices, as what appeals to a five year old will seem childish to a seven year old. If you can get your book into schools or write them in a way they can support homework that’s a big win, but education has changed since you were a child. Research the modern curriculum and latest educational jargon so your book can be aimed at a specific group of learners, such as ‘Key Stage Two’ in the UK, or ‘Second Grade’ in the USA.
Your decisions over your target audience will dictate the final shape of the book in terms of its length, complexity, writing style, number of illustrations and referencing. It will also determine which publishers are likely to pick it up, or your chance of successfully self-publishing.
Once you know what book you plan to write, and who you are writing for, it is time to begin the research.
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