Children's Book Tip: Define Your Buyer.

Step Three: After defining your core reader, you need to define your core buyer. In the case of a children's book, your targeted reader is unlikely to be the same as your targeted buyer. Your buyer is going to be an adult, but what kind of an adult? Will your buyer be ...

• a he or a she?
• someone in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, or 80s?
• a professional or a member of the family?
• a grandparent, parent, relative, or unrelated caretaker?
• buying a book to read herself to the child or to give to the child's parent or guardian?
• associated with an institution (a school, a hospital, a daycare center, a church, a therapist's office)?

Again, you might paint a picture in your mind of the typical buyer. Your book, at least on its outer edges, will need to appeal to your buyer, or it will never find your reader. The Publishing Pro