Who is the boss of your book?

The University of Tennessee baseball "DJ" (announcer? color analyst? sound guy?) cracks me up with his playlist of songs and soundbites. My son Scotty's favorite is, "Nope!" For example, when an Auburn batter hits to the right and our first baseman snags the ball for an out, the crowd hears a quick, loud, "NOPE!"

Who is the boss of your book? You?

"NOPE!"

Your target reader is the boss of every single decision you make as you write, edit, publish, and market your book.

Why do you need to identify a target audience? Doing so helps you refine language, plot, story arc, complexity, themes, dialogue, conflict, setting, formatting, tone, mood, voice, trim size, cover design, pricing, social media posts, . . . . Need I go on? Writers often try to please everyone, but that's a mistake. Writing to a diverse group of target readers confuses you and readers. What's interesting is that when you focus your efforts and choices with a niche audience (or even one ideal reader) in mind, your book will be so much BETTER that it will likely appeal to even MORE readers (that diverse group I mentioned). No matter where you are the in process, you can start thinking about and pleasing your boss, your target reader, right now. Enjoy this exercise.

On a large sheet of paper that you can easily see from your writing desk, draw a diagram of your reader. On that paper, jot down the answers to the following questions (make them easy to read---like a cheat sheet):

Age?

Station/stage of life?

Family situation?

Professional background/career?

Life experience?

Losses?

Victories?

Income?

Hobbies?

Worries?

Goals?

Sex?

Religion?

Interests?

Where does he/she spend time online?

What questions is he/she asking?

What problem is he/she trying to solve?

What does he/she want to learn/gain from your book?

​

NOW when you get stuck, you can ask your boss what to do.

When a UT player hits a homerun, teammates crowd him as he leaves home plate. They wrap a fur coat across his shoulders and place The Daddy Hat on his head. Knowing your reader is the first step in writing a high-quality book. If you study your reader in earnest and make him or her the boss, maybe you can hit a home run. Know your reader. Be The Daddy.

​Happy writing, and GO BIG ORANGE!

xoxoxo

Jody

P.S. We have a new tool out—The Ultimate Plan to Market Your Book and Make Money. To learn more, click HERE.​

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Have you ever looked at a book while you read it?

 Strange questions are the best kind to ask. Ideally, they are open-ended so that the receiver must THINK and respond with creativity as opposed to one-word answer. Let's try this.

How many adults live in Jody's household? Answer: Two

Better question: What are the domestic chores that Jody handles on a day-to-day basis (some simple, some miserably complex or stressful) while Mr. Jody (eleven years her senior) eats popcorn and watches zombie movies, and why does Jody do significantly more "home and family stuff" than Mr. Jody?

Hmmmmmmm, think of the themes and conflict right there in one question: Gender equality, age gap issues, generational differences, men vs. women, domestic bliss/ignorance, parenting, marriage, movie genres, control freak or anxious entrepreneur, husband or therapy dog, popcorn lung or healthy snack, .... That list could go on for days. You know how I LOVE brainstorming. Okay, out of my house and back to business we go.

Have you ever looked at a book while you read it?

Better: When you read, what elements, besides the story itself, of a book do you examine in detail, and why do you look at those particular elements?

Remember, I teach from my mistakes. For a LONG time, I called epigraphs epitaphs. How embarrassing! I certainly don't want anyone writing R.I.P. in the front matter of his or her book, right? From thoughtco.com:

Definitions

• An epigram is a brief, witty statement in prose or verse--similar to an aphorism.
• An epigraph is a brief quotation set at the beginning of a text (a book, a chapter of a book, an essay, a poem) to suggest its theme.
• An epitaph is a brief inscription in prose or verse on a tombstone or monument.

I've noticed a trend with first-time authors, starting with yours truly many years ago. (Please forgive my East Tennessee-style wording). They don't understand book parts, so they put ALL of the parts in their books. I worked with a teacher years ago who taught students, well, book parts. The fancy terms are front matter and back matter. I thought you all might enjoy a cheat sheet.

FRONT MATTER concerns the section of pages at, well, the front of the book. These can be the following and should appear in the following order:

1. advance reviews page
2. half title page
3. title page
4. copyright page
5. dedication
6. epigraph
7. table of contents
8. acknowledgements
9. foreword
10. preface
11. introduction (optional - depends on genre, book design, and other factors)
12. prologue (optional - depends on genre, book design, and other factors)
13. list of abbreviations, chronology, family tree, map, or other asset that is helpful to readers

BACK MATTER --- you guessed it! --- lands in the back in the following order:

1. epilogue
2. acknowledgments
3. about the author
4. discussion questions
5. appendices
6. glossary
7. bibliography
8. index
9. colophon

Certain front matter and back matter pieces depend on genre, book design, content, audience, use, and other factors. The only non-negotiable items are the title page and copyright page. I hope this quick list is helpful to you. We didn't even talk about the cover. Whew, so much to see here:) Do not get stressed. Instead, do some research or ask me for help.

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The next time you read a book, I challenge you to look at it!

xoxoxo

Jody

P.S. Thank you for inspiring me every day to create tools for authors:) These three are available now. Click the titles to learn more about each tool.

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PROOFREAD LIKE A PRO CHECKLIST

How many literary devices do you see in this email? How many do you USE?

 The first summer after I launched my business, my older son Houston was rising high school sophomore. He exited his freshman year with a packet of summer work the teachers titled "Summer Reading Assignments." Houston was not a happy summer camper. I'm sure that when his English teacher said, "This summer, you need to read This Dark Endeavor so you better understand Shelley's Frankenstein," Houston was tempted to reply, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."

His plans were to play AAU basketball with his cross-county teammates, hit golf balls with little brother Scotty, and fish Little River with me—play, hit, fish. My plan was to focus on growing my company while he did all the above and enjoy jumbo shrimp cocktails by the pool. Annotating novels did NOT make Houston's and my list. I mean, that dog won't hunt. That English teacher had overcooked our grits! The assignment screamed, "Stressful interactions are headed your way, mother and son!"

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Misery loves company, right? My former student Ty' Dajah told me, "Mrs. Dyer, you are a hustler!" Well, I do have to bring home the bacon. I am the quintessential entrepreneur who battles shiny object syndrome. I thought, Aha! This terrible situation could be profitable. I quickly created a flyer and matching social media posts that offered Summer Reading Clubs based on school, grade, and specific novel.

The plan was to gather a gaggle of miserable girls and boys and help them knock out summer reading assignments in two to four meetings. The flyer sang my praises and surfed through cyberspace to garner a gamut of teenagers. Success! I mean, why not? I am the absolute greatest reading tutor in the history of mankind!

You now understand why I hire out all graphic design work or rely on Canva templates. Ha!!! I know where my talents end and someone else's begin.

Students completed their worksheet packets, and most of them actually read the novels. Some even learned how to use actual, physical, 3-D dictionaries! They're favorite tasks were diagramming characters on gigantic sheets of paper taped down my hallway and learning literary devices. The students taught me what my writers might enjoy as well. I now employ many of the same teaching methods that I used in Summer Reading Clubs with my adult students.

Here's a little trick you can try. Apply what I call "fiction finesse" to all of your writing, even non-fiction self-help books. Review the list below, then see if you can spot some of them in this email.

xoxoxo, Jody

Each device is followed by its definition and example(s). Enjoy!

Alliteration – repetition of same letter at beginning of words

The green grass grows.

Allusion – reference to something well-known to make a situation more understandable but without directly stating what that “something” is.

What I really need here is a yellow brick road.

She was as ignorant as Goldilocks on day one.

Cadence – rhythm in the writing

“I came, I saw, I conquered.” Latin – “Veni, vidi, vici.” – Julius Caesar

Colloquialism – words and phrases that aren’t used in formal English but accepted – like slang

Are you nuts? He is going to blow our cover.

Hyperbole- Highly exaggerated claim

My ex-boyfriend called me one million times last night.

Oxymoron – Figure of speech in which two opposing words come together in order to create a more interesting meaning (usually adj. and noun)

Living death, genuine fake

Personification – Giving human traits to a nonhuman object/thing

The whirling wind howled louder than Remus lupin on the moon. (allusion)

Cliché – Heavily repeated phrase – overused – limited impact these days.

As red as a rose – The grass is always greener – Can’t judge a book by its cover.

Please share this email with writers, young or old, in your life! If you'd like a lesson on "fiction finesse," let's talk.

You can book appointments here any time!