In the Romance Novel Business,
we often talk about
the ‘ideal reader.’
We know we can’t
make everyone happy
so we craft our books
(design our products)
to satisfy this specific target
(and she IS very specific).
When we test our products,
we find readers
who are as close
to our ideal reader
as possible.
We ask for THEIR insights,
not for some random reader’s opinion.
“If you’ve created something
that will delight and astound
10% of the marketplace,
there’s a 90% chance
that the first person
who encounters your work
will dislike it.
He might even hate it.
In fact,
if you do the math,
you’ll see that there’s
more than a 70% chance
that the first THREE people will hate it.
And if you give up then,
you’ve just walked away
from serving the people
you set out to serve.”
Unless you’ve hand chosen
your first customers
and/or your marketing
only appeals to a specific group,
your early critics are likely
NOT your ideal customer.
Understand that
before acting on their feedback.