Olympic Lessons for Authors

I’ve never considered myself much of a sports fan, but the Olympics have always been an easy exception to make. I remember waking up early to watch cycling during the Rio Olympic Games in 2016 and setting reminders on my phone for gymnastics events held at the Tokyo Games in 2021. It’s a safe bet my writing soundtrack will shift from movie scores to sports announcements over the next couple of weeks.

But there’s more that we, as authors, can take from the games than just entertainment. Although writing sprints may not quite have made it to the Olympic stage yet—though they certainly should—as IAM staff writer Laurel Decher points out in this month’s issue, the Olympics can offer us important lessons on understanding our audiences and growing our author businesses.

Part of marketing is understanding your ideal reader and the things that they want to see; there’s a reason Olympics organizers have added new sports in recent years to reflect the interests of younger generations, like this year’s breaking, sport climbing, skateboarding, and surfing will do. For us authors, that’s where market research and creating a reader avatar can come into play. Catering to your ideal reader doesn’t mean you’re excluding fans. Being a horseback rider, I’ve always watched equestrian three-day eventing, but I’ll also happily tune in to sports I never even known existed as long as they seem interesting. Knowing what your target audience likes simply helps you maintain your focus so that the readers you most want to reach will be satisfied. In some ways, it makes your business decisions easier—and like this month’s Mindset article emphasizes, that’s always a plus.

Our books don’t need to be gold-medal worthy in every reader’s eyes, as long as they make your superfans happy. Let the Olympics be an example—if your audience is excited enough that they wake up early to read your book or set reminders on their phones for your new release, you’ve come out on top.

Nicole Schroeder

Editor in Chief