Head First Triathlon Part 3

Here's the third and final leg of the Head First Triathlon (Click here for Part 1 and here for Part 2). This time the question for you is simple:

Who are you writing for?

One of the biggest things you need to think about is your particular audience. It's easy to say, "Oh, I'm writing for people who want to learn PHP & MySQL." But what does that really mean? Pick a topic you think you could actually write a Head First book about (and one that could be successful—check out this page for topics we're particularly interested in). Then send us your answers to these questions:

1. Is your book aimed at a specific technology/discipline, or at a concept?

If you're writing Head First Algebra or Head First XML, you've got a very specific technology set. You get to assume that if you teach that technology, you've done your primary job. And, even better, people come to your book wanting to learn that technology. But what if you’re teaching Head First Software Development or Head First Intro to Programming? Now, you've got multiple technology expectations. Which one will you use? And what level of proficiency do you expect?

2. Based on that, who is your audience?

Remember, two sentences or less. Think about age, education, goals... what does YOUR ideal learner need from your book?

If you were backed into a tight corner, and told you had to define your book's audience in two sentences or less, what would you say? Would you stutter or murmur something about, "Everyone who wants to program?" If so, this is your chance to get ahead of the game. Think about a very specific audience description, like, "Web designers who want to add scripting, but are intimidated by languages like JavaScript and Flash," or "College students who avoided taking math in high school, and now have to pass Algebra I to get their degree."

Be specific! The better you know your audience, the better you can write the book that they need.

Sharpen Your Pencil So now you know who you're writing for. But what do they need to know? Not everything... that's what reference books are for. What are the key things you
need to get across to your learners? Come up with between 8 and 12 really important topics. Then, for each one, write a single sentence explaining why they need to learn that topic—why, if your learner didn't know this, it would be a total catastrophe. (We mean this part. If your learner could get by without the topic, why are you using valuable pages to teach it?)