The Pain Point and the Promise, #2

In yesterday’s post, I talked about how to come up with a compelling pain point and promise.

Today, I want to take a deeper dive into the pain point. Many self-help and spirituality authors struggle to identify just how broad or narrow their pain point should be.

“How Specific Should My Pain Point Be?”

The answer to this question depends on your target audience, which in turn depends on your unique qualifications as an author.

 For example, let’s say you’re a 22-year old TikTok influencer who blogs about suicide rates among Gen Z’ers. You’ll probably be most successful if you write a book with a very specific pain point: the despair that is driving young people to contemplate ending their lives.

In contrast, let’s say you’re a tenured psychology professor who has authored several landmark studies about suicide. You may be very successful writing a book with a more general pain point: a guide to understanding suicidality geared towards the broadest possible audience.

The first book might cover generation-specific things like climate despair, the wealth gap, the cost of living, and the toxic effects of social media. The second book might cover more general factors that affect suicidality, such as social connectedness, religious beliefs, sense of cultural identify, and access to healthcare.

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To summarize: When refining your pain point, consider your audience and your strongest qualifications as an author, whether those qualifications take the form of academic degrees, life experiences, or previous publications on the same topic.

Are you writing a self-help, psychology or spirituality book? Schedule a free 30-minute consultation with me, and we'll chat about ways to maximize your book's potential to change readers' lives.