AI CAN “CREATE” YOUR READERS (The Writer’s Process, part 7)

Love ‘Em or Hate ‘Em, Here’s Your Audience

Midjourney imagines the line for my book signing.

This is the seventh in the series “The Writer’s Process”, focusing on writing with AI. It builds on the post, “When Your Friends Won’t Read Your Writing,” which detailed my first disastrous attempts at audience research. 

WHEN YOUR FRIENDS WON’T READ YOUR WRITING (The Writer’s Process, part 6)

TL;DR:

• In a world of endless content and AI-driven recommendations, finding your readers is harder than ever

• Writers waste time guessing who their readers are

• I fed my 92-page story outline to AI and got back:

  • Detailed reader personas that feel real

  • Where these readers hang out online

  • What they need from my story (and why they'll stick around)

• Below: The exact prompts I used (so you can do this too)

What’s This One About? 

I’m worried that audiences are swimming in a turbulent river of content and that -- no matter how good -- my story will never find its audience. Here’s what I did: 

I fed a 92 page google doc with EVERYTHING I know about my story into Claude and NotebookLM. I asked both to help me define my audience, create actual personas (there are 11 and you’ll get to meet them) and help me understand the “Job” I can do for my audiences. FINALLY, I outline some simple steps so that you can identify the audience for your work. 

Why Would You Even Do This? 

To begin with, I tried talking to friends and doing my own “research.” It led me down a dead end. (SPOILER ALERT: The Novel Is Back!!!)  

We live in a time where people discover and consume content digitally. I want to know who my potential audience is, where they discover content, how I can reach them and how I can help them build a habit of reading my work.

I used AI to find out: 

• Who the audience is

• Where they’re discovnering and reading / watching 

• How and what they’re sharing

• How we can insert our stories into their habits

• How we can help create a habit of reading / consuming OUR work

• How we can bond with that audience, so that they’ll keep coming back

SO... Who ARE Your Readers? 

I used Claude and NotebookLM to do my research.  I have to admit that Claude gets the closest to what I instinctively feel is right. I assume that’s because I’ve been using Claude for a longer time and I just feel more comfortable with its interface and the way it responds. 

I have a very long document called “The Story So Far” that describes just about every character, setting, plot line and idea I have for this story. That’s the “Rosetta Stone” for this process. 

According to AI, my primary audience is made up of “Tech-Anxious” Professionals. They’re watching Severance and have watched Black Mirror. They read AI articles in The Atlantic and articles about Career and Tech on Substack. They read LinkedIn posts about “Future-proofing” their careers.  They are Digitally Literate, Culturally engaged, and Insight-Seeking. 

The secondary audience are Younger Professionals. They are consuming tech criticism on Youtube, WorkLife balance posts on TikTok and Tech Newsletters like “Morning Brew.” They’re concerned about starting a family and are anxious about careers and money. 

Neither of those audiences surprise me. The third and fourth did surprise me a little. The value of doing this research is that I normally wouldn’t care about these audiences... but now I WILL think about them.

The third audience is concerned about AI ethics. They consume business media (WSJ, Bloomberg), business books and long-form business articles.

The fourth audience is made up of... DUH!... Science Fiction fans. I don’t think of myself as a Sci-Fi fan, despite my love of Star Wars, Star Trek and the current Dune Movies. So maybe I just need to do some self-examination. 

I am a fan of “near future” fiction. So there. 

The research also outlined some “entry points” for my audiences, which I found VERY helpful. 

• Family dynamics

• Corporate drama

• Real world AI anxieties

• Philosophical questions 

Meet the 11 People in My Audience! 

There are 11 people in my user / focus group. I”ve edited the descriptions, leaving out their consumption habits, concerns and a few other details. Let’s see who they are. (NOTE: Names and descriptions are as I received them from AI. We can discuss representation, etc. later.) 

1. Sarah, 42, Marketing Director at a Fortune 500 company. THE UPSKILLING PARENT.

  * Married with two school-age children

  * MBA from state university

  * Household income $175K

2. Marcus Rodriguez, 56, IT Infrastructure Manager.  THE TECH VETERAN 

  * Recently divorced

  * Technical background but not cutting edge

  * Living in suburban tech hub

  * Income $150K

3. Jordan Kim, 32, UX Designer at startup. THE ANXIOUS MILLENNIAL 

  * Single, urban apartment

  * Design school graduate

  * Income $95K

  * Heavy tech user but increasingly skeptical

  * Social media chaos during collapse

4. Taylor Washington, 25, Data Analyst. THE EMERGING PROFESSIONAL 

  * Recent grad working remotely

  * Living with roommates

  * Income $85K

  * Digital native

5. Patricia Mehta, 48, Middle Management at large corporation.  THE CORPORATE SURVIVOR

  * Married, one college-age child

  * Long corporate career

  * Income $160K

  * Suburban homeowner

6.  Lawrence Tanzer.  Mid-30s finance professional. FINANCIALLY ANXIOUS INVESTOR 

  * Deeply concerned about AI's role in banking

  * Worried about digital currency stability

  * Secretly hoarding physical assets

  * Would relate to: The ATM scenes in your story, the revelation of real bank balance

7 & 8 .  James and Alicia. Both late 30s. THE UPWARDLY MOBILE PARENTS.  

  * Recently "made it" into tech management

  * Heavy AI users for social climbing

  * Aggressive about children's AI enhancement

9 & 10 Gerald and Mary, Mid 40s. THE TRADITIONAL TECH FAMILY

  * One in infrastructure, one in psychology

  * Balanced approach to AI

  * Value human skills

11. Mimi Sylvester, late 30s. THE STRUGGLING PARENT

  * Lost job to AI automation (warehouse, delivery, etc.) 

  * Using basic AI systems only

  * Can't afford premium AI services

Did Any Of This Surprise You? 

After describing my audience, Notebook LM, without prompting, asked me the following questions, which are going to take me weeks to sort through. I found them extremely valuable when thinking about my audience:

• How do you envision these different personas interacting with each other in terms of your novel? 

• Which themes or messages do you want to emphasize to each specific persona? 

• Given the "jobs to be done" you outlined for your story, how do you see each persona's emotional needs being met? 

• Are there specific "pain points" for each persona that you want your story to address or alleviate? 

• How do you see these personas reacting to the AI "manifesto" at the end of act two?

• What level of technical detail are you hoping each persona will be comfortable with, and how will you provide support for readers who are less technically inclined? 

Any Other Surprises?

The novel is back. 

While both Claude and Notebook thought that this story could work as a streaming series... both agreed, to quote Claude:  

Your story seems better suited for print/reading formats because:

- Complex technical concepts need explanation

- Internal character thoughts crucial

- Quantum computing elements need description

- Humor works better with narrative voice

And then suggested Serializing on Substack with a window to traditional publishing.

One thing I’d like to dive into later in this series: Are there other ways to work in “early drafts” online that would lead to more traditional distribution? 

What Are The Jobs to Be Done? 

Notebook summed this up really well:

• Specifically, the story aims to give people the language with which to describe AI.

• The story's "theory of change" is that after reading the book, people will be able to talk about AI, understand the main issues, and have funny stories and facts to relate to others, while feeling more confident.

• It helps the reader understand the questions they already have and takes them deeper into those questions.

• The story gives them a way to process "the worst-case scenarios" by showing them a new way of looking at the problems. It helps them to understand the questions they brought to the story, and tests the solutions they think might work.

Claude was much more detailed, and referred to specific story elements, which I’m keeping in here just as a teaser for the story I’ll be serializing later:

1. EMOTIONAL JOB: Process AI Anxiety Through Humor

- Before: Feeling overwhelmed and alone with AI concerns

- After: Can laugh about AI challenges with others

- Improvement: Reduced anxiety, sense of community

- Key story elements: 

  * Isabella's smart home disasters

  * Dr. Chen's filtered profanity

  * The ATM social gatherings

  * AI filters revealing what people really think

2. INTELLECTUAL JOB: Understand Human Value in AI World

- Before: Uncertain about human relevance

- After: Clear vision of human strengths

- Improvement: Confidence in human capabilities

- Key story elements:

  * Stan's infrastructure knowledge becoming crucial

  * Kate's human-centered therapy

  * Montana's practical wisdom

  * Return of human expertise

3. SOCIAL JUSTICE JOB: Process Class Anxiety

- Before: Worried about AI expanding inequality

- After: See paths for human agency despite AI

- Improvement: Hope for fairer future

- Key story elements:

  * Zaslav's leverage exposed

  * Quantum computing access issues

  * Hidden Spielbergia revealed

  * Real bank balances shown

4. ENTERTAINMENT JOB: Enjoy Smart Tech Satire

- Before: Taking AI anxiety too seriously

- After: Able to see humor in situation

- Improvement: Better perspective, stress relief

- Key story elements:

  * Luke's font disaster

  * King's fake poor island

  * AI relationship mishaps

  * Translation filter failures

5. COMMUNITY JOB: Feel Less Alone

- Before: Individual anxiety about AI

- After: Shared understanding of challenges

- Improvement: Sense of common experience

- Key story elements:

  * Universal problems when AI fails

  * Shared human responses

  * Community formation during crisis

  * Collective solution finding

SUCCESS METRICS:

Readers should feel:

- "Finally, someone gets it!"

- "I'm not alone in thinking this"

- "Humans still matter"

- "This is scary but also funny"

- "We can handle this"

Okay, I Get It. What Do I Do Now? 

1. Get everything you know on paper. Hold back nothing. And don’t worry about “readablility>..” Just a “Brain Dump” of everything.

2. Upload into Claude, Notebook, ChatGPT or some combination.

3. Ask AI to identify the potential audiences who will relate to your story, where those audiences currently consume similar content/

4. As AI to take that and create audience personas. Include their demographics, interests that align with your story, key concerns and needs and their current consumption habits.

5. Ask AI to define the audience’s “Job to be done” What problem are you solving, what needs are you filling. WHat do they NEEd done? How will their lives improve by consumignh your content? 

6. Ask AI to identify the popular platforms for your personas. What has already been successful that aligns with your story. Are there emerging platforms and formats you should watch?

7. Ask AI to pose a “Theory of Change.” Where is the audience currently? How do they fulfill their needs now? What are  their “pain points” and obstacles to getting a better resolution? How can you help solve those paion points. What is the desired effect on the audience after they’ve consumed your content? 

Your Turn

Have you used AI to “find” your audience? Is this all useful or deeply disturbing? Let me know.

Coming Next

I find a “VOICE” to speak to this audience... and now I’m collaborating with AI to create that voice. 

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