I love writers but, I have to be honest, I don’t put you first. That honor belongs to your future readers.

And you, my friend, should be putting your future readers first too. Why? Because readers will ultimately decide whether your book is a success - or not - once it’s published.

Here are my top tips for fiction writers who want to revise with readers in mind:

1. Know Your Ideal Reader: If you try to write for everyone, you’ll end up writing for no one. Instead, I want you to get super-specific about who your book is for and what matters most to them.
2. Know Your Genre: Once you know who you’re writing for, you have to know what they want from you. That means getting super specific about what your genre demands at a structural and scene level.
3. Put Readers' Priorities F ...