9.11 hOW PEOPlE rEAlly jUDgE A BOOk I see authors spend years writing their book, finishing the man- uscript—and watching it never find an audience. It’s incredibly depressing. The worst part is that this is completely avoidable. In fact, it’s pos- sible to know with a high degree of certainty whether or not your book will find an audience. To do that, you first have to understand how people judge books. After all, if the goal for the book is to find an audience, you have to understand how audiences perceive books. This section will explain the mental process that a reader goes through when making a buying decision about a book, and will set you up to understand how to position your book to give it the best chance to reach the audience you want. THE INFORMATION REAL PEOPLE USE TO JUDGE A BOOK Let me lay this out for you in the starkest terms possible: hOW PEOPlE rEAlly jUDgE A BOOk · 443