Last week, we talked about how good website data can help you “listen” to your readers. While your readers don’t speak audibly through data, their actions speak louder than words. Observing your readers’ actions on your website gives you spectacular insight into what they want.   But another revolutionary technique will tell you what your readers want.  You ask them!  Believe it or not, readers have preferences. Listening to your readers’ preferences will help you make your books more appealing and your marketing more resonant.  If you feel stuck in your marketing, platform, or sales growth, you might need a better understanding of what your readers want. If you’ve never surveyed your readers, your lack of knowledge about their preferences may be hampering your growth.  Sometimes catering to your readers’ preferences requires only tiny tweaks and can eliminate little irritations that are torpedoing your success. You can easily listen and learn from a handful of readers by having a conversation over coffee or on the phone.  But how do you listen to hundreds or even thousands of readers?  You create a reader survey.  The purpose of the reader survey is to help you take action. You want to know which tweaks will lead to a massive increase in reader satisfaction and list growth.  Please remember that reader surveys are only helpful for authors who care what their readers think. Some authors simply want to write what’s on their heart regardless of whether readers like it.  If that’s you, this episode probably won’t help you. If you don’t value reader preferences and don’t care about serving them better, then there’s no point in surveying them.  Consider creating a reader survey if you care about thrilling and serving your readers and want to adapt your writing and marketing to their preferences.  Tips on Creating Readers Surveys Short and Simple is Better Readers don’t want a long, intensive survey. A handful of strategically chosen questions will often unlock your writing and marketing.  A good statistical sampling requires a lot of answers. The fewer questions you ask, the more answers you’ll get and the more valid the answers will be.  Reward Survey Participants Properly Consider offering a prize to one lucky person who completes the survey, but be sure to choose a prize that interests your specific fans. If strangers or people outside your audience take your survey, your data will be skewed. The key to an author’s success is to thrill a passionate, core readership that will talk about your books to their friends. You don’t want to incentivize random strangers with a generic Amazon gift card because their feedback won’t help you make positive changes for your current readers.  What kind of incentive should I offer my survey participants? If you’re already published, you can offer an autographed hardback collection of your most recent series or entire catalog.  It’s a great incentive because the only person interested in a hardback collection of your books would be an existing reader who’s already a fan of your writing.