My Ideal Reader: Or Why Looking in the Mirror is Probably Not the Best Answer

Being a new author, I’ve learned late in the process that we should be writing for a target audience. If you don’t know your reader, how can you know how to reach them?

Okay. That makes sense. It’s marketing 101.

You can’t provide someone what they need unless you know what they want. And you can’t know what they want unless you know who they are. And if you know who they are and what they want, you won’t have to sell — because what you create — is what they’ll want.

Now — what to do when you’ve already written the book?

Well — you can look in the mirror.

Most writers, and certainly this is true for me, write for their own pleasure. How that connects to a commercial audience is probably more art than a science — which probably explains why everyone in the field is starving — unless your last name is Amazon.

Narcissism aside, when I wrote my novel, my main focus was on men and women who were politically aware and keenly attuned to social injustice — I’m all about that — and definitely college educated – because – as one beta reader pointed out (and I did fix it) — I tend to like the word “acquiesce” an awful lot. That’s kind of a college word.

Now, I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge that even though straight men like the book, my best readers are women and gay men. They’re the “super” readers — and so — even though the novel might work as a great paperweight in your husband’s office — it probably won’t be read.

I’m also writing for an older crowd — definitely north of forty. My characters tend to have life challenges that come with advancing maturity. Career transitions, health challenges, fear of retirement, fear of loneliness — those difficult situations we all face if we are lucky enough to grow into grey-haired adults.

And if you’ve ever been curious about what makes people tick — why they choose one life decision over another — oh — you’re my kind of reader. That just fascinates me.

So let’s see. Gay men and women. Over 40. Politically aware. Probably Democrats, humanitarians, socially liberal. Averse to injustice. College Educated. Interested in relationships and life transitions. Adults who refuse to be cowed by life’s struggles and who definitely understand, but object, to the word “acquiesce”.