Your book will not appeal to everyone. There will be readers who will search for your kind of novel while browsing the shelves at the book store or searching through the thousands of ebooks online. These people are your audience and they are vital to selling your work.
In my first year of college I had to take a basic English course. The instructor taught the class how to write college level papers. She was an enthusiastic teacher, kind of bubbly, yet serious about what she taught. She made learning how to write papers feel like a drama course. One element she always focused on was audience.
I will admit, at first I didn't get it. My thoughts were, 'Wouldn't anyone who read my paper be it's audience?' Which in a way is true, from my perspective, but so was the idea that why should I make my bed when it's going to get messed up again later? But it's nice to have a made bed, and it's also nice to have an audience for your work. As time went on I began to understand the importance of audience.
Every creative work has a target audience. As a writer you want to write books that will appeal to the readers you are targeting. You want to know your audience, understand them as best you can. If you write young adult fiction you want to know what kind of young people will enjoy your novels. Same goes with romance. There are several degrees of romance. Some are warm and cozy, while others burn to the touch. My novel Beyond Gavia is a science fiction with a sub genre of romance. I've had readers love the way I built my character's romance. Then I had a reader who'd felt my sex scenes weren't explicit enough.
Successful writers usually have a firm grip on what their readers expect of them. This is more difficult for writers who are just beginning. You know you want people to read your book, but you also have to somehow fulfill their wishes as readers. Here are a few tips for getting to know your target audience.
1. Read the kind of books you want to write. Reading your selected genre can help you get an understanding what readers of that particular genre enjoy. Yet don't forget to maintain your own style and voice as you gather inspiration from reading other authors.
2. Read reviews on books in your genre. You can get a good handle on reader expectations for their favorite stories through reading what they have to say about them. You can do this on Amazon and Goodreads, but be careful. There are those out there that many call 'trolls" because they troll through and leave bad reviews for the sake of leaving bad reviews. It's like a hobby for them. Anne Rice was just talking about this a few weeks ago online.
3. If you are already a published writer learn from your own reviews, even the ones that make you want to throw your computer out the window.
4. You can also learn more about potential readers by engaging in online forums for writers and readers. The internet supports hundreds of writing groups and communities. Ask other writer's their opinions on audience.
5. Know the age you are targeting. Make sure your material is age appropriate for your audience.
I'm sure there are several other ways to get to know your audience, but here are a few that have helped me out. I'd love to hear back from other's on audience. Thanks for visiting!
I've always thought about four factors when it comes to audience:
ReplyDelete-Who will most likely stumble upon the article
-Who you want to read the article
-Who will benefit from the article
-Who will actually read the article
It seems to me that when making content, you can approach audience in two ways:
You can go 'top-down'; forming your work after considering your target audience and forming parameters based on that. This is advantageous in that it will more likely generate hits, however I feel that it produces less qualitative work.
In the case of a 'bottom-up' approach, you write then see who reads it and then develop along those lines. I feel like this is a bit more freeing, but less reliable. The flow is better, but has tons of pitfalls. Still, a good writer can use this method just fine.
Great thoughts, Brandon. When I started writing I definitely took the bottom up approach. I wrote because I had stories in my head and I had to get them out. I think most writers do it that way. But as I've grown as a writer I've, and after I published my first book, I've realized the importance of audience. I don't think it should be too much of a dominating factor in writing, but something that should be considered. It's a balance.
DeleteI seem to have the same affliction, terrible thing. For me writing is a learning tool. I found that the best way for me to learn something, was to write it out as though I was explaining it to someone. Converting sets of notes into little articles in a journal. Maybe it was just the habit of using a journal. Ideas and wonders pop in my head and torment me until I record them, write them out.
DeleteFortunately worked for fiction too, but in a stranger way. Allegorical narratives always seem best for understanding how people feel, how I feel, and all those meaningful experiences. A story can be molded--carved into shape, exposing the meat.
It's interesting, in high school Leif Enger stopped by (before he had a bestseller) to answer questions for our class. His answer to a question on why he wrote still fascinates me; he said it was because he could not seem to do otherwise. He'd write regardless of if it sold, or even if no one would see it.
So as far as audience goes, you're right it does matter. But I wonder if it's something that becomes second nature. Or if something made in enough passion and skill doesn't require it? I mean sure, the social media stuff, but the story itself. Hmmmm....
I believe a writer should first and foremost write for themselves, like Stephen King and several others believe and advise. The readers will come. If you try to write for everyone else-- you'll drive yourself crazy. Yes, you should consider your target audience. Age appropriateness, etc... Writing is an art. You can't sway that art to fit what YOU THINK others might like, in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I think writers should always write first for themselves. But I also believe a writer should consider those who will be their audience. I don't think writer's can be exactly sure who is going to pick up their book and enjoy it (maybe highly established writers). Audience is broad and in a way I think as writers we kind of have to generalize. Now that I've written and published audience has been more prominent in my mind as a writer.
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