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Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Audience, Audience, Who Is My Audience?

Lately, I've had a lot of time to ponder the importance of an author's audience. In bed with a vicious bug, I had a lot of time to read a variety of books, magazines, and short stories. In between my reading marathons and my naps, my son started reading more advanced chapter books to me. That same week, I turned in a manuscript and was approached to edit a couple of manuscripts.
Without meaning to, I started comparing the unpublished works (including my own) to the published works.
Audience became very clear to me in these instances:
• With my son's chapter books, they make it easy--big numbers or letters adorn the outside so that even he knows if a book might be too difficult for him to read. The authors have a specific target audience when they are writing.
• The manuscript I worked on was a middle-grade work of non-fiction. As I wrote, I tried to keep in mind that age group, but, in all honesty, I may have over-shot my audience. In some ways, I was also writing to try to impress new-to-me editors and I might have lost some focus on my true audience.
• In the adult books area, one author did not seem to have an idea who the book's audience was. The subject matter weaved around: sometimes it delivered to one audience, then, I turned the page for the narrative to dart over here, then trying to please this audience over here.
• One author clearly had herself for the audience. Not really confident that anyone really wanted to hear what she had to say, she floated around throughout the manuscript. She wrote things that, she admitted, she wasn't sure she wanted anyone else to read. Except that now she has decided to work for publication for those outside her family circle.

As storytellers, aren't we seeking an audience to listen to the tale we tell? Don't we ultimately want someone to hear what we have to say? To have someone engage with what we are putting forth? We know our audience exists, right?
Much of my writing has a pre-defined audience with whom I am trying to communicate and engage. Instead of trying to figure out the next best seller (Think a vampire romance trying to cater to the Harry Potter crowd with a little of Hello Kitty thrown into the mix), perhaps I should take more time to discover my audience. Who wants to read what I have to write?
As writers, ultimately, when we sit down to write, who are we serving? Ourselves or our readers?

Elizabeth King Humphrey, a writer/editor/coach, lives in North Carolina.

6 comments:

  1. Elizabeth---This is a mantra we should say often: Be true to your audience! Know who is your reader, and write directly to them.

    Thanks for the reminders...

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  2. This is the reason it is good to expose yourself regularly to the kind of people you are writing for, especially if it is for children or teen-agers. It is necessary to meld into certain aspects of their lifestyle before you can write something that reader will relate to.

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  3. This is such an interesting blog post. I totally agree that the audience plays a huge factor in the manner of the author's writing, and it's really important to remember that audience. At the same time, the only way (I think) to really please the people who have become fans of your work is to stay true to exactly what you want to put on the page. Because that's what the readers became fans of in the first place. This post is FABULOUS food for thought. Thank you for writing! :)

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  4. Thanks for a great post on an important subject. As one reader noted, this is a mantra authors should say often.

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  5. I totally agree! Writer + Correct Audience = Books that are read over and over.

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  6. Anonymous2:55 PM

    I've been struggling with this question myself. I have been working on two very different projects. I am really not clear about the audiences. I keep asking myself "Would I read this?"
    The answer is "Yes" so I guess maybe I'm writing for a thirty-seven year old woman who loves to read. I hope I'm not writing just to see myself write!

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