Identify Your Target Audience
No matter what you write, this is the key to writing success
You are going to read this one sentence again and again in every single post you ever read about being a successful writer! Identify your target audience. What do you write? Who is your customer? What do they want to read?
Many people believe that this means you should write about what is popular. This is kind of true, but not the whole story. Nothing is ever that simple, not ever!
What is popular at the moment, what niche do you write in, and sometimes something as simple as good timing can also play a role in gaining readers.
Let me get started with this.
The trouble with a narrow niche
Imagine a comedy romance story about a teenage vampire who falls in love with a beautiful girl, but the boy can’t reveal that he’s a vampire for obvious reasons. It isn’t a bad idea. Now, I am going to write this story set in the American Wild West. And this is where the story hits a problem.
Comedy, vampires, teenagers, and the Wild West! Who is the audience? The target for this kind of story is usually teens, more than likely teen girls who like comedy, romance, and vampires. But the setting isn’t going to do the story any favors. Yes, there will be some girls who are interested in the American West who also like romantic comedies and vampires, but not enough.
I see this kind of thing a lot, especially on social media or in writing forums. I can’t exactly tell them why nobody is buying it or why they’ve only had a few sales and that is it. And the writer can never seem to understand why agents and publishers are rejecting their book. Well, I can but I would probably be attacked for my honesty.
Why? Because the niche is too narrow, it isn’t going to sell very many books because there’s no audience for it.
Balancing passion and commerce
This doesn’t mean you have to write mainstream, but it does mean you need to consider who is going to read your work. Understanding your target audience is crucial for writing success. It’s not just about writing what’s popular, or only writing what you want to write. It’s finding the balance between your passions and what an audience wants to read.
The audience beyond
Consider these burning projects that you think are great ideas and that you want to write as something to be written in the future.
I’ll use Seth MacFarlane as an example. When he started, he was writing for the Cartoon Network on shows like Dexter’s Laboratory and Johnny Bravo. At that point in his career, he couldn’t have sold Family Guy or American Dad, and I don’t think any of the TV networks would have touched The Orville.
What? A Star Trek parody comedy series, with the writer as one of the main characters. NOPE!
But later, when he had a name, he could pretty much write what he wanted and sell it. Because he has a name! At this moment in time, you don’t have a name. Nobody is going to take a risk on your crazy story that may or may not sell!
Extensively research your target audience
And this doesn’t just mean the reader! Once more, I have noticed people on social media complaining about rejections.
After careful review, I regret to inform you that I have decided not to pursue representation of your work at this time. Please understand that this decision was not made lightly, and I genuinely appreciate the opportunity to review your submission.
While I found many strengths in your manuscript, I ultimately did not feel that it was the right fit for my list or that I could effectively champion it to publishers in the current market landscape. Please know that publishing is a highly subjective industry, and what may not resonate with one agent may find success with another.
Many times, this was simply due to a lack of research. Just because the agent represents comedy writers does not mean they will be interested in your book. Are there any similar books represented by the agent? No? Then why do you think the agent will want yours?
Commercialism! OMG! The agents and publishers only want books that sell! They don’t care about the two years I spent writing my teenage vampire love story! Then crafting the perfect query letter and agonizing over the short description that took hours and hours!
You’re right, they only want books that sell. Because that’s how they get paid. In the end, both the agent and the publisher are businesses that need to survive.
What does your audience want?
I use mainly Reddit and Twitter (X) to read about what others are interested in. What problems are writers facing, the questions they ask, and what I think they are doing wrong? I do not engage very much because many times I find people do not want to hear they are in the wrong. But I do read so I can understand their interests, preferences, and pain points. I use this not-so-secret insight to stay informed about my audience’s needs.
This is something that you need to be doing.
Thanks for reading!
As usual, Clap, Follow, and Comment if you want to!
Paul