Allow me to share a challenge almost as painful as writing the dreaded synopsis.
In the querying trenches, I’ve discovered agents expect a writer to have a logical and well researched answer to the question;
Who is your target audience?
Initially, I had naively answered—everyone! Of course, my book is for everyone; for all people, for all women, for all daughters, for all readers.
However, this isn’t the answer agents are looking for. With this question they want to know if you understand your book and therefore understand the market you are writing for and subsequently where your book should sit on the shelf in the bookstore.
As most writers and therefore book lovers are members of Goodreads or Audible, or use Amazon or library search engines to find books, it shouldn’t come as a great surprise that these programs are designed to do the same thing—to help you pick your next book. This is, in essence, exactly what your potential agent or editor or publisher wants you to understand about your book.
This, I know from experience, feels like a daunting question. So let’s take it in tiny steps.
What you read, what you purchase or sign out from the library helps to generate your next reading recommendation, so it is essential for you to understand how your novel fits into the system. It’s another way of looking for your comparable titles or comps.
What books will pop up for your reader after they finish your book?
Or in finishing what (???) books – would your book title then pop onto someone’s screen to say… “Other readers who finished THIS book, also enjoyed THIS other book.”
Figuring out your genre is a great way to find comps as well as to define the answer to that seemingly indistinct, but actually very specific question of – Who is your target audience? This question is essentially asking – what kind of reader will enjoy your book?
I am on a personal mission to define the perfect answer for Query Manager (the program that agents use to sort their slush pile). Over the next weeks, I will be defining my genre, searching lists of the top recently published books in that genre and reading and reading and reading more until I have found amazing current comparable novels and can clearly state who my reading audience is.
Let’s try to make this easy… is your book FICTION or NON-FICTION?
Great! See, you got this.
Is your book LITERARY FICTION? Does the prose, the eloquent way you tell the story surpass all the general rules of genre? Does the telling of the story, the inner life of the character take precedent over the story itself. If no, then continue.
If your book isn’t LITERARY, then you should fit, hopefully, into a GENRE and this should help you to narrow down your target audience further.
Next, is your book MG, YA, NA or ADULT?
This depends on the age of your protagonist and the themes explored.
MG PRETEEN or MIDDLE GRADE is 8-12 and reflects this age group’s maturity, world view and reading level.
YOUNG ADULT 12-18 is usually in first person and explores intense, passionate situations, sometimes considered coming of age, with high stakes.
NEW ADULT 18-25 is about ‘firsts’ – starting University, first job, first time living on own, usually first person – negotiating education and career choices.
ADULT fiction can have a protagonist of any age, but the novel has been written for an adult audience with adult themes.
So, are you getting closer?
Next, I will refer to other sites where there are extensive lists of GENRE so I will keep this summary succinct.
Is your story in a fantastical world with elements like magic… is it FANTASY?
Does your story use science and technology to justify alternate worlds and adventures… is it SCIENCE FICTION?
Does the story revolve around a romantic relationship between two people… is it ROMANCE?
Is your story is set in the past… is it HISTORICAL?
Is your story told from a woman’s perspective, following her emotional journey… is it WOMEN’S FICTION?
Is the story based in old Western America… is it WESTERN?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_writing_genres
I hope this has helped you to define your genre. Now, pull up a search engine and start searching for books in your genre, published within the last five years, read the summaries, find books that could have parallels to your work and start reading.
If the books are similar to yours, then you’ve got the right genre and you’ve found your target audience. Now you can imagine where your book sits on the shelf – obviously with those comps you found and congratulations… if you know who is buying those books, you’ve found your TARGET AUDIENCE.
