KNOWING OUR READERS

It Took Me Writing Three Novels to Answer the Question All Authors Get

“Who is your reader?”

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At the start of writing a novel, there are a series of obvious questions that need answering. Two big ones are:

• Who is your primary reader?
• What is your literary genre?

While I knew these questions mattered, my focus was on finding my voice, building the storyline, and establishing characters who grew over time that readers would cheer on.

My voice was to be casual and accessible. It would be a fictional series that one could read at the end of the night, even with limited energy. Two of my all-time favorite novels are David Copperfield and Anna Karenina, and neither can be read at night with limited energy.

Clearly, we are in a different era with different needs.

My hope was that my readers would understand the challenges my characters faced and would want to know how they addressed and solved them… if my characters did.

I wanted a book that felt simple on the surface and deep underneath.

And still, I had no clearly identified primary reader or genre.

In the first book of the series, a 14-year-old boy named Alfred learns what it takes to make good friends, and he does this with the help of a coach (I did learn that all my readers wanted that coach). Entering Alfred’s world is unique. He is very literal, very smart, and possibly neurodivergent (so I’m told). He is definitely a person readers root for.

In the second book, Alfred’s best friend, Hannah, has a residue of anger that colors her world, and she is not sure why. Hannah is highly intelligent and loves to write. In a summer spent with her dad and her journal, Hannah discovers the sources of her unhappiness and the importance of do-overs. My goal was for parents to read this book alongside their kids and share various moments as a fun-to-explore dinner conversation.

Maybe everyone would learn a little something about everyone.

In the third book, Alfred’s single mom, Ellie, is forty and dutifully raising her son, going to work, and enjoying two skimpy hobbies —a book club and yoga. She is depressed and wonders, “Is that all there is?” At the urging of Alfred and his coach, Ellie revisits past traumas and lays the groundwork for a richer and more fulfilling future. Readers will experience Ellie’s coming-of-age journey and hopefully see “coming of age” as any and all ages.

It took me creating Ellie’s story to learn who my primary reader is. Authors may like to believe they have many readerships, but the question that needs answering is, “Who stands out as being the best fit for your book?”

I now know my answer: Women, probably middle-aged and older, who place a priority on mental health, want to help others, and want to continue to grow themselves.

My series aims to be an accessible resource filled with small life stories. Its characters involve therapists, but the aim of the book is for readers to begin processing their world and draw something from the story directly. Even better, the reader might be motivated to stir up a conversation with others. It is easy to imagine the benefits that might accrue.

This primary reader might:

• Be a mom, grandmother, friend, or educator who feels a personal commitment to help but would love some stories or tips to help her engage others.
• Feel her own displacement and discontent. Whether it’s revisiting some past decisions, relationships, or gates closed, she might feel frozen in time and want to break free.

That I identify women as my primary readers does not mean men couldn’t benefit from or enjoy the read. Plenty of men have read Alfred’s Journey to Be Liked and Hannah’s Journal to Be Happy and found the experience worth their time. But these books would not be a natural draw for most.

This also does not mean that young adults wouldn’t find the first two books helpful. Hannah’s Journal to Be Happy is written in Hannah’s sophisticated young adult voice. In a live setting, I have been able to engage young adults, but I am skeptical that many would choose to read the book voluntarily. This segment of readers is far more likely to choose fantasy, mystery, and thriller as natural book picks.

I have also validated my genre as literary fiction, which prioritizes character development over a fast-paced plot. Themes of love, loss, identity, growth, and hope all factor into the Alfred series. There is no fast-paced plot, which would never fit with the tone and pace of the books.

All three books have a strong coming-of-age theme and reference literary classics of the past in some subtle ways. These references happened naturally and fit both the storyline and me as a writer.

I now understand that literary fiction is one of the least popular literary genres, but it doesn’t really matter because it’s my voice. Maybe I will be seen as a writer who is authentic, which we care about today.

Now that I know women are my primary readers and literary fiction is my genre, will that help me?

In some ways, yes. When I do any Amazon advertising, I will be more precise in my criteria as it relates to them. When I explain my series to others, I will have a clarity of language and purpose that should be better.

In Coming of Age at Forty, Ellie returns to a line given to her by someone earlier in the story (to reveal the source would be a spoiler). The line comes from Robert Frost’s The Mending Wall.

“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.”

The poem references what we “wall in” and “we wall out” and is an apt description for both Ellie and me, needing to understand what we wall in and wall out.

I think I’ve found my answer just in time.

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