As a creator, this question has gone through my head many times.
I don’t really believe there is such a thing as a “target audience.” Let me explain… Sure, certain audiences, people, and their interests will be more likely to consume the writing you produce, but they will not be the only ones who can (and will) enjoy your work. I think that by refusing to reach out beyond your “target audience,” you’re doing yourself and readers a disservice.
Certainly, your first wave of marketing should certainly be directed towards those who will be early adopters of your work, but you should never be afraid to reach outside this group. Good storytelling is for everyone, and everyone has a right to it. If you write only for your target group, you uphold the status quo, you play it safe, and you limit your genre.
Having said that, again, I will reiterate again that you should direct your first wave of marketing towards what would be considered a “target audience.” But I do not believe that you should write for them. You should never let your audience dictate the way you believe your story should go. Tell a good story. That’s a writer’s only real responsibility to their audience is to tell a good story. Now… you may argue, like Kent Bridgeman, that you shouldn’t start with a zombie story and then transition to a musical “[unless you’ve got a really good reason],” but I would argue that you shouldn’t do this unless you have a really good STORY. And good stories make sense, have purpose, and reason.
If I had to figure out a target audience for one of my favorite genres, romantic comedy, let’s see what I would end up with. The genre under which romantic comedy falls is “realistic fiction.”
What are the conventions and/or expectations of your chosen genre (e.g. literary, horror, thriller, romance, young adult, historical?
> I think the main expectation of the romantic comedy genre specifically is that we anticipate a happy ending. People end up together, and they end up happier than they were before.
How will you meet these expectations in your future writing?
> You should know, generally, what you are getting into when you pick up a romantic comedy. Some hijinks, some humor, and a happy ending where two people fall in love. Rom-com is generally not Great, Formal, capital L Literature or Film. And that’s ok. Sometimes you want an emotional cup of cocoa. The world can be dark, and we need to counteract that with levity and silliness sometimes.
Is there a particular age, gender, or political/religious viewpoint or demographic the ideal reader from your target audience might have?
> I’m my own personal target audience. When I say that, I mean “straight” white females. Very generally, romantic comedies are going to appeal towards women, and from my personal experiences, I tend to write people who are similar to me, though I do want and try to diversify my characters in meaningful ways. It’s important for me to make sure that when I include diversity, it’s realistic. It should make sense and not just be palette-swapping.
> Having said that, everyone falls in love. And generally, people like falling in love. I was in Barnes and Noble on Saturday and saw something that brought pure joy to my heart: a large LGBTQ section of books in the romance genre. There were even a lot of self-published books! The bounds of the romance (and romcom) genre are growing and if you’re ignoring this new audience, you’re missing out.
How do the elements of voice and style appeal to your genre’s target audience?
> Characters need to feel really genuine in romantic comedies, at least in my opinion, or they end up being boring. I suppose in lower-budget films, or films specifically for casual television viewing (I’m talking about Hallmark or Netflix rom-coms) might want more generic characters for the purpose of self-insertion. If a character is generic enough, the easier it is to watch a show or play a video game and imagine that the character is yourself.
> Self-insert fiction (second-person stories) actually seems to be a bit of a growing genre, especially in erotica (for obvious reasons!) … I can only wonder when that is going to start reaching beyond the bounds of that specific genre.
Anyway, again, I do not approve of writers locking themselves into target audiences when they write. I think audience is something you should use simply as inspiration. If you are stuck, it can help me sometimes to think about my audience and what kind of stories we need right now. Other times, I need to just think about the story and not care what people will like. Marketing is where the audience truly becomes important… and that, as a primary consideration, should come only once you’ve managed to finish your work!
Works cited:
Bridgeman, Kent. “How Defining Your Target Audience Can Make Your Story Stronger.” DiyMFA, 8 Dec. 2014, diymfa.com/community/defining-your-target-audience.
Charlie is my constant audience. He always pays attention when I read my writing out loud to him.