Books and Target Audiences.
The publishers marketing form has been completed and returned to them. Two of the questions referred to the target audience of my book.
I thought long and hard about the answer. (As I did about all the answers 
) I am sure from the wording and positioning of the question the answer was expected to be an age group. I sidestepped the answer by answering ‘Light Science Fiction Fans’
The expected answer should probably have been something like Young Adult/ Adult/Teenager. I have a problem with categorising a book that way. Say I had answered ‘Young Adult’ for instance would it have put off more mature readers? I think the answer to that would be yes. The excluded audience can enjoy many books categorised that way. Take the (too often quoted!) Harry Potter for instance. It was put in the Children category but I know that many of my mature friends enjoyed reading it!
That series of books is an exception. How many books are avoided by people who would otherwise enjoy reading them because they have been specifically targeted at an age group they do not belong to?
What makes a book ‘Young Adult’ or ‘Teenager’ anyway, the age of the characters perhaps or the style of writing? Why should more mature readers be ‘excluded’ for those reasons?
I think the reader should be the judge. It is acceptable to have specific children’s categories for books because they have a marked difference for each age range. To further categorise books after teenager I think may well do a disservice to readers of different age groups and do a disservice to the book and the author. You can read a sample chapter at www.guardianscifi.com let me know what you think.
Have you ever read and enjoyed a book when you were not a member of the target audience?
PS Damn similes are still not working!
