Who are you writing for?

Before you start writing, know who your target audience will be.

If you are writing a book for children, determine which age group you are aiming to inspire. If you are writing a self-help book, ask yourself who the book is for—a teenager, a middle-aged person, a woman, or a man. If you are writing a book about an interest or a niche topic, think about who you want to attract to purchase your book.

To help you write effectively, it helps to create a “reader persona” or “avatar” to whom you are writing. Give them a name, interests,  and a personality. Then, when you write, write with your “reader persona” in mind.

If you are writing a book for children, it is best to narrow down your target audience, or your book will either be too advanced for little ones or too easy for older children. Writing a book for “0 to 99 years” is reaching very far, as is “3 to 12 years old”.

It helps to read the manuscript to a child in the target age group or get them to read the manuscript to you to see if it will fit the profile of your target audience. If you are aiming too high, it will be difficult for the child to follow, and if you are aiming too young, your target audience may become bored. Don’t give up, though, because all you have to do is tweak your manuscript to make it interesting for your target age group.

“Writing Children’s Books for Dummies” and various other sources give some guidelines for Age Groups that publishers assign to books. As for other genres for Adults and Young Adults, Amazon has a comprehensive list that you can browse through for inspiration.