Into the Fire

Authors have few choices regarding who reads their novels. We can suggest age ranges, in Christian authors' cases we can specify that it's Christian Fiction or that the stories contain spiritual elements, etcetera, but in many ways, we are limited. We have no real control as to who picks up our books to read. 

Frankly: I got a 2-star review the other day (not on Amazon) by a young woman I wouldn't have chosen to read this particular novel and perhaps none of mine. There are several reasons why I say this which were evidenced in some of her statements regarding the characters and their actions in her very extensive review. She wasn't the right "audience" for my book. 

Love stories are as old as literature. "There's nothing new under the sun" to quote Solomon in Ecclesiastes 1:9. You're not going to have something unheard of happen, some unique situation in a romance, even if you're a fantasy/paranormal/sci-fi author. Romance and Love Stories have covered the territory for centuries. Some authors use major and continuous conflicts, create star-crossed characters, break hearts, kill lovers, you-name-it. It's all been done both well and poorly. 

I've usually written disclaimers or explanations about my novels in the Forewords because I try to avoid the negative reactions to the stories that follow. I take liberties with my characters that some Christian authors do not. I portray the world as it really is without graphics in sexual depictions and language. But there are particular readers who prefer not to read about the world as it is, who are fairly legalistic in their approaches to Christian Fiction, and those readers are not my audience even though all of my novels are absolutely redemptive.

There are ages of young people who either haven't lived enough life and/or have little understanding of what a few years later in their lives they might be able to comprehend more clearly – as to the mindsets and experiences of the more-mature-by-a-few-years characters can produce. 

Having said all that, how do you ensure the right audience* finds your work? 

*audience: This pursuit to find the right audience isn't uncommon in all of the arts: painting, sculpting, music, etc. 

Lord, please direct my novels to those who will appreciate them for what they are, say, and do with the stories. Thank you for readers. May each one find what they're looking for in their reading pleasures. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.