I recently got a nice message from a fellow author on Kindleboards.com who told me a cute story. Her 12-year-old son came to her with a list of books he wanted to get. He proposed a point system for his school grades, whereby he would earn books in trade for points. She shared this personal event with me because the future Vaetra Chronicles novels were on her son’s list.
This is the kind of story I live for as a writer. We put our books out there into the world, and we never really know what readers think about them until we get a review or a personal contact. Releasing a book is more than a little scary because we can’t be sure how the public will react. When the reactions start coming in, they have the power to hurt or reassure.
So far, I’ve been extremely fortunate. My reviews have been mostly positive and the criticisms have been fair. I don’t expect Vaetra Unveiled to appeal to everyone, and I know that those low-star reviews will arrive eventually, but I’m grateful that the readers who have taken the time to share their opinion with me so far have all been supportive, at least on some level.
The story of the enterprising young man and his point system interested me for another reason though. I learned that Vaetra Unveiled may hold some appeal for younger audiences.
I did not set out to write a Middle Grade (MG) or Young Adult (YA) series. In fact, I don’t think the Vaetra Chronicles qualifies as such because none of the protagonists are in those age groups.
On the other hand, my writing is largely G-rated, or at worst, PG-rated. So, while my books are not targeted at a young audience, they are suitable for a young audience. So far, the strongest swear word is “spirits,” and the sexual content hasn’t gotten any more explicit than a few smooches. As my wife pointed out, Calvin and Hobbes had smooches.
If I did get a PG rating, it would probably be for the one scene of “fantasy violence” in Vaetra Unveiled. I won’t say anything more about that scene other than to say it’s unlikely to be nightmare inducing.
The second (forthcoming) novel of the series, Vaetra Untrained, does have a fade-to-black sex scene. There’s no nudity though. I figure that if I’ve gotten to the point where I am describing body parts that are normally kept private, I’ve gone too far. You’ll never see erotica from this writer!
It just goes to show you that you never really know who the audience is for your books until you put them out there and start getting feedback from the reading community. I remember reading that John Locke was surprised to discover that his readership was 70% female. Having read his first book, I found that demographic surprising as well.
Since it can be hard to predict exactly who will enjoy your writing the most, I’m discovering that it’s worthwhile to pay attention and remain flexible in my vision for my stories. Not that the knowledge I gain about my audience will necessarily change how I write, but it might stop me from changing how I write.
At least for the duration of this series.
