Hello? Is Anybody Out There?

When The Prophecy started to become a reality, in my mind and then on paper as something legitimate to publish, I had no preconceived idea about "target markets." I was just writing a book. I had no previous knowledge of structure, planning, word count...nothing. I just had a story to tell and of course everyone was going to want to read it. It was only after the story was written and I had decided to hire a professional editor that the question first came up. "Who is your target market?" Well...everyone, of course. After several emails back and forth, it was decided that because of adult content, the target market would be 18 and up. It is after all a love story.I did have several beta readers, both male and female of various ages, to read the manuscript and give me feedback. I did want the love scenes to be tender and highly suggestive but obviously not pornographic.It was the same decision with the violence (not tender, but you know what I mean). It is a fine line for an author to walk, and again I will be the first to say that is the benefit of having a professional working with you. My editor is an award winning author of several romance novels so I knew I could count on her opinion to keep me in line. In the world of fiction, an author will almost never please everyone that chooses to read their work. The best you can hope for is more, than not. Being an avid reader myself, I find an author I like and usually end up reading nearly everything they have published. It is typical that some works are definitely better than others. But the common thread, is that their stories are still compelling enough and crafted well enough to keep me coming back. I believe that is the best we can all hope for. Now that I have a clearer understanding of who I am writing for, and two more books in the trilogy to write, it is a great relief to know that I won't have to stick my head out into the cold, dark and stormy night and yell, "Hello? Is anybody out there?"