My proof readers and I got together yesterday and had a little chat.
I was asked what my target audience was meant to be, what ago am I aiming at?
I have always thought of myself as the target, late teens to mid twenties (what I believe is known as Young Adult). During the discussion though they all questioned this and seem to think my manuscript would be better suited for the preteen market, they specifically said 10 years old. My sister in law teaches to this age group and said they would be interested in my type of story.
After all that rambling... my question...
How are we supposed to market our work? and should I withdraw my own notions and go with my proof readers. They did add that there was some language that would need to be changed if I was to target a younger audience
Thank you everyone for your comments
Will certainly have to do more research into it. In the meantime I will continue writing as I am
Tony - if it turns out my natural style is directed to a younger audience then I would prefer to know now. That way I can adjust some of the language I use. An easy correction to make
I'm not sure why your proof readers are involved in this discussion - it should be a publisher or editor perhaps. All sounds a bit strange to me as a proof reader just checks your MS for mistakes.
Theres always NA. New Adult, YA leanings with more adult themes ie sex & violence. 16-20 ish.
But you should already know who your story is aimed at. Perhaps you need to question your betas a bit more on why they felt it was more MG/YA. Was it the story, the charas..or perhaps the language?
Then decide which way you want to correct it. Tone it down a bit and aim for a younger audience, which may suit your style more. Or dig for detail on why the story doesn't work for an older market. Is it because you have mis-aimed, or because it wasn't clear in your mind whilst writing? If the latter it may pay to put MS aside for awhiles then have a good reread, probs like this turning up imply others.
There is certainly a lot of demand for YA/NA now amongst agents/readers.