Who Am I Again? And Who Are My Readers? (Part II)

A Writer’s Identity, Niche, Online Presence, Audience & Influence

PART II

As soon as someone asks who I am as an author, the inevitable next question starts rattling around my brain: Who are your readers? They go hand-in-hand, these questions. I know it’s coming. Put another way: Who is your target audience?

My immediate thought is always: I don’t know! How can I know? I feel a little panicky thinking about this answer. When I worked in the news, there were rules and guidelines, which I did my best to follow, and I knew the readers were subscribers to the wires and the paper, typically financial news junkies like bankers or currency traders. Ditto for a magazine article—the readers had a certain profile, such as travelers, gardeners, or foodies. Similarly, when I teach college students about writing scholarly articles, I know what the expectations in the field are, and how the genre is set up. The main readers in the discipline of economics, for example, are other economists, so the language, tone and style reflect that. With fiction, however, it’s not so obvious.    

Understanding who my readers are is key to “growing my readership” and “building my brand,” as the marketing experts say. It’s a little like asking a politician: Who is your base? I should know. If I want people to read my books, if I want my writing to be more than a hobby, if I want to “sell books!,” as my friend says, I need to know. Target audience is critical.

Conventional wisdom suggests an author’s main readers reflect the author—that author and reader are similar. This is where I get stuck. I don’t want to assume my readers are necessarily like me. Even if they are, in what way? By what metrics? Are we back to the usual answers on the usual forms in the United States—race, ethnicity, age, income, education level? Can I go beyond that and assume it has more to do with beliefs and values? Do you care more about the qualities of the characters in my books than any qualities I have as an author? Or is something else entirely the deciding factor, such as price, cover art, or genre?

One technique to identify your readers is to come up with subjects and tropes that you think your readers go for. For The Secessionist’s Wife, a marketing expert and I ended up with this list: journalism, espionage, politics, geopolitics, investigative journalism, news, strong women, female protagonists, homegrown terrorism, action and adventure, foreign correspondence, foreign interference, the military, bioterrorism, the CIA, the FBI, spies, moles, double agents, betrayal, small-town America, secret scientific research stations, underground lairs, disappearances, relationship drama, marriage/divorce, motherhood, gaslighting, lovers as professional rivals, and races against the clock. PHEW. IS THAT ALL?  

The main idea with this exercise is that readers and book sellers will know they’ll connect with my book by using these identifiers. More mysteriously, artful placement of these terms in online captions and metadata can also help our AI-driven social media-soaked system to connect me to my readers, experts say. You might “follow” me, because I came up as a suggestion in whatever app you’re using (based on the formulas the AI is using to profile us), just like you might be driven to buy a product or a book, because it crossed your screen and you were convinced you couldn’t live without it. I have to admit that I have purchased a few things under these circumstances, such as a portable steam iron and a machine-washable rug. (Of course, “follows” don’t necessarily translate into “purchases,” but that’s another column.)

But what if my readers (you) aren’t the usual suspects at all? What if we as consumers would like someone or something we’ve never tried before, something totally unrelated to whatever we previous liked? What if we want something absolutely brand spanking new? What if you are a man who usually likes spy novels by men, about men, and for men, but you are really into my work? What if you are a woman who has never read espionage fiction or even a thriller, but you would absolutely love love love The Secessionist’s Wife? How can I connect to you ahead of time?

On the flip side, as creators, what if we design, build or write something completely out of the box, something without any known associations or similarities? Would the algorithm leave the masterpiece untouched, like a radioactive briefcase in the middle of the airport? Would such a creative genius sit alone in an empty void?

My guess is that you, dear reader, are complicated. Like me, you might label yourself in this world that wants labels—“professional A,” “X hobbyist,” “former Y” or “recovering Z.” We all know how to check the boxes—or an algorithm may come up with your profile, based on your previous behavior, or some other mix of variables, and you might be bombarded with pitches perfectly molded for your typical pattern, maybe even designed to exploit your weaknesses.

But there’s gotta be more under the hood. I’m sure all of you don’t look one type of way, feel one type of way, or have one reaction every single time. THANK GOD.

What if, underneath, we are all uncategorizable messy balls of contradiction who one day change tack? Isn’t that the beauty of life? We aren’t static. We head onward, do our best. We make mistakes. Works in progress, we keep learning, growing, evolving. We realize new things all the time. We change our minds. Hopefully, we become wiser. We learn what a good marketing pitch is, and how we might be tricked into a purchase, so we can analyze whether we really want/need the thing or not. We try a new type of book.

Whoever you are, dear reader, I admit it would be nice if we’d find each other online. I like the idea that the cybersphere could help us make more connections. AI could bring more people together than ever before! But what if it doesn’t? What if we don’t cross paths, because “the algorithm” just isn’t built in such a way to realize we’d hit it off? Or what if there’s an AI malfunction, and instead of making connections, it drives us apart by mistake? What if “bad actors” (bots, trolls, human propagandists) flood the system with hate and anger that’s designed to divide us? (You probably know how disgusting and disrespectful comments can get.)

Here’s what I propose: First of all, you tell me, dear reader, who you are. How do you define yourself? Are we alike in some ways? If so, how? And how did you find me? (Or feel free to say nothing!) Secondly, let's do our best to make constructive connections online and in real life. People have connected IRL for thousands of years, and my bet is that IRL experiences are going to remain key to a well-lived life. I’ll see you at the coffee shop, bookstore, park, café, soccer field, theater, museum, concert, out and about. Let’s chat!