Today I’m supposed to define my target audience. It’s a marketing concept – for whom is my product intended? What is my product? The written word; my thoughts on paper. This expanse of white is the paper. The typeface arranged into understandable patterns is the thought.

If you’re reading this, you should be offended. Well, I’m offended by the notion that I’m being pigeon-holed into someone’s sales plan by a laundry list of characteristics. Which agency, business, or person defined the list of characteristics?

Do you have a government defined age, gender, socioeconomic classification? What is the last educational degree you attained? Do you purchase goods by brand, store, or website? Do you live in an urban, suburban, or rural area? Do you own, rent, or lease your domicile? What’s your favorite color? Your astrological sign? Does the list end with a checkbox for all of the above or none of the above?

This assignment in my blogging course is not unique. Writers of all sorts have to identify key characteristics of their readership. When I was a technical writer, I had to ensure my documentation was readable at the eighth grade level and no higher. As an author, that requirement is captured by the age of your target audience; think about board books, chapter books, Little Golden Books®, middle school readers, young adult. It can also captured by your genre.

So, who am I writing for? If you stumble on my blog and you don’t like what I write, you’re unlikely to mark it as a favorite to come back to some day. Of course, if I gave you the address and you don’t like what I write, you’re unlikely to mention it to me but it means I’m a one-and-done for you and that other person. I’m writing for people who are connected to me – family and friends.

These are the people I get my ideas from – mostly about how characters walk and talk, dress, and interact with one another. This past Thanksgiving I met some new family members who were available because they got vaccinated against Covid, something that wasn’t the case last Thanksgiving. I heard new stories, listened to some of the same old stories, and got fresh material.

If you’re someone who stumbled on my site, do you like me well enough to join the tiny ‘friend’ part of family and friends? If so, welcome to a new member of my target audience.