Christian authors can find it challenging to determine an audience for their books, mainly because Christian books are aimed at something different than age ranges. Christian books are often aimed at a “psychographic,” rather than a demographic. This means Christian books are often aimed at readers who have certain values, beliefs, and lifestyles, rather than an age range of males or females.
No book, except for the Bible, is for everyone; so you need to suggest a target audience for your book. And for a very long time, advertising and marketing focused on age-range markets: 12-17, 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55-64, and then 65+.
If you think about it, grouping 12- and 17-year-olds into one market segment is a bit silly, but no sillier than grouping everyone 65 and over into one group.
Today, much of consumer marketing and product development is focused on groups with shared values, beliefs, and lifestyles. Of course, there are products distinctly for the young or old; but mostly other non-age-related factors are used to determine an audience for a product.
I find it rather humorous when I think that a person born in 1948 celebrated their 21st birthday at the August 1969 Woodstock music festival, listening to Jimi Hendrix, The Who, and The Grateful Dead, among others, and turned 75 this past August. Good luck determining whether that person will attend a church service with traditional hymns and organ accompaniment or may prefer another type of worship experience.
Same with books. Don’t assume a 75-year-old reader lived their life in black and white, playing the accordion, and reading the King James Bible. They grew up watching the Vietnam War on their color televisions. The only thing in black and white were the pictures beamed back to Earth from the surface of the moon the month before Woodstock.
And, of course, these days, race and gender are being used as ways to segment people into marketable groups. These things work just about as well as age ranges. (Not very well.)
This is why when you try to guess who might read your book, you might do well to forget the age-range target and focus on values; priorities; lifestyles; and, of course, whether they are Christ-followers or not.
Of course, this takes more time than reflexively thinking a book is for people ages 35-54 or some other segment, but it is worth the effort. It humanizes your reader and makes you consider things about them that a cold marketing segment never will.
Add to this description the fact that most best-selling books for adults are written at an approximate reading level of 8th grade. More reflective or literary titles can push the reading level to late high-school grades. But for the most part, we are using language understandable to a 13-year-old to communicate Bible truth to the world.
If you ever sat in a room with multiple generations, races, and all the other characteristics that are used to divide and conquer us and unite in worship to the King, you quickly realize how pointless all those other things become compared to the surpassing knowledge of knowing Christ.
But remember, no book is for everyone or every Christian. Think deeper to identify your audience.
Books are for people, not caricatures.
I Is for ISBN
Three quarters of a century
have come with last birthday,
but twenty was potentially
his last in far-off Hue.
He could have stayed in college,
the draft’s cold hand delayed
but in his heart the knowledge
that others would have paid
for his safety brought him shame,
and so he took his chance.
Very few now know his name,
or give an old man second glance,
but look into his faded eyes
and see honour that never dies.
Andrew, We are the same age, and I know your name, and I know the honor in your eyes, and I know that it, as well as your precious soul, will never die. Blessings of the Lord to you.
Sy, I have no words but a heartfelt Thank You.
God bless you, my friend.
Thanks for that, Dan. However editors still obsess about the age range.
Great info! I like the idea of the psychographic.
Edie Melson was the first writing teacher I heard say we should “write for the one”—the one God who gives us our creativity and the one reader who needs our writing. I love that thought.
Writing for an imagined crowd sometimes feels overwhelming. Focusing on a mental image of the person I want to read my writing helps. I know writers who print a picture representing their intended reader and attach it to the computer monitor. (Since this advice helped me, thought I’d pass it on.)
This is such great and helpful information. I’ve always been a bit frustrated by the age delination, but the way you’ve talked about the psychographic makes much more sense. Finding an audience based on beliefs, lifestyles, priorities, and values is so much clearer to me! Thank you.
It helps to hear this from an agency pro. Age-segmenting my audience made no sense. Focusing on values, priorities, lifestyles–now that fits my books’ readers. (And, as you said, this requires a deeper dive into knowing and understanding people.) Thank you.
Thank you, Dan! This information makes far more sense to me, both as a writer and a reader.
THIS:
Don’t assume a 75-year-old reader lived their life in black and white, playing the accordion, and reading the King James Bible. They grew up watching the Vietnam War on their color televisions. The only thing in black and white were the pictures beamed back to Earth from the surface of the moon the month before Woodstock.
100% !!!
Do you think there’s any space in the publishing world for books that have a Christian worldview but aren’t necessarily targeted to Christians?
Or are we past those times?
In theory, yes there is a place for such a book. In practice, publishers have either a biblical or secular worldview. One side would reject it for lack of strong biblical content and the other would reject it for its narrow point of view.
Maybe there was a time when this was possible, but examples are so few among the millions of books published over the years that one wonders if there was anything beyond just a few extreme exceptions.
Thanks for the reply! It is the answer I expected – though I hoped against it, as a reader as much as a writer!
Perfect timing! Someone just reviewed my Christian, YA, first chapter and gave a negative response because it was too “safe”…. Umm, that was the precipise to begin writing so that young people have something wholesome without all the alter-drama! It was actually a compliment! My audience might be limited but readers wanting something clean, wholesome, and spiritually uplifting are my target audience.
Playing the accordion, ha! My teenager has an accordion that he acquired for the sole purpose of menacing the family with interesting sounds. He doesn’t actually play he attacks! Plus, my grandfather (who was born in 1918 and passed away at the age of 104) adored new gadgets. We were carefully considering if it would be worth it to get a smart TV … then when we inherited his log home way out in the woods we discovered that he already had one, ha! So yes, lumping people together by age can be less than helpful but finding a story or subject that a group is passionate about is vital.
Thank you for this article. It was very encouraging to me as I don’t ‘fit’ the usual mold. My passion is to write in such a way that readers will fall in love with Christ. He is the hero of my books and he is also my target audience. I write for him. I guess that makes me a weirdo! Nevertheless VIRTUAL to REALITY, an allegorical fantasy for anyone 9-90 who would like to understand the blessings and hope of Revelation, won the 2022 CIPA Award for 8-12 category. And, it’s counterpart REVELATION: A LOVE STORY, non-fiction for 13-90, is my most loved book. I suppose that means I’m not the only one who thinks Christ is the ultimate hero. Do I write for money? No! I write because I must! And knowing I have done my best for my Lord makes my heart sing. That is my reward. Though it is also heartwarming to see others responding to the wonder I see in Christ.
I was still in college when I turned 21. We have a friend who was at Woodstock. At least he thinks he was. Ha!!