One of the hardest parts of writing is choosing your audience: whom do you want to entertain. Many writers fail because they can’t find their audience. I chose women 45 and above as my target audience. There were several reasons for choosing this age group. Number one, they read. Women read books while men tend to read magazines. The second reason is that women like mysteries, and I write mysteries/suspense novels. The third reason is mysteries usually are in two different categories: plot driven or character driven. Women of this age group tend to like character driven mysteries. My novels revolve around strong characters. So it is easy to understand why I chose this age group for my target audience. I also have a Midwestern theme in my novels. I didn’t begin thinking this would be another reason my novels would appeal to my target audience. Tanglewood Road takes place in Kansas City while The Possessor takes place outside Bolivar, Mo. My new mystery novel, The Urn, goes from Bolivar to St. Louis and then Kansas City. Many people have commented that they like novels that have a Midwestern theme. So part of finding your target audience may just be luck.
