The Write Audience for a Blog

Fellow bloggers, not unlike agents and publishers, ask the same question.  Who is your target audience?  It appears we should be aiming our blog to a specific faction: baby boomers, writers, world travellers, electricians, etc.  Each post we write should be of interest to this particular group of people.  The intended parties, knowing that every blog post is relevant to them, will zero in and the list of followers will grow and grow.

It’s no different than a book.  Readers will remain loyal supporters as long as the author does not change direction.  Writers are to theorize everything about their readers, right down to their gender, yearly income bracket, and education.  I am not making this up−I am not.  Other writers will back me up on this. 

Armed with that information, agents and publishers determine how to market the work, if it is marketable at all.  They conclude very quickly if this type of book and range of readership is within their scope.  Who will read your book is the first question they ask.  These movers and shakers of the publishing world are very specific about where their focus lies. 

If writers sought a particular agent/publisher, we would know what they were looking for before writing the book.  How about a submission call for paranormal stories geared to single women over age forty.  With my luck, they would all marry just as I typed The End.

Back to blogging.  Yes, I understand now that we should have a focus when we start a blog.  Personally, I wanted to create something visual for publishers or agents to peruse.  That may be dreaming on my part.

Over these past 23 weeks of blogging, you have shared my triumphs and disappointments.  You have read my poetry and had the decency not to comment.  You’ve learned my habits and shortcomings.  In essence, exactly what I feared would happen when I became a blogger.

 Many of my blogs are idiosyncratic musings touched with sardonic humour.  Some of my weekly offerings read more like a personal column in a magazine or newspaper.  Actually, it was a blog post that led to my monthly magazine column. 

Writing is my passion.  Betty White said, “If you live without passion, you can go through life without leaving any footprints.”  I consider this blog to be my stomping ground, so to speak.

Who is my target audience?  After thoughtful consideration, I conclude that I aim my blogs at the same people who would buy my books or enjoy reading my short stories.  Although, I spoke with someone recently who, having read my novel manuscript, commented that she would never believe the same person is writing these blogs.  She did not expound, and unsure I wanted to know what she meant I didn’t ask.

I like to think my audience is someone who enjoys a good story with an unpredictable ending, has a sense of humour, appreciates good times from experiencing bad, knows how to love from being loved, has an open mind, and is always looking for pleasure from the small things in life.

I like to think you are my audience.