My Mysterious Reader

A couple of days ago, the American Christian Fiction Writers blog had a post where guest poster S. Dionne Moore talked about her process of figuring out her ‘Most Likely Reader’ or MLR. It was a detailed analysis of her book and the demographics to which it would appeal.

I naturally applied that thinking to my current Work In Progress (WIP), Dream Chaser (DC) and the process left me a bit disquieted. I’m really not sure who the core demographic for my book would be. The main character is male and in the book goes from college age to adult, but I’m not sure if it would appeal more to men or women.

My desire to write this story was born out of a passion to demonstrate something that I see as wrong, but accepted by far too many people as being right. My goal was to tell a story that might get people to look at the circumstances my characters go through in a new way.

I have been deeply influenced by books I have read over the years. They have helped shape my world view. My dream scenario would be to influence someone else in the ways my favorite stories have influenced me.
I know this stuff is important, but honestly, I’m not too worried about it. DC is my first attempt at a novel, and the statistics say that it will not be professional enough to sell. I’ve put some of the business/marketing lessons on the backburner while I concentrate on improving my writing skills.

And speaking of my WIP, for the first time, another human being is laying eyes on it. Bill from Saucy Ink has seen the first chapter, and part of the second. My writing teacher from this past fall, a wonderful lady named Janice, has seen Chapter 1. It is with a mix of excitement, eagerness, and nervousness, with a just a pinch of fear (okay, maybe more than a pinch) that I await their comments.

Of course this Chapter 1 is the ‘new’ chapter 1. The old chapter 1 is now chapter 4, and I’m making some small changes to incorporate the story I covered in the new chapters 1 through 3. I’m still working on revisions on the last half of the book, and then it will be time to have a couple of people read the whole thing. If I thought releasing a single chapter was exciting and terrifying all at once, I can’t imagine what I’ll feel when the whole enchilada is out there.