Intended audience: definition and examples
An intended audience is the specific group of readers a writer has in mind while writing, which shapes the tone, vocabulary and content of the work.
The intended audience is who the book is for: middle-grade readers, cozy mystery fans, readers of literary historical fiction. Deciding it early settles a hundred later questions, from how long sentences can run to how much violence belongs on the page. It is not the same as everyone who might pick the book up.
Who you are writing for
Every novel has readers it was built for, even when the author never says so. The age of the reader, what they already know about the genre and why they are reading all shape the choices a writer makes.
Intended audience is a writing term; target audience leans toward marketing. The first asks who the book is written for. The second asks who you will try to sell it to. They usually overlap, but not always.
Examples
"Although my book is intended mainly for the entertainment of boys and girls, I hope it will not be shunned by men and women on that account"
Preface, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain
Twain names his intended audience outright, then hopes for a second one. Many lasting books serve two audiences at once.
"The wiser youngsters of today"
"To the Hesitating Purchaser," Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
Stevenson's opening poem speaks straight to young readers of adventure stories, the people he wrote for.
"which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me."
Preface, A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
A family audience at Christmas. Dickens promises a story that sends everyone home in good spirits.
"Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents,"
Little Women, Chapter 1, Louisa May Alcott
The first line speaks in the voice of a teenage girl at home, which tells young readers at once that this book is about people like them.
Letting the audience make decisions for you
Write your intended reader down in a sentence: who they are, what they have read and what they want from this book. Then use it to settle arguments with yourself about pacing, vocabulary and how much to explain.
Genre shelves carry expectations. Young adult readers expect a teen protagonist; cozy readers expect violence off the page. If a passage reads too old or too young for your reader, [Quick Edit](/features/quick-edit) can adjust it on a plain instruction like "make this read younger."
Common mistakes
Writing for everyone
A book aimed at all readers usually satisfies none. Choose the core reader first; others may follow.
Reducing audience to age
Age matters, but so do what readers know about the genre and why they read it. Two adult audiences can want very different books.
Common questions
- What is the difference between intended audience and target audience?
- In practice they often mean the same thing. When writers separate them, intended audience is who the book is written for, while target audience is who the marketing aims at.
- How do you identify a book's intended audience?
- Look at the age of the main character, the vocabulary, the content level and the genre conventions it follows. Prefaces and dedications sometimes say it outright, as Twain's does. ---
Related terms
Knowing the word is the easy part
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