Best-selling author Alice Kuipers is back to answer another Ask Writer Alice question: “Which age group should I write for?”
Alice Kuipers is the author of four young adult novels and a picture book. Visit her website to get more tips for writers.
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Thanks for this informative video. I am writing a children’s book aimed at girls aged 7-10. In addition to reading plenty of books aimed at that age group, I found it helpful to form a focus group with girls ranging from 6-12. I gained good perspective on ages of characters and target age of reader.
I just saw this note here- thanks for the feedback. I hope your writing is going well!
It’s always hard to know which age group to write for–sorry my reply took so long, Riley. The key to thinking about it, is thinking about the age of your main character. Kids LOVE to read about kids just slightly older than them. So, if you’re writing for 12-14 year olds, the kids in the your book will likely be around 15/16. That would be a YA novel–then you can look at those conventions to see if that suits the book you’re writing. Best wishes with your work!
Ali