This week’s prompt asks us to discuss our imagined audience…
I want this blog to be a resource for all readers of NA. It does not matter if you are new to the genre or have been reading it for decades, there is something gain from reading my reviews.
I have geared my design towards showcasing my Goodreads as I view my audience as dedicated readers who will have accounts on such a site. I have also geared my design towards helping authors with promotion, which is a huge element of NA blogging, through my contact information and my qualifications from working with Netgalley and InkSlingerPR being very clear on the homepage. I am also working on adding more features for newer readers, I have some reviews that are great for newer readers (the ones that tend to have more than one book in them and author spotlights), but I want to cultivate even better resources for new NA readers.
If I can dive deeper: when I imagine my audience I see me of a few years ago. Newer to the New Adult genre, swept up in enjoying the stories that are told in NA books, and ultimately struggling internally with declaring passionately from the rooftops a love for the genre.
NA is inherently more taboo than any other age group. As an NA reader, you are constantly told that you are in fact not a reader, that those words you take in are not valid stories. I am here and blogging about the topic, despite snickering from my friends and my parent’s belief in this being “just a stage” because NA readers are valid readers, NA authors are valid authors who write valid stories. NA readers owe it to authors (many who write under pen names in order to keep family unaware of their choice to write for New Adults) to be vocal and resilient in our love for their stories. Traditional publishing, bestsellers lists, and self-publishing platforms have their challenges in promoting NA authors so it is up to readers to do so. The NA blogging and Facebook group communities are so important, for promotion for authors and to show the readers that you are not alone, there are thousands of people around the world who love and cherish the stories you do, and will never look down upon you for doing so.
