There is ALWAYS a primary audience. Even when an author wants to write a book with mass appeal, the author must know that there is always a primary target market. Usually when a book targets young adults, it is more readily bought by adults as well. However, if a book is aimed at adult readers, young adults will not readily buy the book. The reason for this is that young adults are prevented by parents and other people from being exposed to adult materials.

Universal themes: When a novel for young adults deals with themes that both adults and young people can relate to, it has a better chance of being universally accepted. Such themes are illustrated when authors create rock-solid characters in telling their stories. Take Harry Potter, for instance, where the vulnerability of Harry Potter, together with his latent strength, made him a character loved by people of all ages.

Never underestimate young readers: When an author is writing for readers aged between 15 and 18 years, he might be tempted to dumb the book down too much. This is a bad decision for any author because readers are usually much smarter than the author thinks. Any author must have a realistic understanding of his readers when writing a book. Modern teenagers are surprisingly mature for their age and their reading level reflects this.

The new adult category: If an author is writing a book about young people and their journey to adulthood and losing their innocence in the process, he might be venturing into a new category of books called ‘new adult fiction.’ Books from this category talk about young adults in their 20s and in the transition phase to adulthood.

Although there is already a category called ‘young adult fiction,’ new adult fiction is notably more explicit. 50 Shades Of Grey, for example, is a book that used to belong to the young adult fiction category but now many people consider it to belong to new adult fiction.

When an author is writing a novel, he should avoid fixating on the idea that the novel is for a particular demographic. This will prevent the story from flowing naturally. Obsessing about marketing can be detrimental to any author’s thought process. The important thing when writing a novel is to be true to the vision that the author has for a story. Authors should let readers decide who the novel is intended for.