My ideal reader

My core reader is probably 35–70, although the humour in my stories can travel well outside of that range. They’re intelligent, reasonably well read, slightly cynical about modern life, and have reached the stage where they find absurdity considerably more entertaining than outrage.

They love books, but they’re not necessarily literary snobs. They read because they really enjoy stories, characters and language. Not because they want to tell everybody they’ve read something really important.

Most importantly, they like funny, light-hearted books that are actually about something and don't take things too seriously.

They’re likely to enjoy the comic sensibilities of writers such as Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett: observational humour, absurd metaphors, understated punchlines and narrators who appear to be taking proceedings seriously while quietly dismantling them. They appreciate British/Australian-style dry humour more than broad slapstick.

What would make Localad (from my latest book) particularly attractive to them?

Localad is extremely well suited to this audience.

He’s sixty-four. He owns a struggling independent bookshop. He’s spent twenty years privately writing the novel he believes in, and then—in one enormous cosmic joke—Hollywood finally discovers it and proceeds to misunderstand almost everything about it.

My readers don't have to be either sixty-four or even an author to recognise that experience.

They've probably had something they really cared about handed over to a committee, corporation, higher management or consultant who immediately announced:

“Great. We love it. Now let's change everything.”

That's the emotional doorway into the novel.

The Hollywood satire gets the laughs, but underneath it I'm actually writing about creative ownership, getting older, second chances, integrity, friendship and the difference between success and validation.

They probably love underdogs

This may be the strongest characteristic of my readers.

They instinctively side with the little independent bookshop rather than the giant studio.

They like Localad because he isn't a conventional all muscle hero. He's stubborn, awkward and occasionally totally ridiculous. He doesn't conquer Hollywood.

He survives it.

And when his book Purradise eventually succeeds because ordinary readers and independent booksellers discover that the book really is a lot better than the movie, there's a satisfying reversal without requiring Localad suddenly to become someone else.

There's another potentially valuable audience too.

Writers and aspiring writers.

Anyone who has spent years writing a manuscript, self-published something, received ridiculous feedback, dealt with publishing, watched adaptations destroy books they loved, or fantasised about receiving The Phone Call is almost pre-programmed to understand the joke.

That gives me a marketing audience much larger than simply "people who like humorous fiction."

It includes authors, aspiring authors, independent booksellers, book-club readers, librarians and people involved in creative industries.

If I had to turn my ideal reader into one person...

I'd picture someone around 50–60, sitting somewhere comfortable with a coffee or glass of wine, who owns far more books than shelving.

They've read Samuel Beckett, Douglas Adams or Terry Pratchett. They like clever comedy but dislike comedy that spends all its time announcing how clever it is.

They've watched a movie adaptation of a favourite novel and muttered:

“What the hell have they done to it?”

They've worked long enough to know that any Executive Vice President of Creative Strategy doesn't necessarily mean anyone in the room has a strategy.

They like independent shops, slightly eccentric people, second chances and stories where decency eventually gets its moment.

And when they see a novel called:

THE BOOK'S A LOT BETTER THAN THE MOVIE

their immediate reaction isn't:

"What's that about?"

It's:

"Oh, I know EXACTLY what that's about."