I Had ChatGPT Determine My Target Reader Audience
I self-published my first novel in 2010, and I’ve released roughly 14 books since then. But I’ve never been able to nail down my target audience because I don’t stick to any one sub-genre of science fiction and fantasy. I’ve written about angels, gods, vampires, demons, aliens, and so much more. And when I go to events to sell my books, people from seemingly all walks of life patronize my table. Furthermore, I don’t write for any market; I just write the books I would want to read.
Well, after discovering the potential of ChatGPT, I posed another query. I instructed it to read my books and determine my target audience. Here’s what it came up with.
As with my previous inquiries, it broke down its answer into bullet points. First up is “Age Range”:
Most of your protagonists are teens, college-aged, or young adults (Ev Bannen in God School and Return of the Nine, Kyle in Moonlight Crusade and Moonlight Corruption).
Your tone blends youthful banter, romance, and action with darker themes (murder, trauma, gods, corruption).
Primary target audience: Older teens to New Adult (16–30). The language and themes lean too mature for middle-grade but resonate well with YA/NA fantasy readers.
I agree with the assessment. Yes, Moonlight Crusade and its sequel are definitely too mature for middle-schoolers with their graphic violence, strong language, and sexual situations. On the other hand, God School is a much better fit for younger teens since I hadn’t started dropping F-bombs yet.
The next bullet point entry is “Genre Appeal”:
Urban/Dark Fantasy and Paranormal: (Moonlight Chronicles, vampires, divine powers, modern settings with mythic overtones).
Epic/Mythological Fantasy: (Divine Protector series with gods, academies, Zero Grade conspiracies).
Alternate History/Historical Fantasy: (The Game Called Revolution, Revolution’s Horizon, Secrets of the New World, The Revolution Beyond Time) — these appeal to history buffs who like speculative twists.
You’re writing in genre-bending speculative fiction: a mix of YA fantasy, supernatural academy settings, vampire/urban fantasy, and alternate-history adventure.
Again, I can’t argue with this. It’s right on the money.
Next is “Tone & Style”:
Balances fast-paced action with character drama (friendship, romance, inner struggles).
Humor and pop-culture references (e.g., Return of the Nine’s Montoya quote, Bruce Lee gift scene in Moonlight Corruption) make your work feel contemporary and accessible to younger readers.
Themes of faith, rebellion, morality, and destiny broaden the appeal to readers who like thoughtful undercurrents in their fantasy.
Hey, what can I say? I like hurling pop-culture references at people unsolicited. My characters Indrid Cold and Shaun Mifune are, without a doubt, the biggest offenders in this regard.
Next, we have “Comparable Authors & Markets”:
YA/NA Fantasy Readers of Rick Riordan (mythology + modern youth), Cassandra Clare (urban fantasy with romance and dark edges), Leigh Bardugo (gritty fantasy with moral complexity).
Historical fantasy readers of Naomi Novik or Susanna Clarke for your Infini Calendar alternate history books.
Fans of anime-inspired storytelling (Bleach, Fullmetal Alchemist, Attack on Titan) will also click with your Divine Protector books — lots of found-family, academy life, and godlike battles.”
Now, this is downright uncanny. Bleach was a huge inspiration when I was writing my Divine Protector books, as was shonen manga in general. How it knows this is anyone’s guess.
As I said before, I write in many different sub-genres of science fiction and fantasy, so ChatGPT was kind enough to present “Secondary Audience”:
Because of your historical-fantasy works, (Revolution’s Horizon, Secrets of the New World), you also tap into:
Adult speculative fiction readers who enjoy “what-if” history with fantastical elements.
Steampunk/alt-history fans who appreciate aeroships, revolutionary Europe, and myth-twisted politics.
I can’t help but notice it used the term “aeroship” instead of “airship.” That’s the term I began using in The Revolution Beyond Time to distinguish modern airships from the antiquated models of the previous books. I wonder if ChatGPT only used that term because I did…
Finally, it summarized all the aforementioned information:
Your core target audience is older teens and New Adult readers (16–30) who enjoy fast-paced fantasy with mythological, supernatural, or historical twists. They’re likely fans of YA fantasy sagas, dark academia/magic school tropes, vampire romance, and alternate-history adventures.
ChatGPT also created reader personas for me to market to, but since this story is already getting long, I’ll simply post a screenshot of them.
This was a very enlightening experience. I learned far more about my target audience than I ever could have by myself, and ChatGPT allowed me to do it in seconds.
I’ve had fun using ChatGPT to discover more about myself as an author. I don’t know if I’ll write any more ChatGPT stories, but I might if I think of another fun experiment.
Thank you for reading.