Should they read, or shouldn't they?

It could be helpful, but you have to be careful. If you want to hit an age group, the novel you're investigating is almost always aimed at kids or young adults. If it is going to be of any use, you're going to have to find kids that know how to provide helpful feedback.

kikilynn said:

Do you think it's a good idea to have someone from the age group you're aiming for read your manuscript? I want to ensure I hit my target audience, is this a good way to do it?

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In my experience, you'd be better off having adults well-versed in your age group read it - like teachers or librarians or a critique group peopled with people who read and write the target genre.

They know the market, more than just a singular, untrained personal preference, and are more likely to be honest.

~suki

I second the idea of having a teacher of that age group look over it to give you feedback about children's/student's interest in the work.

I second Sage saying both.

I had a friend who wrote a YA manuscript asked adults in our group to read it, and give the more technical critique, but then I gave a copy to my younger sister to read to see what she said, and loved it.

Sure, kids can't always articulate what works and what doesn't, but that raw feedback is always helpful especially when kids can be fussy and will not read it if it's too boring.

To be kinda scientific about it, you need to have a large test group and control group. The test group should consist of readers in the target range and the control group should be poeple a little older that will give you feed back on things the target group might miss. Just a thought.

There is such a thing of over testing a market. Rely on CRISTICISM and INSTINCTS. You were once a kid and you have a certain authority too. Reach deep.

In scientific testing, a control group is a matched group that does not receive a "treatment", in this case, reading the ms. Would be kind of nonsensical, no?

You might want to get feedback from quite a few someones from the target audience and certainly don't rely on the response of only one or a few.

How about finding a cooperative librarian or two who handles books in the age group aimed for?

With picture books, the problem is that a lot of kids love to sit next to someone and be read to, and will like almost anything. And some hate it, and will wriggle away for almost anything!

For older kids, I think its even harder to find an honest, articulate one than it is to find an honest, articulate adult. There's nothing like a writers' group, one you've been in a while by preference, for telling you the truth.

I wonder how it would work to put an ad up for kids who like to read and would be willing to be in a focus group? You'd have to pay them, and get permission from their parents -- and God knows where you'd do it -- but it sure would be interesting.

kikilynn said:

Do you think it's a good idea to have someone from the age group you're aiming for read your manuscript? I want to ensure I hit my target audience, is this a good way to do it?

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Nothing wrong with having your targeted age group (presumably kids) read the work, but only if that is supplemented by adult readers, too.

A YA novel I finished last summer was read by a few kids in the targeted age ranged, but also by a number of adult readers. The feedback from the kids honestly wasn't all that helpful, but it did allow me to see what sort of questions they would raise and ensure those questions are answered in the text. Far more helpful were the adult readers, who were able to articulate the positives and negatives in a way that helped me see problem areas in the novel.

The most important thing is that you get people who are willing to be honest with you. Nothing is more useless to a writer trying to improve than praise. Really. It's great for the ego, sure, but it's not going to make your story better. So if there is a kid who is willing to speak his or her mind, great. That honesty is valuable.