Protagonist Age

I was always told to make my MC a couple of years older than the intended readers' age.

I think the writing style really determines the age of your readers, not the characters' ages. When I was a little kid, one of my favorite books was about an elementary school where cooky things happened, and I think I was in kindergarten or first grade.

My novel is aimed at 10-14, and my protag is 15. Kids like to read up Oh, and when I first submitted the novel, she was 17. But the editor who bought it and everyone there who read it all said "this is upper middle grade" so I changed the age. Didn't change who she was or anything I'd written about her. Details that small won't stop you from landing an agent or selling the novel Rest easy.

It so depends on the kind of story you're telling. Yes, in general, the age of your protag should be just a little older than your target audience. But then there are SO many exceptions.

Cynthia Rylant's Mr. Putter and Tabby series--books for 7-year-olds about an old man and his cat.

Ender's Game--for YA and adult, but the book starts when the MC is 6.

Ella Enchanted and all the other variations of Cinderella are definitely MG yet the MC is a teenager.

The only time I think it really, really matters is when your story is realistic contemporary. Then the age needs to come pretty close to that of the reader, because the issues should be ones that would matter to the audience.

I truly hate to be contrary. But when first submitting my manuscript which was a MG fantasy, my character was just 14. And I was told by several agents and editors (don't ask me who because we are talking a few years ago now) that the MC was too old and he needed to be made younger. So I had to change the age to 12.

jmascia said:

I truly hate to be contrary. But when first submitting my manuscript which was a MG fantasy, my character was just 14. And I was told by several agents and editors (don't ask me who because we are talking a few years ago now) that the MC was too old and he needed to be made younger. So I had to change the age to 12.

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That's interesting, because there are so many, many exceptions to that rule. But it sounds like, as long as you were willing to make the change when they recommended it, that age didn't stop them from considering your book in the first place. So Danni can probably wait and see what feedback the book gets before making any changes....?