John Keats - Who Wants to Know?

When writing any piece of work, a writer must consider the wider audience their story would appeal to. For my piece, if I were to extend it beyond its two-thousand word limit into a completed book, the potential audience would be quite large. John Keats is a figurehead poet of the Romantic Era, with his poetry being taught and read all over the world. His impact on the literary world was monumental, with its effects still being felt today. As such, his name and life are of great interest to many, making my piece widely marketable.

However, my story does not focus upon his poetry – as there are many books which do this already – or portray his life in a biographical way. It’s a creative narrative about John Keats, attempting to look through his eyes at the world, both in terms of his own life and the literary world around him at that time. I find this to be an unusual angle, not yet explored.

                           

Books such as Romantic Outlaws: The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley and The Life of Lord Byron, indicate that there is an active readership interested in the lives of the Romantic Poets. If I were to market my piece, I would aim for this audience in particular, as they would be more appreciative of the different approach that I am taking.

This unique angle will also appeal to publishers. Just like how The Suspicions of Mr Whitcher appealed to both nonfiction readers and crime readers alike, my piece would appeal to the nonfiction audience and historical fiction reader. This is due to the fact that my piece will open up the Romantic era through the empathetic view of John Keats, creating a narrative that is truthful, dramatic and an exploration of that historical era. This will thereby give the publisher more reason to publish my work, as it can appeal to a wider range of audiences.