Seniors Like to Read

Last week I was invited to speak to a book club at a large retirement center. You are looking at a group of seniors well over 65 years of age - many octogenarians. I groped with the question of what they would likely be interested in hearing, what were their interests, what type of books do they read, what sort of questions could I expect to face. Without going into specifics, the session was one of the most enjoyable and rewarding that I have ever experienced. These people are literate, they read daily, they have a library of probably a thousand books that they keep updated and well organized. The questions they ask were incredibly appropriate. I presented the premise that each one of them had a story in mind that they thought would make a good book - about some character or relative that was unique or about some life experience that they thought would serve as a theme for a novel. I took them through the process, from the idea, to the writing, editing, and publishing.

For those of you who are authors or who are contemplating writing, this is an audience that I don't think has been fully exploited from a marketing standpoint. I am going to expore the feasibility of doing similar presentations to other retirement and independent living centers.