Audience Versus Market

Everyone talks about "chasing the market."  It's a concept that doesn't really carry much weight for me.  I write the book I would like to read, I share it with reader friends, and if they like it (they key being to choose people who would let on if they didn't ;), then I assume that I have, in fact, written something that would have a market.

How that translates to what agents and publishers are looking for, I'm not too sure. Its likely that they are trying to predict the next big trends in the market and stay one step ahead of the game.  But for the most part, I feel like that's their role, not mine.  If I were to attempt to predict what would sell well, and choose what to write solely based on this, I think it wouldn't be genuine.  And as readers, we can pretty much always tell when something isn't genuine, can't we?

Honestly, I wasn't sure if this take was arrogance or ignorance on my part- you know, just assuming I was okay to just write what I want and ignore the rest (though that's not really how I'm thinking of  it- I mean, I DO read and follow what's going on and all).  However, this piece over at Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (sfwa.org) makes me feel a bit more confident in my stance.

How about you?  How much do you think about market when you are writing a book?  And if you do think of market, when?  Do you have an idea of how it will fit before you even start writing, or do you worry about that once it's done?

On a personal note, I've found out that I am allergic to new carpet- or possibly the glue they use to stick it down.  Here's to hoping the smell fades from my work office before next week.  I think I can endure two more days of this, but that's about my absolute limit.  If my posts make less sense than usual for the next few days, I blame it on the fumes :)

What I Imagine "the market" to Look like: 

(uh, the Easter egg represents a publishing offer on your novel)