Who do you work for!!!

Who do you write for?
Ok, at some point, every writer has to ask themselves this question.
Sometimes you have to ask it twice, because the first gut reaction is to defensively say "I write for myself."

Bull.

If you are writing with the intent to publish, you are seeking an audience. You are writing for the amusement and, hopefully, the admiration of others. And the audience is important, it's vital to your success. Like a snake charmer you need to hit the right notes to keep your audience captivated.
This does not mean you mold your entire story based on the whims of your audience because a) different things please different people and b) you can't please everybody.
I can't state that emphatically enough.
YOU CAN'T PLEASE EVERYBODY.
 For every 100 people who adore Harry Potter, there is someone going "Wizards are stupid."
But we don't egg their house because it's part of the job. Take the barbs for what they are, learn from the ones that give honest constructive criticism and ignore the "this is stupid" b.s. because hey, they don't have to like your story. They might prefer contemporary content, or historical. They will rave about the literary merit of Twilight, then turn around and sneer at Game of Thrones. Reverse that and it's still not entirely fair. Both books, no matter how you personally feel about them, had their own separate impact on the literary world. But I believe Martin, Rowling, and Meyers all wrote their stories with an audience in mind.
I know I do.
I know the general audience for a young adult novel is usually 2-3 years younger than your main protagonist. And while I spew everything onto the page in my first draft, this intent heavily influences my editing choices. My main protagonist is 16 at the beginning of the book, and while I have no illusions about teen sexuality, the romance is secondary to the character's journey of personal growth so I don't have to do too much dancing around the topic yet. However, in the next two books I have planned, this relationship deepens, it is something I will have to address when the time comes.
For now, I'm focusing on fine tuning my tale, making it readable, threading the loose ends together. I want to sell this book. It has been a labor intensive project for nearly four years. Writing while experiencing massive life transitions is tough. So, during those years, yes, I did write for myself. Sometimes that was the only answer that kept me writing. Now that a first draft is done the answer has altered somewhat.
"I write for myself, I edit it for my audience."