Agent or Reader: Whose Opinion Counts Most?

After several rewrites of the opening scene of my Civil War manuscript, Learning to Surrender, I decided to begin with action: my protagonist and her family ran for shelter as Union shells fell around them. Then I paid for an agent critique of the first two pages, and she didn’t like the scene. She told me that action isn’t always the best place to start and she wanted to know more about the characters and the situation first. So I revised the opening paragraphs to do that and started the action a page and a half into the book.

Then I gave the manuscript to my middle-grade beta readers. My first question was, “Did the beginning of the story make you want to continue reading?” Six beta readers answered “yes.” However, it was clear from their comments that they were referring to the entire chapter (which included the action scene) and not just the first page and a half. But a fourth-grade beta reader answered the question with a “no,” stating that “It was boring and too random.”

Yes, I realize that we are talking about one agent and one reader, and everybody has different tastes. Still, what am I supposed to do? Do I listen to an agent who comes from the group of people who can get my book published or a fourth-grade reader from my target audience?

I’m going to try to find a middle ground where I begin with the action but weave in more information about my characters and the situation while the action is going on. And hopefully it will be a better opening than either of the two previous attempts. But the underlying question remains. Should I write for potential agents/publishers or for my readers? And I’m not alone. Most writers face the same dilemma.

I want to sell my books but not my soul. I need agents and publishers to accomplish the first, so I can’t ignore their criticisms and suggestions. But I won’t put my readers second, either.

It’s a quandary.