Question

You are writing a short fiction story for publication.

Answer 1

Answer:

General public; to entertain.

Explanation:

If you are preparing a short story for publication, it naturally implies that your intended audience is the general public. The purpose of any form of fiction writing depends heavily on the author´s intentions, which can´t be generalized; however, one aesthetic characteristic that all fiction shares is that it is a creative product that aims at entertaining the reader for if the piece of writing lacked this characteristic it would most likely not be considered for publication.  

Answer 2

I would say that the answer is to entertain because it doesn't give a topic for the short story, but it's just fiction and most fiction stories are to entertain.