When is a reader just a reader?
I see this phrase so many times when readers are talking to authors. “I’m just a reader.”
A couple of days ago I saw this comment written by a very supportive reader in the genre. He’s not just anything. He buys the books and constantly talks about the books in our genre, his likes and dislikes, what he’s bought and what he wants to buy next. I think he’s fantastic.
Please delete this just word from your vocabulary as authors delete them from their manuscripts. No reader is just a reader.
A reader doesn’t just buy a book.
A reader buys the book, they talk about the book, recommend the book, buy other books the author has written and the cycle repeats itself. Look at the way Fifty Shades of Grey spread like wildfire. Love it or loathe it, people talked about it incessantly. Yes, there was promotion but the best promotion was word of mouth.
What happens if you email an author and tell them how much you love their book? I can guarantee you’ve made their day. They might just finish that chapter because you’ve waved the pom poms.
Writing is very isolating but these days we have social media. Authors and readers are able to talk to each other every day. Readers become friends and betas, cheerleaders and whip-crackers. I posted about this on Facebook and Twitter. The lovely Cherie Noel said it best.
I get how from the reader’s perspective the author is this larger than life figure with god-like abilities to create whole worlds. From the author’s perspective the Reader is our fan, our cheerleader, our boss, our friend, our shoulder to cry on, our silent and nonjudgmental therapist, our generous benefactor, even at times our muse. I’d say it’s a pretty lopsided trade. Readers get books out of the deal. We writers, on the other hand, get the whole world.
Did you hear that? We get the whole world. So please strike that just from your vocabulary.
Now out from Dreamspinner, my extended Regency love story, The Layered Mask.
![LayeredMask[The]FS](https://lovebytesreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/LayeredMaskTheFS.jpg)
Threatened by his father with disinheritance, Lord Edwin Nash arrives in London with a sole purpose: to find a wife. A more than eligible bachelor, and titled to boot, the society matrons see to it he’ll be shackled to one of the girls by the end of the season.
During a masquerade ball, Nash hides from the ladies vying for his attention. He is discovered by Lord Thomas Downe, the Duke of Lynwood. Nash is horrified when Downe calmly tells him that he knows the secret that Nash has hidden for years, and that he sees through the mask that Edwin presents to the rest of the world.
And then he offers him an alternative.
BUYLINKS: Dreamspinner: Amazon.com: Amazon UK: ARe
I love this post Sue. And it just hit me really. There are so many exceedingly excellent stories that I honestly love but never left a comment on. Because I was, it’s just me and who would care about my opinion on anything. Well, from now on I’ll pop a word or a dozen to each and every wonderfully written word of ya’ll (authors) as it means so much to me the writing you all do. Thank you Sue.
You are more than welcome. I love receiving your comments. You make my day.
You hear the just word in a lot of things whether it be a job or a workout and it drives me nuts. Nothing anyone one does is “just” if they put time and effort into it. The post was very nicely done. I enjoy your books also by the way.
Thank you! We really need to think about ‘just’. It undermines what we’re trying to say.
What an interesting perspective! There are so many wonderful books that I have been priviledged to have read, but will not consider myself “just” a reader anymore. Thank you for this Sue!!! xoxo
You are welcome, and thank you for supporting authors!
I few years ago, right after I started reading mm almost exclusively, I said said that to an authiu or maybe I commented on a post, I don’t remember exactly. Anyway, I was told very quickly that I wasn’t “just” a reader and I’ve tried to not ever use that phrase again.
While I know you appreciate all of us readers, I want you to know that we appreciate you as well. You share your stories with us, sometimes making us smile and laugh and sometimes making us cry, but we love what you write and keep coming back for more, even if we bawl our eyes out again.
So, no, I’m not “just” a reader. I’m a fan, a friend, sometimes I’m even someone who lends an ear when you need to rant about something, whether it be a character you’re arguing with or something that someone said that hurt you or made you angry. I’m that person who listens without judging, any time, day or night. And yes, I’m also a reader.
Thanks Sue and all the other authors for writing what we love
I think in a small genre like ours, every reader, fan and friend counts. I remember you from my early days in MM. Without you MM would not be what it is today.
So true. I can say for a fact that the second of my upcoming releases would not be written at all if it were not for a reader. Sure, the idea for the story was there, but I was very unsure about whether to write it (it’s a spin off from a series that doesn’t exactly sell). However, this one reader asked about a spin off, and encouraged me to write it.
From small acorns, series grow into large trees… I think I might be mixing my metaphors.
Thank you for this!! As a reader it made me feel a little special. xx
You rock! Every reader is a rock god as far as I’m concerned.
Thank you Sue. As readers we love feeling like we really matter to authors!
I promise you do matter!