I find it heartening that readers are still excited about diving into a world.
I wanted to portray very, very dark subject matter and a deceptively complex story in the brightest colours and simplest lines possible to leave the readers reeling.
The YA category is an entirely new one, and seems to have more to do with readability than with age group or theme. The adult YA readers I know do actually consistently say that they are looking for an easy read, a fun read, an unchallenging read.
I often visit Maria Tatar’s ‘The Grimm Reader’ for a cold dose of courage. Her translations come from the Brothers Grimm, whose now-famous collection of ‘Kinder- und Hausmarchen’ (‘Children’s and Household Tales’) was first published in 1812. The book was not intended for young readers.
Nonfiction means that our stories are as true and accurate as possible. Readers expect – demand – diligence.
I’ve gotten to know a number of readers from being online, and really treasure the time I’ve spent with them.
Readers appreciate the truth. Why say, ‘Some think a situation is a mess?’ Based on my reporting, if a situation is a mess, then I say that. The truth is always what reporters tell each other when they get back to the newsroom.
A lot of readers want characters to behave in a responsible way, or they want to understand the characters’ dilemma and act, in a way, on their behalf.
I’ve read quite a few readers’ reviews of my book on Amazon, saying, ‘Ah, he criticises the free market, he advocates central planning.’ I don’t do that for a minute! But this is our black and white, dichotomous way of thinking – which has really been harmful.
Because I don’t give the studios advanced quotes or an advanced look at my reviews. I think the readers deserve to read my reviews before the studios do.
Perhaps there are none more lazy, or more truly ignorant, than your everlasting readers.
I started my career so early and developed in print for better or for worse, so I think there’s a sense some of my earliest readers are kind of copilots on this voyage with me.
I try to put my heart out there to everybody. They don’t have to be Christian. For example, I have lots of Jewish readers. I love my Jewish readers.
I write adult fiction, but a good 40 to 50 per cent of my readers are teenagers. I love that if they have to grow up and move past JK Rowling they can move to me. From Jo to Jodi!
Being a writer can be isolating. It’s good to be among readers and booksellers.
With its vastly complicated plot and its immense cast of characters swirling around the case of Jarndyce vs. Jarndyce that has been grinding away in the Court of Chancery for decades, ‘Bleak House’ is, for many readers, Dickens’s greatest novel.
Readers of fiction read, I think, for a deeper embrace of the world, of reality. And that’s brave. I never get over being thankful for that – for the courage of my readers.
I’m a fan of meeting readers face to face, at reader events, where we’re able to sit down and take some time to talk. Too often, at regular book signings, I meet readers who have traveled six or eight hours to see me, and I’m unable to spend more than a few short minutes chatting with them as I sign books.
When you’re writing two books a year, you really need some time off and don’t want to use that down time for touring. I do like talking with readers, though; they can tell you important stuff.
That the Op-Ed page is very important in readers’ and the nation’s perception of the Times, the perception of its editorial positions, and of its implicit editorial positions as expressed by the publisher’s choice of people who are given the freedom to write opinion columns.
I have always admired the work of Phil Farmer and was glad for the chance to work with him. Readers today may be too young to remember his classics like The Lovers.
We talk about a free press. These people hide, they make a lot of money off the media. They hide behind the slogans of free press, and then they can come out with crap like that. It’s just garbage. It’s insulting to the readers.
I can only try to keep the characters interesting; it’s up to the readers to decide whether they’re still relevant.
I go to a lot of conferences and conventions to meet with readers directly.
I want readers turning pages until three o’clock in the morning. I want the themes of books to stick around for a reader. I’m always trying to find a way to balance characters and theme.
Don’t send out a newsletter just to send out a newsletter. One newsletter a year that is really interesting is more beneficial than 12 that are boring. If you write two or three boring newsletters in a row, your readers will start to think you write boring books.
When you write about faith, people will be upset with you no matter what. I’ve heard from readers who were disgusted with the depiction of monotheistic religion. I’ve also heard from readers who were upset because my portrayal of faith did not adhere to their specific doctrines. Fortunately, I have high risk tolerance.
My favourite authors are John Grisham and Jeffrey Archer. Grisham rapidly established himself and now completely owns the legal space of fiction writing, something I want to do in financial space. I like Archer because he keeps his readers engaged: every chapter is a page turner, and he keeps his writing simple.
I think that young readers have very strong stomachs.
Ten years ago, you wrote a book and you never expected to find out anything about the author. Now with social media, everyone wants that connection. I think our readers want to be invited into our lives and brought on the journey and be part of this whole process.
A lot of people have read the Mira Grant books who are not urban fantasy readers, and they would never have picked up a book with an urban fantasist’s name on the cover, but then they go on to read my urban fantasy and like it.
One of the accidental joys of my writing life has been that I’ve had some lovely, surprisingly good fortune with readers, and I’ve brought readers to my dad’s work. I can’t tell you the joy that gives me. Because my father’s work was masterful.
Kids have no sense of appropriateness. They can ask me whatever they want. You do develop a sense of intimacy with readers, and they tell you things about themselves. During a school year, I’ll get e-mails asking about the books. I’ll give them information, but I won’t do their homework for them.
So much about ‘Rookie’ has been very organically familial among our contributors, among our readers. Yeah, if I interview someone like Lorde, who I do know outside of work – sometimes I’m just so happy; it’s so cool that this is organically, effortlessly, the warm, supportive friend vibe that we want here.
If something is crucial to the plot, then I’d better be sure I’ve got my facts straight. Readers of crime novels are smart and savvy, and they’ll waste no time letting me know if there’s a hole in my plot.
So long as readers keep reading and my publishers keep publishing, I plan to keep on writing. I’d have to be an idiot to be burnt-out in this job.
Readers want a good book; it’s a writer’s job to give it to them.
In practice, the copyright system does a bad job of supporting authors, aside from the most popular ones. Other authors’ principal interest is to be better known, so sharing their work benefits them as well as readers.
Science fiction readers probably have the gene for novelty, and seem to enjoy a cascade of invention as much as a writer enjoys providing one.
I don’t write to give joy to readers but to give them a conscience.
We all need to focus on our writing. Because the millions of readers out there don’t care about your blog.
Writers and readers are still trying to work out unresolved problems between men and women, and that is why millions of women around the world are hooked on romantic fiction. So am I.
I love the challenge of taking established, iconic comics characters and showing readers why they remain contemporary.
You need books to read and readers for books.
The readers are the ones who let us live our dreams. I try to write books which are really compelling – that you’d take on vacation and rather than going out, you’d read in your hotel room because you had to find out what happened. Hopefully that’s what readers are responding to.
I write contemporary fiction, and that is what my readers want to read.
Writers write to influence their readers, their preachers, their auditors, but always, at bottom, to be more themselves.
When I settled to writing seriously, which would be in my 30s, I did expect to be published eventually, but my aspirations weren’t very high. A published book and a few appreciative readers was my idea of heaven.
I like the idea of readers feeling a familiarity, whether it’s with Africa or childhood.
I don’t think about the gender of my readers or about reader expectations. I’m frankly scared to. I figured out a long time ago that if I tried to guess the audience, it would be like me trying to guess which stocks to buy.
What keeps readers turning pages is suspense, which you can create using a variety of techniques, including tension, pacing and foreshadowing.
Every time I write a new novel about something sombre and sobering and terrible I think, ‘oh Lord, they’re not going to want to go here’. But they do. Readers of fiction read, I think, for a deeper embrace of the world, of reality. And that’s brave.
