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| There's no such thing as an average reader |
I was privileged to spend time with the novelist Sylvian Hamilton in the years leading up to her too-early death in 2005. We talked about books and writing, and she shared some of the exciting aspects of being published, like the creation of the cover design for what was sadly destined to be her final book, and her scrapbook of fan mail. Back then, if a reader enjoyed a book, the only way they could communicate this to the author was by writing to them, usually via their publisher. I remember Sylvian’s delight whenever a new card or letter arrived, and how carefully she added them to her collection.
These days, readers have a plethora of ways to contact
authors and give their verdicts on books they’ve read. No Stranger to Death has been reviewed on Amazon (all 5-stars, so far), GoodReads and
blogs, and I’ve received messages from readers via my own blog, Facebook and
Twitter. I also have friends who live
locally who’ve told me to my face what they thought. However, last week was the
first time I met total strangers who had read my book. I attended the monthly
get-together of a local book group, and a few days later, I stood up in a
village hall to do a reading and answer questions. Here are some of the things
these experiences taught me.
Readers don’t care how a book gets published
None of the book group members realised I had self-published No Stranger to Death. Some had bought it
from a shop, others had used Amazon, one had taken it out of a library. Their
motivation for choosing to read it was that I was a local author and ‘it looked
good’. While I was selling and signing copies in the hall, no one asked who my
publisher was. That said, an elderly gentleman expressed concern that he had
‘only’ borrowed a copy from the library: did I get any income from that? I was
happy to reassure him that Scottish Borders Council had purchased the
libraries’ copies from me, and told him about PLR.
Everyone experiences a book differently
I asked the book group if anyone had guessed whodunit. They
had all suspected different characters, one of whom was a kindly doctor, the
least likely killer you could hope to meet. And that was why it had to be him:
he was ‘too good to be true’. The legacy of multiple murderer Dr
Harold Shipman obviously lives on in some people's minds.
Readers can develop feelings for your characters too
I love reading and getting caught up in a story, so this
shouldn’t surprise me. But I never expected anyone else to feel so strongly
about the people I created. A book-group lady was particularly upset at what a
bully one of Zoe’s fellow doctors was, given all the other awful things
happening to her at the same time. Another reader said that when she got to the
part where Zoe’s car goes out of control she found herself saying, ‘No, no, no’
out loud. And as for what everyone wants from the book’s sequel: I’ve been told
to bring Neil back, make sure Mather and Kate end up together, and tell what
happens to Zoe in the light of her mysterious visitor on the very last page.
Remember the book group said they chose to read No Stranger to Death because ‘it looked
good’? I asked them what factors contributed to this, but they couldn't point
to a single aspect, such as cover design or blurb. Others,
however, do have specific criteria by which they select a book. During the
second event, I met a lady who enjoys crime fiction but will only buy a book if
she doesn’t think it will be ‘scary’.
I was happy to reassure her that although I deal with dark themes, she won’t
find extreme violence or graphic descriptions of blood-soaked crime scenes in
anything I write.
Photos courtesy of www.freedigitalphotos.net
