Had a wonderful gathering with some pretty interesting folks on Saturday. It was originally to be a writing seminar and book signing, but it turned out to be so much more! We all settled in at Reader’s Choice Bookstore and had a nice long chat. The one hour time limit stretched to one and a half hours before I even thought to look at a watch!
What I learned from these wonderful readers:
–short chapters are better than long chapters. It means if a reader is in a hurry they can still get a “book fix”; and sometimes, after reading a short chapter they are enticed to go ahead and read another chapter.
–hooks have to happen, hopefully, within the first few pages, and surely no further into the book than page 30.
–readers DO look at how well a book is put together: editing, spelling, timeline, dialogue, character consistency and so forth. They also get quite perturbed if somehow during printing or formatting a section of the book gets LEFT OUT! What makes them even madder is if no one responds to their complaint.
–one of the reasons they read a series is to watch the characters grow and develop. However, they appreciate it when the book can be read out of order, as a standalone story.
–a series that uses the same theme over and over can become boring to the reader. Make sure each book of the series is exciting and feels like a ‘brand new story’ and not just a rerun of a previous story.
HERE ARE SOME MORE GREAT THINGS I LEARNED:
–readers are fun to chat with!
–they appreciate it when an #author will talk, not just sign the book and go away.
–they have a lot of insights for an author who listens.
–they enjoy connecting with the authors they read
–they value author book recommendations
–OH, AND DID I TELL YOU THEY ARE FUN TO CHAT WITH?
Had a great time! Thanks to all of you who came to the Reader’s Choice Bookstore for our event and book signing.
Would love to hear what you want in the books you read! Leave a comment.
Visit Aya’s Amazon author page to learn more about her books: http://www.amazon.com/author/ayawalksfar
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