In Defence of Readers. And All That Glisters is Definitely Gold!

Without readers, I am nothing.

I know some writers write just for pure pleasure and never need to be read. I, on the other hand, write for both pleasure and to engage with a readership. I’m guessing that most writers do. So I’ve been a bit baffled by some of the articles floating around on Substack and the internet in general over the past month which are decrying the state of publishing—and putting the blame for that on readers.

What?!

The articles I’ve seen tend to focus on the kinds of books that are currently in the top 10, the kinds of books that are selling well, and all the many reasons why the fact that these kinds of books are selling well is bad for writers. Now don't get me wrong, things aren't great for writers and I’m happy to read a nuanced piece about the reasons for that. But for writers to be putting the blame on readers is completely wrong.

If you’re a writer and lots of readers aren’t gravitating towards your book, that isn’t because readers are stupid and have all been swept up in a cult of bad literature. I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again: readers are smart people. They’re all different. And, sometimes, lots of readers tend to like the same books. Right now, housemaids and dragons are popular, according to the articles I’ve seen shared and reshared. But is it really that dragons and housemaids are popular, or is it that something about the stories and characters contained in those books speaks to lots of people in a way they haven’t felt spoken to before?

I’m betting on the latter.

I’d LOVE to have the same kind of engagement that readers of those books in the top ten have with the novels they’re buying. My daughter and her friends are obsessed with Rebecca Yarros’s books. They have a number of different chat groups set up on their phones to discuss the books. One is for those who are currently reading, another is for those who’ve finished and can therefore discuss all the spoilers, another is for those who haven’t started yet. They set these chats up for each and every book they’re reading, which means—they’re talking about books with one another constantly. And that is fantastic for writers.

Painting by Lori Pensini on the wall of my office of a young girl reading.

This same daughter recently had 3 of her friends stay over. Three of the girls had finished the latest Rebecca Yarros, one was only about three-quarters of the way through. The one who hadn’t finished stayed in the bedroom and read for a couple of hours straight while the others went into the kitchen and talked about the book as they made chocolate cake. When I say that they talked about the book, I mean they talked about it for the whole two hours. When the fourth girl emerged from the room with questions about the ending and a stream of “omgs”, the conversation continued for a couple of hours more.

This wasn’t a book club meeting. This was just a group of sixteen and seventeen-year-old girls catching up. And they talked about books for almost the entire twenty-four hours they were in my house.

Like I say—what I wouldn’t give to have that kind of engagement from readers of my books! Don’t get me wrong, my readers are incredible; they’re so supportive and I know they meet in book clubs and discuss my books. But I don’t know if they talk about them quite so much or quite so devotedly as this!

Definite author goals!!

(As a side note, I’d love to examine whether the attitudes of the writers of the articles that I’ve seen would be different if the books in the Top 10 were written by men. Books written by women for women have long been targeted as having readerships with below average brainpower. Remember so-called chick-lit and how readers were often attacked by critics who thought the genre wasn’t worth the paper it was written on?)

I would argue that readers like the four young women I saw in my home are exactly the kind of readers we should be thankful for, the kind of readers we should be in awe of, the kind of readers who, if they continue to spend so much of their time and attention on books as they grow older, will be the people who help keep publishing and books alive.

And they are definitely not to blame for the state of the publishing industry.

Gorgeous, Glistering Gold!

Let’s move onto something more sparkly.

I just received my finished copies of the Australian edition of THE MADEMOISELLE ALLIANCE and they are so beautiful! Check out that gold and the way it sparkles in the video! I can’t stop staring at them.

Don’t forget that the book is published in Australia on March 26 and in North America on April 8. You can preorder THE MADEMOISELLE ALLIANCE here.

Book Tour Starts Next Week! Tickets Selling Fast.

And just a reminder, to finish off, that my book tour starts next week! How did that come around so fast?

So many events are close to selling out. My first event at Subiaco Library is completely sold out. There are only 10 tickets left for my publication day launch at Avid Reader in Brisbane, and only a similar number left for my event on the Gold Coast. So if you’re planning to attend one of those events, make sure you grab the last few tickets. Similarly, a couple of events in NSW and Victoria are close to capacity.

For all of my tour event details and booking links, please click here. I can’t wait to meet readers over the coming weeks