When You Should Listen to Your Readers

This post is inspired by a YouTube video I listened to the other day. In this video, an editor was listing out the worst ways an author can end their books. I agreed with a lot of her advice. The one part I didn’t agree with was her advice on the “over the top happy ending”. This is the ending where you tie up all loose ends, put a nice bow on everything, and everyone rides off happy into the sunset. You know, a fairy tale. Her advice was NOT to do this. Her advice was to leave something out there that could possibly go wrong so that the character has more growth and development for the future. You know, wrap up the end so that it mirrors real life. In real life, nothing is ever 100% perfect.

In her defense, she does not edit romance books. After reading through some comments where people either argued in favor of her advice or against it, I came to the conclusion that some things should be decided by the readers. This is one of them. Over the years, a few readers have told me that they like having fairytale endings where everything is perfect. They want “over the top”. I have had no reader tell me they wish for more realism in the ending.

This brings me to the topic of today’s post.

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The best place to go to for advice when you have a question about the story you’re writing is your reader base. You are not writing for the editor. You aren’t writing for other authors. You are writing for the people who read your books. These are people who already love what you’re writing. They have invested in your work already. They know what you enjoy writing. They have already connected with you.

This doesn’t just apply to endings. It can be with any aspect of your book that you are having a hard time making a decision about. For example, maybe you are torn between the age of a character. Years ago, I wasn’t sure if I could get away with pairing up a certain hero with a heroine because of the age gap. So I sought out the advice of a reader I knew and trusted. Another time, I wasn’t sure if I should end the book with a particular angle. So I went to a reader I trusted and asked them what they liked the most. These are small aspects of the story that don’t change the plot or character development, but they still leave you wondering if one will be more appealing to your reader base than the other. If you get conflicting opinions, go with your gut. If your gut isn’t telling you anything, flip a coin. (If you don’t like the results of the coin flip, your gut is telling you to pick the other side.)

Keep in mind that no book will ever be perfect. No matter what you do, there will always be something in your book that you could have done better. Nothing kills your ability to publish books like the quest to write “the perfect book”. The best you can do is good enough. Your readers will enjoy your work, and that is what counts. It doesn’t matter what the critics think. They are not the ones buying your books. If your reader base is happy, you’ve done a good job.

For new writers who haven’t found their reader base yet, I would recommend the coin flip option when making a decision. If there are more than two options, jot them all down on a piece of paper, and pull one from a hat. I mentioned this above, but I really have found this method to be a good way of figuring out what my gut is telling me. If you are happy with the coin flip/piece of paper you picked, then you know you are on the right track. If you are disappointed with the coin flip/piece of paper you picked, then you know you really want to do the other thing.

Getting readers to reach out to you so you can connect with them will take time. This is where having an online presence is necessary, unless you do all of your promotion in person. You should at least have a website with a contact form. If you don’t want a contact form, that’s fine if you are on a social media platform like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, SubStack, and whatever else is out there these days. (I can’t keep up with them all.) Some authors like to pose a question on their page and let readers answer them there. (Be sure that the people answering the question are actual readers of your books, not other authors chiming in for what they would do in your shoes.) Have a way for people to reach out to you. Another option is to have an email list. Put links at the back of your books to let people know where they can find you. Over time, you’ll start meeting your readers, and when you give that connection enough time, you’ll be comfortable enough to seek advice when you come across something in your work you’re not sure about.