Hacks or Jerks

I remember when I was an aspiring author, I thought a lot about the mistakes I saw successful writers supposedly making. I hated it when a successful author would insist on writing a book outside of the series that I loved. I also hated it when a series ended up veering off in the “wrong” direction, or if it felt to me like the author had lost interest in a series and was just “phoning it in.”

Things look a lot different from the perspective of the publishing writer, let me tell you. What seems obvious to a reader’s perspective (that a writer is doing it “wrong”) is not at all clear from the writer’s perspective.

I remember writing a couple of letters to authors I admired about books that I didn’t love. One author kindly wrote back to explain to me that other readers had very much liked the book I had not liked, and that even if she agreed with some of my criticisms of said book, not every reader had the same tastes.

And guess what? This is so true. I have since talked to other fans of the same series and discovered to my surprise that the very books I found weakest were their favorites. And the books I loved that took a few chances (but not too many), these readers didn’t like.

Just because you don’t love something doesn’t mean that the author has given up writing good books and doesn’t care about readers anymore. Just because an author decides to write something different that isn’t in your favorite series doesn’t mean the author has become too big for regular readers and doesn’t care about anything but indulging herself.

Writers need to try new things. Sometimes that is the only way they can keep writing. Sometimes writers are still loving a series even if you aren’t. Sometimes writers are forced by economic concerns to continue writing a series that they wish they could end. That doesn’t make the writer a jerk or money-grubbing. It makes a writer a real human being.

I hate the idea that if a writer isn’t doing what a readers wants, that writer is either a hack or a jerk. Some writers will write to a different audience for a while, and that’s OK. Some writers will try something else and then come back to an old, familiar series when it feels fresh again. That’s not selling out necessarily.

I am terrified sometimes at the idea that a reader will dislike one book, after liking five or six of them, and never try another book of mine again because I’ve become a hack or a jerk. I’m not saying any reader is obligated to buy every book a writer publishes. Of course not. Readers can choose and sometimes readers will get tired of a series for reasons unrelated to the writer’s skill or commitment to the series. But please don’t make assumptions about the writer after one book you didn’t like.