World, Writing, Wealth discussion
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Is the customer (reader) always right?
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The burden of proof is definitely on us just as the big publishers have to work hard to gain reader loyalty. It is a tough sell but well worth it awhen we finally connect with readers. From what I've seen on reader groups people are willing to take a chance on new and indie books because the price is typically much lower or even free. When they find a book they connect with they will continue to read that author, no matter the price. This is why a first in a series is usually discounted or free. The challenge is standing out amidst the millions of books published, especially with big houses outgunning us with marketing dollars and maximum exposure. Still, the burden is on us to put out the best product we can and try to get it in front of readers. Even then there is no guarantee it will resonate with them. If it is you are one of the lucky ones.
Whether the reader is "right" or "wrong" is kinda a moot point, imho. Can we demand they read what we write? Sure, about as much as they can demand we write what they read. You can't please everyone all the time. The real question is, should you even try to?
I'm with Miss Tara on this one (errr, I swear it's not a conspiracy...) that all we can do is put the best product out there. Personally, there are two things that I'll cater to the reader:
My cover and blurb.
Everything else? Nope. That's all me. Even the cover and blurb are all me. BUT I'd be lying if I said I wasn't trying to entice them to open the darn book. I mean, if I didn't care about that, then I'd just leave the blurb blank, eh? Then again, a blank blurb hasn't been done before...
*ponders**smirks**hovers finger over delete key*
Hugs,
Ann
EDIT: Might play around with discounting the first in a series later on *shrugs* We'll see.
It's really 2 different worlds, trade and indie - but they have been brought together through Goodreads and Amazon - so the future looks . . . interesting!
Nik wrote: "You all know this cliche, motto, slogan..."You make a good point, people buy (intentionally or not) what is familiar and reliable to them. Does anyone else remember a few years back when every other book title was "The Somebody's Wife"?
I don't mean to say anything directly about consumerism, and I don't mean to say all mainstream books are bad (they're not), but consumerism always manages to allow for a substantial amount of mediocrity and sub-mediocrity, while simultaneously restricting products (in this case books) that are of a higher caliber.
For me, being aware of this is most of the battle; it can be unnerving to commit time and money - or just time - to new authors. I've recently tried to get in the habit of occasionally meandering through the creative writing section of goodreads, in the hopes of finding something worth liking and commenting on. It's mostly an unrewarding endeavor, but I've found a few legitimate gems written by "nobodies".
But people deserve escapism. What is formulaic or trite to you or me may be relaxing or interesting to someone else. Even Dickens, Bronte and Shakespeare were considered light fluff when they were published. If the average reader buys twelve books a year you can be sure they are not taking too many chances. It is the voracious and experimental reader who influences their more traditional reader friends by enthusiastic word of mouth. Get their attention and they will turn others on to what they read.
Daniel J. wrote: "I've recently tried to get in the habit of occasionally meandering through the creative writing section of goodreads, in the hopes of finding something worth liking and commenting on. It's mostly an unrewarding endeavor, but I've found a few legitimate gems written by "nobodies"...."Hi Daniel and welcome!
Definitely - an encouraging approach and I'm glad to hear that it's rewarding as well.
However, not many have time or desire to search and take a risk on something completely unknown. Yeah, it's not a huge risk - maybe a couple of dollars and hours spent, but still...
The bestsellers have the presumed validation of dozens/hundreds/thousands of people, which make them 'riskless' in the eyes of occasional readers. Agree that not all of them are 'great', but usually they aren't totally awful either...
Agree with Tara that it's advisable to search validation from avid readers, who are more willing to 'discover' new names...
Tim wrote: "No author can please every reader all of the time and shouldn't attempt to do so. Every artist/creator goes with a gut feeling and has to believe and be confident in their ability. I'll repeat some..."I can pretty much agree with that and that's pretty much my approach, although I wouldn't necessarily despise anyone, who tries to please vast masses of readers and succeeds with it, even if his/her take is a recycled variant on something.
I just argue you can probably win some readers with a cover and a blurb (didn't try raw force yet?), but many others won't touch a book, unless it was unequivocally recommended to them and desirably in something like 'you absolutely must read this' wording -:)
Tim wrote: "So don't be afraid of poking readers in the eye... :D"+1
Keep us updated on your promo, Tim and don't forget to promote it here as well. What are your promo plans for that period?
I used Readers in the Know last February for a .99 promotion, layered with several other promoters, and got a pretty weak response, but my book is literary fiction so you may have a very different result. RITK is very easy to work with and I really like the look of their website and their features for authors. Good luck on your promotion!
Tim wrote: "Thanks, Ginger. I'm experimenting. But I'm definitely not using these free book advertising sites. Supporting them is contributing to the sanitisation of free speech. I was shocked when I realised ..."you wouldn't mind starting a new thread on that, would you? that sounds like a thought-provoking topic.
Annie wrote: "...Then again, a blank blurb hasn't been done before...Might play around with discounting the first in series..."As to discounting the first in series, don't overlook the appeal to us readers of an omnibus / collected works / bundled deal . Doesn't even have to be a huge discount, just cheaper than buying the books individually. Plus clear at least a next book in series was published rather than an abandoned series.
The blank blurb actually has been done. Plus a lot of what I consider effectively blank blurbs because manage to omit a description of the book/story.
Effectively blank because rattle on about the publisher or the OCR process used to scan the public domain work. Because quotes praises and reviews endlessly but never gets to the description. Because has "about the author" and every award, list, bestseller rank author/book has been on but never gives book description. Blathers on about where available and what file formats -- but no book description.
Add in the ones that may as well be blank for some browsing readers because the actual book description/synopsis isn't seen until they click to see more. On Amazon, I don't blame writers for that one necessarily because Amazon's full website seems to be continually shrinking the size of book description displayed. Usually I go right past a randomly found book without clicking to see more if all I see of book description when shopping (online or directly from eReader devices) is quoted praises.
Probably a good idea to make sure to know what your book blurb / description / synopsis looks like on the website, apps and devices. And I do realize authors cannot control Amazon shrinking the thing. It's really a relief that goodreads library of book data prohibits anything going into the book description other than the book description.
Readers not willing to read and review a whole book might be willing to give opinions in the book descriptions and book covers if the request is placed in areas of their groups here that invite author-participating-as-author posts.
ETA: none of the blurb rant was directed at any author specifically; didn't look at all of your blurbs to see if applicable complaint.
I was given this very advice a long time ago by a successful business man that was also my friend. He said to always apologize to unhappy customers, even if you know they are wrong or at fault. Of course, he was in a customer service business.I'm not sure how this relates to writing, especially if it involves indie publishing. I guess it depends on if you write for your own gratification or for the reader's gratification.
An author I like was on another forum and she said something I agreed with = I think she was talking about books that were picked for her book club or her own reviewing policy. She said there "good" and "bad" and then there is "I liked" and "I didn't like." The first one means that you are bringing some understanding of literature to the statement - the second one is just stating your personal taste.There's a difference between "chocolate cake isn't any good" and "I don't like chocolate cake" (okay, who doesn't like chocolate cake??) But the point is, I think too many online reviewers confuse the two.
And then I remember watching a show where people were talking about the movie "Silence of the Lambs" It was a pretty popular book so it was made into a movie but when the producers saw the movie, they didn't know what to make of it, or how to label it (suspense, horror, cop drama?) So they had a few test screenings before the end of the year and then dumped it into theaters in January. And it stayed in the theaters for months, draw huge crowds and won the five major Oscars that year and launched a trend of movies and TV shows about profilers.
So sometimes nobody's right, it's all a gamble.
When you write, you're writing for a reader you hope will buy your book. I'd say the reader is always right, inasmuch as you depend on them for sales.
Nik wrote: "Is a reader always write?"Of course we are! LOL 😂
If is wasn't for readers who would buy the books? 😁
Though I have to say that not every reader leans toward mainstream - there are some of us that will read indie/self published authors. Personally I read the indies way more than the mainstream authors - once in a blue moon I will read a mainstream author, but I am more consumed with the indie authors. I have found reading satisfaction with the indie authors and will pursue them to the ends of the earth!
So now you know my feelings on that subject! 😁
Don’t know about all the readers, but I believe you, specifically, must be right :)Admire your devotion to indie branch!
Nik wrote: "Don’t know about all the readers, but I believe you, specifically, must be right :)Admire your devotion to indie branch!"
Thank you, Nik! :)
Presumably, the write knows their audience. I have seen well-written books that I enjoyed condemned in readers' reviews because of things they felt were offensive - there was a swear word, a romantic scene that they felt was too sexual, LBGTQ minor character so it wasn't advertised as being in that genre. I don't read books with zombies. Doesn't meant they aren't written well. I am just not the target audience.Interestingly, I was looking for an American Girl Doll that my granddaughter wants because the girl has a koala bear and is from Australia. Kira is into taking care of animals, which my granddaugther really loves. (She will be 6 in August.) When going to the website and on Amazon to look for it, there were a huge number of posts/reviews saying don't buy this doll or book series because the girl's parents are a lesbian couple. It has nothing to do with the quality of the doll. Personally, that is irrelevant to me or my daughter (her mother) and I wouldn't have paid any attention to it. I am sure the same exists for other issues in regards to their dolls, as I know there put out ones over the years of various races from a variety of cultures.
IMO the reader is right when it's about the quality of the work, not when it's about the subject matter. The latter is preference only.
Yes and no. The reader is always right for what they like and do not like. The are not always right when it comes to any given book on the overall picture. There are plenty of books that I have not liked; it does not mean it is not a well written or even enjoyable book. I just did not like the book. I am right for myself, but if it sells well or a given group thinks the world of it, how am I right for them or the book?
Readers determine whether a book is destined to succeed commercially or not. If the vast majority decide that an author's work is just not worth their time, it will not become successful.After 14 months of writing, proofreading, rewritning, having others proofread, and polishing, I believed that the finished manuscript was ready for publishing. It turned out that it was not yet polished or ready.
11 additional months of working with, learning from, and interacting with a copy editor, conceptual editor, and layout design artist finally produced a work truly ready for publishing.
My one and only novel was commercially available from Aug. 9, 2011 through Dec. 31, 2016 when the publisher declared bankruptcy and went out of business, perhaps due to signing too many authors like myself.
During its approximately 5 1/2 years of commercial availability, the novel sold only 1,029 units (485 paperbacks - 480 e-books - 36 audio books on CD - 28 audio downloads).
Even though a commercial failure, my personal satisfaction that so many felt the book to be worth reading or listening to made the time, effort, and resources expended to produce and promote it well worth it.
Some, like myself, just do not have whatever it takes to achieve notoriety and/or commercial success within this extremely competitive field. That said; some have. There is no reason why you might not eventually become one of them. I wish you success.
The reader cannot always be right because all readers have different likes and dislikes. What one person loves, another may hate. I suppose it all boils down to sales, which, while dependent upon an audience loving something and recommending it to others, also has a lot to do with marketing. I can't think of a book that changed it's ending to suit the public, although I suppose fairy tales have adapted to the times, but movies do it all the time. Maybe a writer of novels is more likely to develop a following, with loyal fans reading everything they crank out, while a movie is more about fans of the actors than the writer of the screenplay, so the novelist grows to learn what their audience likes and produces more of it, essentially making their fan base always right.
Jim wrote: "Readers determine whether a book is destined to succeed commercially or not. If the vast majority decide that an author's work is just not worth their time, it will not become successful.Interesting story. One of my favorite authors was originally published with a small press that only did mystery and horror. They picked up some very good authors - I was a fan of several of them - and the books looked good and were starting to get good reviews in the major trades. But several years into the business they went into bankruptcy which seemed to be mostly the issue of the publisher - seemed to be pretty much a 2 or 3 person operation - just didn't know how to run a business. Not the fault of the books I read, which were as good - and many better - than stuff that was being put out by big houses at the time. They and their authors just got sunk by poor business judgment.
I think putting a price tag on your newly written book and its sheer publishing is already a statement that you think it's worth buying, reading and enjoying. However once you press the 'publish' button, sometimes nothing much happens. Nobody scrambles to buy anything, even friends and family sometimes aren't overly excited. No wonder threads like 'Books not selling? Feeling confused?' are running and extremely popular on authors' groups.
Some would think: 'What? 'Silly' readers continue to buy bestsellers? They don't know what they are missing.'
However the readers and the customers alike are pretty cautious with new stuff. Maybe we are too. Would you buy a car, a cell phone or a shaving tool of an unknown manufacturer? Would you always pick a new bottle of milk instead of the one you bought and enjoyed for 10 years?
However, we sometimes expect the readers eagerly abandon Rowling and James in our favor.
Admittedly there are books and authors who manage to resonate with their book from day one on Amazon, but it's pretty rare...
Are our expectations justified or the burden of proof is on us and we need to establish our brand before, if at all, the customers, sorry - readers would look into our direction?
And maybe when they do, what if they still prefer mainstream and conformist?