Johanna's big thoughts

I just plunked down $17 for your book.

I’ve suspended disbelief.

I’m hanging on your every word.

I’ve committed time and energy to your work.

I want to like you.

No—you know what?

I want to love you.

I want to love your story.

I want to believe in you.

I want things to work out between us.

*

Don’t destroy all we have with a cliffhanger ending.

*

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I adore a good series.

I love revisiting

favorite characters.

I love knowing

I can trust an author

to deliver

one satisfying story

after another.

*

Provide that for me and I will order everything from your backlist.

I will pre-order your next book, no matter how long it takes you to write it.

I will be devoted to you.

I will tell my friends about you.

I will gush and embarrass myself with how much I love you.

 *

Play games with me?

 *

 *

Toy with me?

 *

Withhold until. . .

I feed your publisher another $17. . .

or maybe another $17 after that?

 *

Forget it.

 *

Not only have you lost the sale, you’ve lost the fan.

 *

 *

I have a great deal of sympathy for beginning authors who don’t quite nail the ending.

Some of my favorites wobbled a bit with their first books.

I savored the improvement of their writing

from one novel to the next

until finally

they wrapped their stories

around me

so completely

I reread the ending over and over

and cheered for them.

 *

*

I’m not talking about the new author who may be a bit clumsy, but endearing.

 *

 *

I’m talking about the skilled professional

who could write a satisfying ending,

but chooses to court the dollar

and frustrate the reader.

*

I’d rather have the earnest, awkward fumbling

of someone who wants to please me

over and over again.

*

Now that’s a series.

 *

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Wednesday, March 7th, 2012, 12:01 am   |   publishing, reader response, reading, writing, writing craft  |  RSS feed Comments and pings are currently closed.