"Come out, come out, wherever you are!"
A writer's search for readers...
There are more readers than writers - this on the basis that every writer reads, but not every reader writes. So there must be. Flawless logic, right? But if that’s the case, there will be thousands of writers asking “where are these readers?” - or more specifically, “where are mine?!”
Clearly readers aren’t evenly spread. Not every writer gets a certain - minuscule! - percentage of the reading population. And if we did, how many would that equate to? I suspect fewer than we might think or desire.
But if the reading population is distributed unevenly then some authors will enjoy tens of thousands of readers (and a very few, hundred of thousands), but a far greater number or writers probably under a hundred. Why is that? Why do so many writers feel like Gary Cooper, hoping there will be people who are on his side yet find the streets deserted?
If we rule out talent (which, if it comes into play, is only relevant after someone has been read; it influences the reading or not of a second book), then there are probably a relatively small number of deciding factors - because let’s face it, readers are making their choices based on something...
Genre
Individuals who like a particular genre - fantasy, murder-mystery, rewritten Greek mythology etc. - may automatically rule out reading the rest of the writing population. Conversely, writers in those genres may enjoy a read-made readership to tap into…
Celebrity
If you’re already known, then readers may be more likely to see what you can do on the page. That doesn’t mean that a celebrity’s work is better than anyone else’s - nor that they actually wrote it themselves! - but they start with a very large foot in a very open door…
Marketing / promotion
Perhaps a book (most likely traditionally published) is heavily promoted. It finds its way into bookclubs, the tables in Waterstones, submitted to recognised prizes etc. Seeing a book repeatedly referenced may lead to a reader wondering what all the fuss is about. Just look at what happens to the sales figures of Booker Prize winners, before and after…
And good old fashioned luck!
Whether we like it or not, luck plays a part - especially when it comes to finding an agent. Your query letter (written just right!) lands in an inbox at the precise moment an agent is looking for the very thing you’ve written. Unfairly criticised I think, agents actually have a tough time. Recently one agent said they received nearly 300 queries a week, or 60 a day. Given they have to service existing clients, how much time can they spend on these queries? 5 minutes each is 5 hours a day they simply don’t have. So is it 2 minutes? Or 1? They may not even ready the sample material we send. It’s a tough gig for them - and hence for us too.
So, there are major factors in play.
Personally I don’t write genre fiction, I’m not a celebrity, I don’t have the promotional budget of a major publisher behind me… Ring any bells? Does that mean it all comes down to luck? Surely it shouldn’t.
Does it matter that my work has been compared to Henry James, Sally Rooney, Virginia Woolf, Ernest Hemingway? (That’s quite some mash-up, by the way!) Or that one of my novels made a reader cry on a US subway? Or another novel made a UK reader reassess how they saw themselves?
While all that wonderful feedback is vital affirmation - and so, so rewarding! - sadly, when it comes to finding a larger readership, it appears to be largely irrelevant.
I live in hope that such praise will make itself heard in the cacophony.
Okay, so Gary Cooper eventually won the day - and the girl! - but for the majority of us all we can do is keep practicing our quick-draw and hope we don’t get gunned down by the bad guys..!