Friday, January 29, 2010

Reader Feedback: When bad feedback is actually good.

Hi there -- it's me with my occasional blazon. I am always thrilled when I can share something that is positive and will also be encouraging to fellow authors.

I have been sincerely humbled the past few weeks since I received my pre-release author copies of Detour to Heaven. I am very selective with those I "give away" for feed back and promotional reasons. Hoping that the gesture of generosity on my part will be spiritually rewarded to glorify God. My hope has not been deferred.

Before explaining this entry title, let me share with you that as a Christian fiction author I am well aware when writing that I must reflect the honorable title of Christian (follower of Jesus Christ) at all times in a way as not to bring dishonor or shame to the Lord. So bearing that in mind, I proceeded with caution when I began Detour to Heaven because some content I knew would touch on sensitive areas of humanity. With humanity being the key word, I wanted to write what I sincerely believed was a good book inspired from God.

The first chapter reveals a rather shocking surprise, but I trusted the Lord to give me the eloquence to write without offending and compel the reader to continue reading to find the positive outcome. The novel contains further content that if not written well might leave the readers with a bad taste. However, that has not happened with my pre-release readers. And just this morning I received an email from a reader who humbled me with praise for the book.

Why the blog title: I have to smile when I remember my first encounter with one of the readers, she said: "I thought, I can't read this. But then I knew there had to be a good outcome." And another one of her comments was "At one point I was so angry, I wanted to throw the book through the window." (She was referring to what happened to one of the main characters.) She continued "But I didn't and kept reading." Her last comment is what every writer dreams of and loves to hear. . . "It's hard to put your book down." And when she finished it, "I wanted to call you last night to tell you how much I loved reading it, but I was afraid you would be asleep. I started reading it again." All the quoted material is from a professional who is employed at a place of business I frequent. Her enthusiasm for the book has led to pre-release sales.

Another encounter with a reader revealed a person who had obviously led a very sheltered life and had not encountered much of the world's ugliness. She was not even aware that one thing that took place in the novel actually happened in the world of humanity. She was genuinely surprised.

One reader said: "It is a little spicy." (Keep in mind that 'spicy' to some people may not always mean 'spicy' to others.) I asked her if she was offended, she said, "Oh no!" It's real life. I love it."

Another comment was: "Your first book was good, but you hit the nail on the head with this one."

So there you have it--sometimes negative reader comments are actually good comments.

Common denominator--all readers so far have identified in some way either with the main character or some event in the book. At this point I truly do feel blessed and humbled as an author. I have pending one book signing and one speaking engagement, dates to be announced after the release date of March 23, 2010.

An aside here: An open and personal belated congratulations Cliff Graham on your movie deal. You go! And thanks for keeping us encouraged to be passionately desirious to succeed.

2 comments:

Doreen McGettigan said...

That was an excellent post and quite inspiring..will there be a new post soon? Perhaps a new book?

Ann Winters said...

Belated thank you!