Sunday 8 November 2015

#ReaderReviewsMatter: Be the Returned Voice

There's a lot of talk about the Reader and Author relationship, but I wonder if sometimes that idea is mistranslated. Sometimes, there is a sense that a novel is like a monologue performed in front of a silent audience.

There is no doubt readers engage and connect, and words have the power to move and to evoke strong emotions, (I'm a reader first and foremost too and I have been moved to shout and cry and laugh) but it is almost always an internal transaction, making the relationship between reader and writer, paradoxically, the most intimate and the most distant.

But when internal absorption and translation suddenly becomes and outward expression; a communication of empathy, and resonance, and feeling, then something truly wonderful happens - a dialogue is born. A two way running stream of understanding and sharing. That is the moment of magic to an author. It's like a voice travelling back from a distant planet - and the sound of that voice is all it takes to keep that writer creating and sharing.

Today, the first reviews came back for 'When Sorrows Come' and they have literally stopped me in my tracks, they've caused me to reflect on where I am an author and how I move forward. I guess you could call it the sudden onset of an existential crisis - but that can only be a good thing, right?

So if you have read something that moved you, made you cry, hit home, made you laugh, gave you hope, made you feel just a little bit less a crazy party of one, then reach out and tell the author, write a review, drop them an email, write them a letter. Be the returned voice, because your voice matters.  #‎ReaderReviewsMatter

If you're interested in reading 'When Sorrows Come' it is out on January 14th 2016 on Amazon Kindle exclusively for a three month period, after which it will be available on all eBook platforms. Paperback copies will also be available on Amazon and direct via the website. www.katiemjohn.com

#UpperYA #ContemporaryRomance #Relationships #MentalHealth #Survival #Hope #Love #Loss #SubstanceAbuse #SelfHarm

'When Sorrows Come' deals with some complex issues which are not suitable for younger YA readers.

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