Reader-to-Writer – where Authors hear from Readers & . . .

Description: Reader-to-Writer – where authors may hear from their readers & vice-versa

In Japan, publishers usually put an aidokusha kahdo, literally, love-reader-card, in every book they sell. It gives readers the opportunity to praise, critique, correct, thank, or tell the author about things they think he or she should know. Some publishers survey the reader for so much information and leave so many lined spaces for other books to be ordered that only a tiny space for the message remains, while others leave the readers a whole side of the post-card. Usually, there is about half of a postcard for “your comments about this book (which may or may not be named) and about what books you would like to see us publish.” As a well-published author in Japan, there was nothing I enjoyed so much as reading those messages. As an author-publisher in the USA, I would have liked to do the same (it would be worth, say, a quarter a book), but my printer Lightning Source does not, at present have that option. I tried to create a live Reader-to-Writer page at the paraverse press website, but the box I made with my Frontpage would never keep anything I or anyone else wrote in it. Like a shake of a magic slate, it completely dissappears when you change pages. For several years, I have fretted and done nothing. Then, I came to Librarything and everything seemed so cozy and how nice to glimpse at my readers’ libraries and see where they’re coming from . . .

This Group is not for me alone. All authors who wish they had such postcards in their books are welcome to start Forums for Readers to comment on their books. If possible, please try to follow these rules (for the time being anyway):

1) Only Authors should create the first forum bearing their name. Once they have done this, it behooves them to pop in now and then and respond to their readers.
2) Readers are free to criticize the author’s work, but debate between readers should be transfered to another forum. Remember, the model is a postcard.
3) Ideally, we would have more tiers, at least one more, like folders within folders in our computors, so clicking on each Author would open up another miniforum selection, one for each book. As it is, the individual book forums may at least be kept alphabetically together with the author by keeping the author’s name before that of his or her book in the title. These book forums can be created by readers or by the author.
4) Remember, readers are addressing authors, not each other. That is what makes Reader-to-writer different from the other groups. It goes without saying that readers may always drop in on one another outside of these forums.
5) Please pardon this author playing the author-itarian. It is in the hope of getting the group well enough organized to maintain the forums as a place Where Authors May Hear from Their Readers and Vice-versa.

Members: R_Whitacre, LindaGDavis, canongatebooks, Darrol, keigu

Created: Oct 31, 2007 by keigu; Language: English