From The Desk of LRW: An Industry Commentary.

This commentary is for the authors and the readers.

I'm going to address the readers first and then the authors.

Dear Readers: Some of you are going way out of your way to discredit what is being published in the literary industry. On the other side of this coin, you choose to fuss, post disrespectful things about so-called books you spend your hard earned dollars on (and some of you work the "Kindle Credit" piece of it so well, it's like bank account to toy around with.) Stop screwing with the business of books to read if you truly don't like a title, a cover, a certain word being used repeatedly or a lengthy series that you feel goes on and on forever. There are readers that actually LIKE serial stories/novellas and the sort. If you prefer full length, stand alone novels, they do exist and many authors take the time out to list them for your reading pleasure in specific areas. If you're not sure, just ask, the author will be more than happy to assist you in your quest.

For the readers that are avid, loyal to whomever and/or simply just love to read, I thank you. For the readers that post a review, post a star, inbox the author (respectfully) to share their thoughts, I thank you. For the readers I get the opportunity to meet in person and have real conversations with, I thank you too. What many may not realize is that authors have external lives that really do extend beyon the characters of your favorite book. Very few are jet-setting around the globe on world tours; we appreciate what we recieve from your insight. To the online bloggers, radio shows, I thank you. To the reader groups that devour our works and dish it like they wrote the book, we love you immensely! Without many of you, we'd just be writing stuff, wishing someone would read it.

On to the authors...

Dear Authors:

Authors, I understand that we want to please our readers, but there comes a time when you have to draw a line in the sand. If you're good penning drama, do that. If romance is your strong suit, stay in the pocket. Crime fighting, murder mysteries...whatever it is you do, do it to the best of your ability. Stop trying to do all and be all. Your reader base starts with where you begin. You can diversify once you have a following willing to buy your books at the echelon of your well written standards. (I'm not going to touch on the editing piece in this commentary, that's a whole other subject to tackle.) Sure, all of our readers are not going to like everything we write; hell, we're human and you should expect some flak if you deliver a slow plot, lazy characters not fleshed out to see/feel/relate to in some fashion. It's like anything else we do in this world: give your best or else...expect to hear about it.

We are nearly a month into 2015 and the pettiness must stop. It's time for some of you to grow up and get over the wannabe drama of social media. Roll up your sleeves and get back to work on your novel. Keep your personal lives to a minimum; readers don't give that much of a damn about it. It's time to shift the mode/vibe of this industry from negative to the positive.

I've placed you on top of the mountain; let's see how you manage to get yourselves back to ground level. -- LRW/NCPCEO #nucherte