I remember it as if it was yesterday. Well almost yesterday, as my memory gets easily muddled, but I began writing between third and fifth grades. I wrote and illustrated a book series out of printing paper, folded horizontally and stapled in the middle. I don’t know why, maybe because it was the influence of my zodiac sign, the twins Castor and Pollux. Maybe because I longed to be a twin as well. Maybe it was because I’d started reading the Sweet Valley Jr High series. Or all the above.
Anyways, the main character of the first book were twins. And they weren’t just ordinary twins. They were princesses. Identical twin princesses bred and raised in the ways of the monarchy, safely within the castle walls. Not once did they ever step outside and their only relations with other people were the same nobles attending the balls. Fed up with their gilded cages, they ran away while the servants and their parents were busy with another ball. They got the adventure they wanted and then some. Even met traveling twin princes who they later married. And in the end the twin royal couple gave birth to two adorable, mischievous twin princesses.
“A writer is nothing without a reader; a reader is nothing without a writer.”-Anthony Liccione
There’s a symbiotic relationship between a reader and a writer. And the best way to cultivate that relationship is to continuously answer their anticipations. How? By writing your next book. As a writer, you should always have another book as a possible project. Have a story idea that just floated into your head? Save it and file away for later. You can even use that information in your book proposal to show agents/publishers that you’re not a one book wonder. And your readers would love you for it too.
Sure, you can market and promote your book, but it is your readers who get the word out. Or even go as far as lending their own copy of your book. They are your PR spokesperson, promoter and follower. They're the ones who’d make it their bibliophile mission to get your book into as many new hands as possible. And they’re the ones waiting on pins and needles for your next work. So honor your readers by creating more worlds for them to step into. Break out your magic pen, outline, create and get to know new characters. Write your heart out, and revise, edit and polish, again and again.
Do you remember your first fan(s)? What are some ways have you rewarded them? Please share in the comments section below.