I've seen a number of headshakingly-bad promotion tactics this week by writers.
Readers are the lifeblood of our careers. They should be at the center of everything we do.
There are certain lines that authors shouldn't cross. Readers deserve to be respected and valued.
That got me thinking about what a Reader's Bill of Rights might look like. I stumbled across a quote by author Daniel Pennac which I thought was great, but it didn't go far enough in my opinion. It doesn't acknowledge the relationship between writers and readers, which I think is important.
Readers have certain inalienable rights that shouldn't be trampled on by WRITERS.
My version of a Reader's Bill of Rights would look like this:
READERS HAVE THE:
- Right to read whatever they want
- Right to pay a fair price for content
- Right to a good ebook, paperback, and audio experience
- Right to privacy
- Right to assemble / not have their communities polluted by spammy writers
- Right to like or not like a book and not have to defend their tastes (as Daniel Pennac states)
- Right to post honest reviews and not be pressured to alter them
- Right to free speech
- Right to be respected and treated with dignity
- Right to not be misled or defrauded
Thinking of putting together a manifesto that details this further.
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