Writers, Are You Reading?

Last night I was pretty surprised by the title of an article from GOOD magazine that showed up in my twitter stream. It was a simple enough question, but it perplexed me all the same:

Why Don't More Writers Buy Books?

I read the question over and over. I mean, honestly, buy more books? I'm drowning over here and I also owe the library some money as well! But, I happen to love GOOD magazine, they are usually straight forward and not completely irrational, so I thought let me click the link and actually read the article to see what this is all about.

What's This All About

When it comes down to it, the numbers were simply not adding up. Publishers and literary magazines are being overwhelmed with a growing number of querys and submissions for publication, but their books and magazines are not selling off the shelves. In a time when everyone is questioning the future of the publishing world, the number of aspiring writers has suddenly grown astronomically. Those behind the books got to thinking - if all these writers were supporting the industry they want to be a part of then, perhaps, its future wouldn't be in question at all!

It ends up that this article that found new life on Twitter last night is actually from July 2010, but I wonder how off the mark it is. Without access to the data myself, or my own behind the scenes look into the publishing world, all I can offer is my own perspective and opinion on this subject.

My Thoughts 

Personally, I believe if you are going to submit work to a literary magazine for a possible submission, you should read that magazine. If you are going to continually submit to the same literary magazine, you should probably just subscribe to it. This is not just to support the industry, but also to know what types of work they are looking for and tend to publish.

The same goes with larger publishing dreams. If you want to write a romance novel, well, then, read romance novels. If you want to write mystery, then read mystery. Whatever it is that you are writing, you should become familiar with what's going on in the genre. You should know what is popular, what's been done and where you fit.

By the way, in my opinion, you should be reading a little bit of everything else also. You never know where you will get inspiration for your latest work, or what kind of author voice will move you until you are face to face with it. Learning happens in the strangest of places, usually when we least expect it, too, so you must expose yourself to as much as possible.

Yes. This can get expensive. (I'm living that right now.)

Yes. You can go to the library. (As I mentioned, I owe them some money, too!)

However, if you never pay for your reading, don't you feel the slightest bit insincere asking someone to pay you for your writing? I know I would.

I know writers love to read. The two go hand in hand. All the writers I meet are voracious readers, so I don't know if the article I read is even still relevant today. But here's a thought: the next time you absolutely love a book you picked up in the library and want to recommend it someone who you know will love it too, go buy it for them! The person you bought it for will love the unexpected gift and you can consider it your little thank you to the author of the great read.