Murakami on Readers’ Responses
November 30, 2004 | Comments Off
Haruki Murakami takes his readers’ criticism seriously, reading 100 email messages every day and answering 10 – 20 of those:
I’m not interested in professional criticism, pro or con. I just don’t care. But I think it’s very important for me to read the words from my actual readers, the ones who pay their money to buy and read my books. They are very important. Sometimes they actually help me to think about the books I’ve written.Most of them write about what they like and don’t like very honestly. That helps. Very small things help me. Some readers say they like this detail — a very small thing; just a piece of conversation, or the clothing a character is wearing or the beer a character is drinking. If you read 1,000 e-mails, you catch a vibration from the readers out there.
(Via Bookninja.)
Category: Publishing & Writing