How Much Personal Info Does a Reader Want?

I was wondering the other day - how much do you want to know about the authors you read?

Personally, I don't really want to know that much.  And I've learned from experience there are some things about a person I really don't want to know.  Keep it simple and superficial.  But I suspect I'm not a typical reader.

I guess I like knowing that Allison Brennan is about my age and that one of her girls is the same age as mine.  Or that Roxanne St. Claire's son is the Kid's age.  Or that Kristen Painter has a bunch of cats.  But if I didn't know any of that, I'd still read their books.

But sometimes I learn unpleasant things.  And I don't know about you, but for me, it ruins everything they've ever written.   (Nothing ever from the aforementioned authors.  They're all peachy in my book.)

I expect in these weird times we're living in, it's unavoidable.  Social media gives everyone way more information about a person than they've ever had access to before.

And I've seen a trend - not sure if it's new or I'm just now noticing it - of authors putting their bio info above the book info in their marketing efforts.  When I'm looking for a new book, I definitely don't want to read about the author first.  Unless it's pertinent to the book, but that's mostly pertinent to non-fiction.  Tell me about the story.  Then if I like the story premise, I'll scroll down to see what you're all about so I maybe get a heads-up about what you've written.

:shrug:

Here's my Amazon bio:

Minor conspiracy theorist and major hermit, slayer of fish and stacker of wood, pessimistic optimist and hopeful romantic, a veritable fount of useless knowledge, B.E. Sanderson spends her time reading, writing, gardening, and generally enjoying life with her husband and their cat.

Short.  Simple.  You want more in-depth, read this blog or follow me on FB.  (You can try friending me, but I don't accept all the friend requests on my personal page.  It's hit or miss there.)

So, tell me, how much info do you want to know about the authors you read?  If you are an author, how much information do you make public? 

Writing to 'Expec'.

You know, I really admire people who can write to spec.  (i.e. Writing to a publisher's specifications.)  They sign a contract and then write what they've promised to write.  I couldn't do it.  I can't even write when I think the readers are expecting certain things from me.  Or, rather, I can write, but it turns out crap and then I hate myself. 

I've known this 'can't write to spec' thing for years, but I didn't really think about it because I didn't have anyone expecting anything of me.  I learned it when I tried to write my second book keeping everyone else's writing advice in mind.  OMG, that was a horrible experience.  I mean, I fixed it for the most part when I stopped writing to expectations and started writing how I write again.  It ended up being a much better book and the crappy parts got fixed during editing.  (Still not ready to rework that one so it'll be publishable, though.) 

Problem is, I forgot.  Here I was, happily zooming along publishing books I'd written while I was still sans expectations.  Then I needed to write more books and everything I was writing turned into big piles of stinking manure.  Which made me hate myself.  And my writing. 

So I stopped.

I stopped writing, that is.  I didn't stop worrying about what other people were expecting.  In fact, the more I didn't write, the worse it got.  I made promises and I was breaking them all.  I had an editor who was expecting to edit another book this year.  I had a cover artist who was expecting to design another cover this year.  I had readers who were expecting more books... 

Arrggh.  Just typing that gave me the sweats.

Anyway, I stopped.  But this time I stopped worrying about writing to what I perceive are the expectations of others - writing to expec, so to speak.  Part of doing that meant I needed to stop talking about what I was writing, so no one would have an expectations and then I wouldn't have to live up to them. 

And I started.

I started writing again.  Right now, only one person knows what I'm writing and I told her last night.  Even Hubs doesn't know because I don't want to disappoint him if this all turns to crap again. He just knows I'm writing again and he's happy for me.

So, the plan for now is to just write.  Write this book.  Write the next book.  And the next.  Edit and publish them as I find the funds to do so.  I'm hoping next year will be a good 3-4 book year, but we'll see.

Meanwhile, I hope you readers stick around.  I know in this business you're only as memorable as your last book and the time between books makes readers forgetful.  I can't help that right now.  I can only do what I do, and hope it all works out. 

What about you?  Do expectations freak you out, or are you totally up to that challenge?

A Business AND a Person

I'm a writer which means I am a self-employed business person. Or looking at it another way, I'm a business AND a person.  Everything I do computer-wise for either is done right here, sitting in my desk chair in front of my cluttered desk. 

I don't get dressed, get into my car, and drive to the office.  I get out of bed, use the bathroom, make a pot of coffee, and wander into the office. 

Which means that when I open my email first thing in the morning, I might get a note from a friend or a notification of a new chat message from my daughter, and an email from my mom, alongside pressing business stuff like a letter from my cover artist asking for approval of changes or a note that my marketing has been approved or rejected, and a notice from Paypal that someone has tried to suck money out of my account (only happened once and that was last year). 

Unfortunately, I'm not the kind of person who can usually put things off.  Which means dealing with issues before I am properly caffeinated.  I put off sending sensitive emails until I can word stuff without coming off like a total bitch, though, so at least I got that going for me.  I'm doing that right now, in fact.  I'll have to deal with it sometime this morning, but not until I've had a few more cups of coffee and at least one more cigarette.

It also means that shortly after checking my mail, I'm looking at my sales stats and updating my spreadsheets. 

Oh, I suppose I could be more business-like and not do work stuff first thing.  Set a time and not do anything work related until the start of my 'office hours'.  But that's just not me.  All the business things and all the personal things are rolled up into one entity.  Me.  Sanderson Enterprises - writing, publishing, veterinary services, catering, housekeeping, landscaping, marketing, secretarial services, tech support, grooming. 

Heh, I'm like a one-man Kelly Temps.  Which is kinda funny because I used to work for them.

Anyway, my business cards (if I ever had any printed) would say 'writer', but that one word encompasses so many things.  And I wouldn't trade it for the world. 

And now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go be a dishwasher.  Then I have to compose a reply to a marketing venue I'm dealing with.  Then I should probably exercise.  After which, I'll shower and then get back to work on editing.