Interactivity is overrated.
Interactivity is overrated. Once, I was obsessed with comments, likes, and all that BS, but I can’t be bothered anymore. When I turned my back on social media, I also turned my back on any means of communicating with readers. No more fan mail. No more reviews. No more commentary.
It isn’t that I don’t care if people have thoughts or opinions. And it’s not that I don’t care if someone who reads my books enjoys themselves. I’m not interested in hearing about it, that’s all. After years of interacting with readers, I discovered they didn’t have anything to tell me I could put to use while creating, and immediately, the appeal of such interaction dropped to zero.
By all means, readers, chat with each other about the things you like or dislike about my work. I encourage you to do so. But that conversation was never meant for me, just like reviews weren’t meant for me. A review is how one reader tells another if a story is worth reading. It’s not an opportunity for someone to instruct the writer on how to do their job—or, at least, it ought not to be.
Dealing with readers can become a codependent relationship. Good comments charge you, and nasty comments crush you. I don’t want to be on that roller coaster anymore, so I do what I do and let readers do what they do. We all seem much happier that way.