I touched on this when I blogged about the facts of life the other day, pleasing readers.

I can’t please every reader. I don’t expect to. While I’d like think I can, I’m an realist. People have different likes, different dislikes. Some want me to write more menages, others hate menages. Some want me to go back to writing just erotic romance, others want more mainstream. Others still want more contemporaries and some want nothing but Hunters, Hunters and more Hunters.

See what I mean?

I think this is something a lot of writers face. A popular series takes off, readers don’t want to see the end of it, but sooner or later, the end comes for everything. I’m not quite nearing the end of any of my series but my writing style has changed, I get burned out writing just paranormal and I want to try my hand at more mainstream versus erotic.

Change happens and while nobody has to like it, it’s just one of those facts of life. A writer’s style will change…hopefully improve, but what one person considers an improvement, another will consider a disappointment.

How to handle this? Do you get all defensive when a reader emails you complaining that your latest book just sucked rotten eggs? Does getting defensive do any good? Nope. Sometimes even calmly explaining why your writing style has changed doesn’t do any good either.

**I had a reader email me telling me that she was boycotting me until I stopped writing for print publishers and went back to writing just ebooks~she’d started reading my ‘erotic romances’ and that was what she expected of me and I could either go back to it…or she’d never buy my books again.

Should I get all temperamental and defensive? I could. But why? I never had any intentions of writing just erotic romance and only erotic romance. I like variety, in my reading, and in my writing. I love romance, but eventually, I’m going to try my hand at sci fi, I’m going to try fantasy, and maybe even a horror book or two. Do I think everybody who reads me now will read those and love them? No. I’d love if that happened, but as I’ve said…I’m a realist.

In response to this reader, I simply explained that I had to do what I felt served me best as a writer…my translation to that is this… I have to tell the stories the way I see them and not ‘sex it up’ to make it suit one publisher better than another. I have to tell stories as I see them…not force myself to write a certain ‘type’ of story because that’s what is expected. A forced story translates to a lousy story and I owe my readers, my editors and myself the best story I can tell…not a forced one.

Will that please every reader? No. But it will please most of them and in the end, I know I’ve done my best with each particular story…and that’s good enough for me.

 ** Edited to add….This was posted as an example, not anything else… I’m not asking (and I don’t really want) anybody to get offended or miffed on my part.  Believe me, I’d rather take an email like this than the few weird ones asking me if I’ve done the stuff I’ve written about or whether I’d really make it with a werewolf…. ewwwwww…..  I wasn’t trying to come off as critical of the lady and I hope that isn’t the overall impression.  It was just an example of how it’s impossible to please every reader, yet still do what is best for a writer’s career.