Authors want readers to enjoy their books, so much so, that they (the readers) will want to read more of their stories. It’s simple really; if they like what they read, they’ll come back for more. There are issues that can make a reader turn away from a novel without even getting to the second chapter.
Avoiding these problems increases the likelihood that readers will want to stick with your novel to the end. While every author must ultimately be true to himself or herself, it’s also important to fulfill the desires of your audience. Have you ever put a book down just after you started reading? What turned you away? Perhaps it was one of the issues we’re about to mention in this post.
Readers might reject your novel for these reasons
- Cover design is poor quality or a misfit: Many people decide whether to read a novel based on its cover. Such readers literally “judge a book by its cover.” If your cover design is of poor quality or doesn’t align with the content of your story, readers might not want to invest their time and attention.
- Failure to provide a hook within the first chapter: If nothing captures readers’ attention in the first chapter to make them want to find out more, they’ll likely set your novel down and not pick it up again. If they finish chapter one and think, “This feels like it’s going nowhere,” then the first chapter will be the last one they read.
- Gratuitous violence, sexual imagery or profanity: Violence, romance or an occasional expletive might have a place in a novel, even within the Christian fiction genre. Glorifying these things or taking them to an extreme may cause readers to turn away.
- Death without purpose: In this post, we discussed iconic deaths in best-selling novels, as well as how to determine when and if you should kill off a character in a story. If characters are dying off without purpose, readers might decide that it’s “game over” for the rest of your book.
- Overkill in the background department: Yes, you want to hook readers in the early pages of your story. However, if you give too much detail and background without letting the plot unfold, readers might feel overwhelmed or bored.
These of just a few of many reasons why readers might reject a book without reading it to the end. If you want your novel to have staying power, make sure you avoid these issues. One way to determine whether your story meets the test is to review it as a reader, not an author. Would you want to read the whole story? If not, what changes do you need to implement to make it more appealing?
