Readers are:
1. Intelligent and creative. Readers regularly exercise their minds and flex their imaginations. They think and provide creative solutions to both everyday and large-scale problems.
2. Open-minded. More willing than the average person to try out different viewpoints and experience different things, the reader has a more positive outlook on life. They are a gift to those around them.
3. In touch with their emotions. Readers tend to be emotionally invested in stories. Thus, they practice being in touch with their emotions for use in the real world and are better at adapting and coping with emotional stress.
4. Compassionate. Because readers are so in touch with their emotions, they can better empathize with others. They treat those around them with a mindset of openness and kindness, the same way they treat the characters of the stories they read.
5. Supportive and encouraging. Once you prove your worth as an author, readers are willing to become invested for the long haul. They are willing to help you succeed by reviewing and recommending your books. Sharing the knowledge they gained or a book they know will bring a smile to another’s face is the selfless goal of many book lovers, helping both the author and everyone around them. Readers are loyal supporters to the end. They will also make it known when they grow antsy for more from their favorite authors, fostering the confidence that helps authors succeed.
6. Critical. I treat this one as a very good thing. Readers will invest themselves in your story enough to want it to succeed. If they are critical of a work, it is because they care enough to want to make it great.
7. Enthusiastic. Book fans are amazing to talk to. They love life and the extra joy that reading brings them. They are dreamers and fans and make life more colorful.
8. Believers in the power of stories. They see the magic of storytelling and allow it to enhance their lives. They believe in the force that unites us all.
9. Willing to learn. Readers are always seeking knowledge of some kind when they read. Though it may not be the knowledge they originally sought, every reader takes away some kind of message from what they read. And they love this discovery which enriches their lives, creating the positive cycle of lifelong learning.
10. Undervalued. Readers truly enrich not just the lives of authors, but the lives of everyone around them. They bring the world to life. And yet readers seem to be ignored, overlooked as ordinary and introverted. The world does not see that the readers are people that truly experience life and contribute to the world we live in.
Be sure to tell the readers in your life you appreciate them today.
