Apparently you can learn to read a 10,000 word novel in a few hours by scanning the sentences for key words. You can zip through Gone with the Wind in record time.
What I want to know is: how is that a plus?
Doesn't the reader want to spend time with the story? Doesn't the reader want to enjoy the experience of relaxing with a good book?
Doesn't the author want the reader to savor the images that he or she has worked so hard to craft?
Doesn't the publisher want the reader to have such a wonderful time with the book that she or he will want to read more by the same author?
For me, reading the descriptive phrases in a book are a special joy. Consider this paragraph from The Fig Eater by Jody Shields: That night, Erszebet dreams she is sleeping under a fig tree. A menacing figure, a woman in a black robe, leans over her. She senses the woman is about to speak, her lips part, but then Erszebet suddenly wakes up terrified, her breath coming in gasps. Fear opens new routes for her blood to take; the throbbing of her heart is mapped out over her whole body.
You don't even know the story, but doesn't your pulse quicken a bit?
Imagine if you had merely picked out a few key words: menacing, leans, terrified, gasps, fear. It just doesn't have the same impact on your emotions or on your identification with the character.
When you are doing publicity for your book, encourage readers to take the time to enjoy the experience.
Denise
www.inktreemarketing.com
www.publishacookbook.com
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