Who Are You?

4/6/2014

I had to attend the UCF Book Festival yesterday, even though all I really wanted to do was work on City of Light. But I had a good time, and we had a lot of fun at the fantasy panel, so I don't regret it.

However, one of the most common questions I got was about the gender of my reader-base. People kept asking me who read my books, or telling me which gender should like my books.

As I dodged those questions like it was gym class, I started to realize: I don't even know.

One of my personal philosophies is that you need to aim at a specific target audience when you're writing, so I know exactly the sort of person I was aiming to hit when I wrote the Traveler's Gate Trilogy. But who actually read and liked the books?

So I started thinking. How do I talk to people who read and liked the books?

And here you are. So, if you would, could you tell me who you are? This is solely for the purpose of allowing me to answer this question, and will not affect my future writing (in case that worried you, for some reason). Also, I think it's an interesting question to know.

All that said, the poll:

95 Comments

April

4/6/2014 03:24:37 am

You sir, are heartless. It would be fascinating to study your circulatory system. I have been refreshing your blog page multiple times a day, hoping for the news that you have uploaded COL, or at least provided cover art, but instead you seek to reduce me statistic.

Will Wight link

4/6/2014 03:30:40 am

Not you, April. You alone remain above this cold, calculating poll system.

I was going to post the cover art instead of this poll, but I'd honestly rather see the poll results. After all, I've seen the cover art.

>Insert troll face here.

Jack S

4/6/2014 12:29:48 pm

Hey, I wanna be above this pole too!

Tim K

4/6/2014 04:52:04 am

To quote Dan Wells (the handsome Wells brother) "Make the art that you want to make, but make it good enough that other people want to read it."
To hell with aiming I say. Write whatever makes you happy and if its good other people will want to read it too. Which is why no one has read my stories ;)

Will Wight link

4/6/2014 05:29:34 am

To paraphrase Leslie Nielsen: "You want to get noticed? Get so good they can't ignore you."

Seriously though, it's always been my belief that storytelling is, at its core, just communication. And effective communication is direct and aimed. I'd write an email to my aunt differently than I would to Neil Gaiman, and the standards are excellence are different depending on what kind of story you're trying to tell.

For instance, the Traveler's Gate Trilogy is a terrible Western.

But the great part about all this is that if you aim for a specific reader, you also hit a LOT of other readers, very different from what you aimed for.

The reason why this poll won't affect my writing style is because I already know who I'm aiming for (at least with the Traveler's Gate Trilogy).

I'm not going to tell you who that is, but most of my readers are probably outside this very specific group. Still, crafting a story for specific readers is a great way to make storytelling decisions.

Tim K

4/6/2014 12:41:43 pm

But if you wanted it to be a western no one should be able to stop you haha. Gunsword?

Cody K

4/9/2014 12:22:30 am

You should be called Will notWight because either a rather ravenous piece of furniture has made you into a man sizes snack or you enjoy watching your loyal subjects suffer in bookless despair. Seriously I check amazon and your blog three times a day just waiting for City Of Light to come out. I'm desperate man!

P.S. Sorry for such a terrible pun. I find it funny but I realize I may be slightly crazy,

Will Wight link

4/9/2014 03:13:40 am

I have no idea what you're talking about, Cody, but there's one thing I can answer: City of Light is coming very soon! I'm trying to upload it tonight, so it should be available tomorrow.

Assuming nothing goes wrong.

Will Wight link

4/6/2014 05:33:57 am

If you write for yourself you're really doing the same thing, by the way. It's just that the reader you're aiming for looks exactly like you.

Tim K

4/7/2014 11:28:41 am

I've had no training in writing, but when I do write... I always hablo espanol.

Hayden Desrosiers

4/6/2014 05:54:52 am

William "The Dominator" Wight, how dare you question the authenticity of your readers based on their gender! For shame you insolent fool!

Will Wight link

4/6/2014 05:59:00 am

Authenticity? If you read the book(s), then you're an 'authentic' reader. I don't care if you're a twelve-gendered octopus from another dimension.

Hayden Desrosiers

4/6/2014 06:06:53 am

When you go to PAX, promise me you will find Jerma. Just find him, take a picture, get an autograph, something. Look him up on youtube, watch his shenanigans.

Mordin

4/6/2014 06:13:33 am

How do you know Ralph? He, she, she, she, he, he, she, he, she, he, he, she usually does not reveal him/herself to mortals...

Quaza

4/6/2014 03:20:36 pm

Out of curiosity, how would one mark oneself as a twelve-gendered octopus from another dimension? Because I really would prefer to answer.

Purely hypothetical, of course.

Bryce

4/6/2014 06:13:01 am

From what I have seen in all of the books I've read authors seem to write more along the lines of what they like to read themselves. Men seem to gravitate more towards action oriented sci fi and fantasy. Women on the other hand seem to favor romance.

Obviously there are not clear lines separating them as each will many times incorporate different things in their books but women generally focus more on the romance as the central plot.

An example is... go onto amazon and go to the fantasy sections. Now find a female name or 2. Id be willing to bet the book's description mentions something about a strong romance, a sexy guy etc etc.

Will Wight link

4/6/2014 09:02:30 pm

That is the current perception of male authors and female authors, Bryce. In recent years, a lot of people have begun questioning that division, and I want to make sure that I don't create an atmosphere suggesting that women 'can't' or 'shouldn't' be reading my books. Not even implicitly.

No one should feel compelled to read something that they don't enjoy. So if it's a woman who likes romance or a guy who likes action, great! And if it's the other way around, fantastic!

The poll's not really about that, though. The poll is just me gathering accurate data. Rather than me guessing when people ask me questions like this, I'd rather have objective information on my side. The only result I'm looking for is the truth. Gender-wise, who is reading my books?

I'll likely ask other polls in the future, but since this was the question I received a few times on Saturday, it was the question I thought of first.

FreudianSlip

4/7/2014 07:44:28 am

Just for the record (and this is coming from a girl AND a licensed psychologist who just so happens to love your books)...I don't think you've created that kind of atmosphere at all. I think your books are very accessible to all readers, regardless of gender, and that there's something to love in the story even if you're not the world's biggest action fan. :)

Personally, I think that division is stupid, and I have to admit...I love the fact that there are up-and-coming (and already established!) fantasy authors who seem to challenge the stereotype in their writing and publish books that appeal to both men and women. Obviously I won't make a generalized statement based solely on personal experience, but...those stereotypical romance-centered, female-centric books...? Not for me! Gimme great worldbuilding, fast-paced action and political intrigue any day! Sure, throw in a romance subplot and I'll be an exceptionally happy camper, but those standard mushy romance novels with a bit of sword and sorcery thrown in reeeeeally don't appeal to me at all. But hey, I might just be a somewhat strange example of the female species, which shouldn't be altogether surprising considering my favorite game at the age of six was Resident Evil. Ahem.

Will Wight link

4/7/2014 09:20:19 am

Thanks, Madam Slip. I also didn't think that I'd created any sort of gendered atmosphere, beyond whatever automatically happens when I'm a guy writing primarily from a guy's point-of-view, but I'd like to be sensitive to these sorts of things. I certainly don't want to shut the door in the faces of any women who might want to read the books.

It's been my experience that lots of girls like action-oriented fantasy series with original worlds and intricate magic systems.

Zeldachick

4/7/2014 01:26:03 pm

FreudianSlip: I am so excited to read your comments. I feel the same way and it is really nice to see evidence of more women like me. Love the Sci Fi/fantasy and also a gamer. Here's to awesome somewhat strange examples of the female species!!! :)

Bryce

4/6/2014 06:13:58 am

Also Will...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3lLYOGDsts

Will Wight link

4/6/2014 09:02:56 pm

I GET IT

Lightningstar

4/6/2014 06:47:26 am

So leaving aside all the other stuff, is the deadline of April 10 for COL still relevant? I only ask because I just finished Lightning Wastes and the teaser story with Simon and Leah really made me impatient to read the third installment.

Mark jaeger

4/6/2014 10:20:54 am

Seriously I'm scared that it won't come out before the 10th :O! And I totally agree with star on the simon Leah teaser, makes for an impatient reader.

Will Wight link

4/6/2014 09:04:20 pm

I'm in the same boat, you two. I want this book to be released just as bad as you do.

More accurately, I want this book to release ME.

And yes, I think April 10th is still an accurate deadline. The only question now is how long the upload process will take, because that's a wild card. Amazon controls that process, not me.

Shiloh Hubbard

4/6/2014 11:09:18 am

I will definitely be refreshing the blog to see what all the results are! I would have assumed that the majority of your readers, Mr. Wight, are masculine, due to the action/sci-fi content of your books. That being said, as on of your female enthusiasts, I have to say that I am more interested in the story line, regardless of the genre. I like good stories, whether it is romance, sci-fi, mystery, etc. I think I may have mentioned it a few (hundred) times, but I am hardly able to wait for CoL! I am only able to console myself with the very feeble hope that my pain will soon be at an end! Bring on CoL! f

Will Wight link

4/6/2014 09:05:45 pm

That's how I feel too, Shiloh. If it's a really good story, I don't care who the author or main character are.

And I, too, am impatient for City of Light. It feels like that's all I've thought about for months!

Zeldachick

4/6/2014 11:36:21 am

I must say that I love your books!! I am a woman but I dont think that attributes to wether one would like your books or not. I was intrigued from the moment I read the synopsis and I will be forever hooked. I am pretty sure it didn't mention romance or a sexy guy either( yeah Bryce that was for you) :) I love the storyline, which is a must have. I do enjoy a little romance, but i also love the action. You write in a great way that makes the fighting scenes easy to track and picture even with so many characters. Keep up the good work!!

Zeldachick

4/6/2014 11:51:32 am

Oh and side note, love your sense of humor. Between Simon's snarky sarcasm, Kai, and the dolls, I have to say it is one of the few series that keeps me on the edge and makes me laugh out loud. Great stuff!!

Will Wight link

4/6/2014 08:35:31 pm

That's the funny thing: I pick books the same way. If the concept sounds interesting, I'll give it a shot. The gender of the author and/or main character plays absolutely no role in whether I'll pick up a book or not, and I was somewhat curious about whether that was true for others.

Mark Lawrence (Prince of Thorns) did a poll on his website recently asking if readers would have hesitated to pick up his book if his name had been Mary Lawrence. Long story short, roughly 20% of his (mostly male) readers admitted that they would, in fact, have hesitated to some degree.

That surprised me. When I saw his survey, I really looked inside and tried to answer it honestly, and I came to the conclusion that no, it really wouldn't have changed anything if his name on the cover had been "Mary." Unless I know who the author is from the beginning, I usually don't even check the author's name before I begin reading. It plays no part in my purchasing decisions.

But hey, if it is a factor for other people, that seems like the sort of thing I should know. It does make sense (in theory) that a measurable number of guys would gravitate to a book written by a guy about a guy, and vice-versa for women. But how many? Is it REALLY significant?

So instead of guessing, I turn to my friend: cold, hard data.

I'm glad you enjoy the humor! That's one of my favorite parts of writing this series, and it's really the whole reason I introduced the dolls in the first place. One of my regrets in the Traveler's Gate Trilogy is that I didn't get to include ENOUGH humor, though I have heard from a few of my beta readers that I used the dolls better in Book 3 than in Books 1 and 2. Hopefully that's true.

Thanks for the encouragement, Zelda!

Zeldachick

4/7/2014 02:54:04 am

Kindred spirit :) I am glad the beta readers said that. Now I am even more excited for CoL!! ..... Now stop procrastinating!! :)

Noah

4/6/2014 12:34:00 pm

I am a man. I have the parts in my wife's handbag to prove it. I like action oriented anime, I adore narrative driven table-top RP's - reading your books was like coming home for me. As natural a fit as women's skin on Buffalo Bill. Now. . .It releases the book before the tenth or else it gets the hose again.

Will Wight link

4/6/2014 09:06:13 pm

Lower me a phone or the dog gets it!

Madeline

4/6/2014 01:52:29 pm

I am a woman. I read much too fast for my own good (WoR in 11 hours! Yay!) which means that while I prefer long fantasy books, I tend to end up reading anything I can get my hands on out of boredom in between fantasy book releases.

And I think I just managed to submit two null votes on your poll courtesy of my phone treating scrolling down the page as clicking the button. Yay touch screens!

Will Wight link

4/6/2014 08:37:53 pm

Yeah, out of curiosity, I tried to see what the poll was like on my phone. It was not convenient.

And I know what you mean about reading whatever you can. I keep hearing that the writing market is suffering because there are more writers than there are readers, but...if that's true, where are all the fantasy novels?

Madeline

4/7/2014 03:53:51 am

The majority of them are horrible, written by people who think an inability to spell and an inability to write a believable character are acceptable flaws, as long as their characters have shiny wings. And unfortunately, there are many people who actually think those books are good. I recently gave a book on Amazon the lowest rating possible and a scathing review. Other comments included "great!" and it was absolutely not a great book. It had numerous typos and plot flaws, and characters with no redeeming qualities who were treated like glorious, women-worship-them-for-no-reason men. Which made no sense.

The supply of good, new fantasy books is miniscule.

Will Wight link

4/7/2014 04:24:49 am

You know, a lot of people would say that the Traveler's Gate Trilogy belongs in that exact category that you just described.

Jason

4/7/2014 04:55:43 am

Will, I don't know how to break this to you.....a lot of people are idiots

Will Wight link

4/7/2014 09:21:17 am

Jason, I wish this was Facebook, so that I could like your comment.

Know that, in my heart, I liked it.

Sean

4/6/2014 03:02:22 pm

While I understand the need to do final edits and the like on the book, I am getting to the point where I would wrestle Benson for the book.

Will Wight link

4/6/2014 09:06:38 pm

Man, Sean, you SHOULD wrestle Benson for it. You might get super-strength out of the deal.

Fetus

4/6/2014 07:14:10 pm

What if I haven't progressed far enough into embryological development to begin secreting anti-mullerian hormone?

Will Wight link

4/6/2014 08:55:55 pm

I get that question often, fetus, and if that's the case you should send me an email. You'll be exempted from this poll, and then I can have City of Light dissolved into a solution that will be injected into the womb so that you can enjoy it before your photoreceptors are fully developed.

I like to accommodate all my readers, no matter their current stage of physical development.

Miranda

4/6/2014 08:27:55 pm

I find it interesting that you posted this because in reading your past blogs I've noticed the commenters are usually male. To add to your research I'm 33, have a 14 year old daughter and I live in Nome, Alaska. I also play LoL, much to the chagrin of my daughter. She's good enough to be on a sponsored team but finds my attempts to be rather eye roll worthy.

Will Wight link

4/6/2014 08:53:48 pm

I have it on good authority that I'm so bad at LoL I should be banned from the game, and then have Riot employees personally show up at my house and kick me until I swear never to play again.

The funny part is, Miranda, that based on the distribution of emails and comments, I would have expected a roughly 60-40 man-woman ratio. MAYBE 70-30. But it's looking like, based on the poll, that it's between 80-20 and 90-10. I find that interesting: I haven't done any marketing specifically targeting males, and I thought the core concept was pretty gender-neutral (I mean, it IS a male main character, but it's a play on the 'prophesied hero' bit that we're all familiar with).

I'm not sure what to do with this information, but I feel like it's better to have it than not. One woman walked up to me after the panel on Saturday and said that I had 'More women readers than I thought.' Even though gender wasn't mentioned at all, even implicitly, during the panel: I think she just really wanted to deliver a message. We had a great conversation afterwards, but that comment stuck with me. Why did she feel compelled to draw that to my attention? Was it something I'd done, or was it coming from somewhere else?

At the signing afterwards, another woman asked me to 'Not forget about my women readers,' even though, again, we weren't talking about that at all. I said, 'Of course not! Some of the most frequent commenters on my blog are women. But it's not like I go out of my way to target male readers, so I'm not sure how to shift the spotlight onto women.' She did explain that she didn't feel like I was doing that specifically, but she noticed other male authors focusing on men and ignoring women, and she didn't want me to 'go down that road.'

Again, it stuck in my mind.

Later that day, I was actually talking to another author about gender distribution of readers. Her readers are mostly women, and I said that mine were probably mostly men. I said I thought it was a 60-40 split, and she asked me how I knew that. 'How do you know it's not 50-50, or even 60-40 in favor of women?' I said that I was basing that impression on the distribution of comments and emails, like you mentioned, but that I didn't REALLY know.

Hence this poll.

I've never thought of myself as marketing to one gender over another, but if I'm doing something to...I don't know, 'neglect' the women in my readership, then I want to do better.

So if you or your daughter have any suggestions for me, or if you feel that I'm not valuing you in some way, please let me know!

Rowanne

4/6/2014 11:37:30 pm

I'm a woman. TBH I usually prefer male mains because author's tend to make female ones have fall down hysterics/weakness moments (that ruin their image) males just don't have to deal with. So if targeting female readers means female mains... I don't believe it. Also I can't believe the poll ratio!
[PS I'm good at LoL]

Xiane

4/7/2014 06:36:33 am

One thing to consider though, is that you might get quite an uneven sampling of your readers through a poll on your website.

The one you want is the customer data from amazon downloads. I don't know what data they provide you, and I'm betting their data scrubbing for gender is proprietary. Even so, that's what would tell you something, much more than:

1. Who decided to show up on your blog over a couple of days.
2. Who decided to answer the poll.
3. What is the breakdown of the third answer (I'd guess 50/50 but who knows).

You've gotten about 600 answers to date, but that's pretty small potatoes compared to your buyers, I'd guess.

Will Wight link

4/8/2014 03:50:43 am

They give me no information about who's buying my books at all. I get a crude notion of what country they're in when they buy the books, because I know whether they bought them on Amazon.com vs. Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.co.jp, etc. That's it, though.

As for the uneven sampling...

I'm less looking for a sample of people who READ my book, and more a sample of people who LIKED my book. For that, the blog is the best place to go.

The question isn't 'Are the people responding to this poll an accurate representation of my readers,' but 'Is there any reason to suppose that one gender is more likely to answer this poll than another, among my target group (people who liked the books)?'

The answer is no, there's no reason to assume a male reader would respond to this poll more than a female reader would. If anything, a woman running across this poll should be more likely to vote than a man, because of the huge number of men represented already.

And 700+ people is a significant sample size, I don't care what the whole population looks like.

(I'm not counting the third answer at all, btw. I'm leaving those votes out, but even if they're all women, it's still an 80/20 split toward men. That tells me something.)

So, you know, under ideal conditions I'd be able to design a better poll, but you never have ideal conditions in the real world. Working under the constraints I have, this is as objective as I'm going to get the information: without a clear bias toward one gender or another.

So I'm not going to submit these statistics to a census organization, but the data's objective enough to tell me something.

I'm genuinely surprised at the breakdown, by the way. I was expecting more men than women, simply based on the comments/emails I've received, but not many more. 60/40 or 70/30. These poll results are very surprising to me.

Miranda

4/8/2014 03:14:20 pm

Oh trust me, I don't feel neglected! Personally, I downloaded your book simply because the title sounded kick-ass. I was looking for something new to read after finishing Hough Howey's "Sand" books and for some reason "House of Blades" just did it for me. But, I grew up in rural Alaska with 3 brothers and a house full of guns, knives, and hunting talk so I tend to gravitate to anything that might fit that bill while also meeting my craving for sci-fi/fantasy. While the title is accurate to the book, it is not necessarily one that is going to draw in the female reader.

I also wanted to comment on the fact that based on the emails you receive you thought it would be more of a 60/40 split. This is my first time commenting on your blog and the first time contacting you in any way, and I felt compelled to because I was really curious to see what your poll would show. I wonder how true that is for other female poll participants and commentators on this thread (meaning they came out of the woodwork). That would tell me that your female readers really enjoy your writing, and while it may not appeal to the masses, the ones you do have are passionate about it. I know I'll be recommending you any chance I get.

Will Wight link

4/6/2014 08:54:21 pm

Man, that was a long response. Sorry for the wall-o-text. Can you tell I'm procrastinating?

Miranda

4/8/2014 03:17:16 pm

That's ok; though I think I deserve some sort of reward for receiving the longest reply ever.

Xiane

4/9/2014 03:23:52 am

All that is perfectly reasonable, and you certainly have to work with what you have.

It is interesting to me that I know Amazon knows a rather hefty amount about its regular customers, but doesn't see fit to provide much of that information to its sellers, even though mutual benefits are obvious.

At 700 people, the breakdown is clear. It may be like "with 20% of precincts reporting" but if those 20% are a representative sample, you know which way the wind is going to blow it its not close.

I'm surprised at the breakdown myself.

Chris Y link

4/6/2014 09:42:16 pm

I wanted to give this some thought overnight before I answered. I agree with what some have writen that you should write what you love. It's kind of like feeling the love through a chefs food, you either can or you can't. I feel the fact that you enjoy writing these books through the story. In saying that, if I was in your position, I don't know that I would want to know my reading base. If I were to know that a very large portion was male 18-30 I might start trying to gravitate towards more stories that would keep the readers in that group happy. In doing so you might lose the feel of your books thus losing the women or the older males. I have followed authors that seem to do this, or at least don't love writing anymore and just do it to pay the bills which isn't a bad thing. As I have writen before, you are easily one of my top 3 favorite authors, and don't want to see happen to your writing what I have seen other authors do, going through the motions and all that. That being said I am a male 34 with a plethora of kids, the majority being little girls that love to dress up their barbies, like glitter, and try to put make-up on me as often as possible (they have resorted to guerrilla tactics to catch me off guard and have gotten me multiple times when I lose myself in your books too deeply...I blame you).

zeldachick

4/7/2014 02:50:00 am

I totally agree with Chris! People read the books because they like them the way they are. If you focus too much on trying to please everyone you might lose more than gain. I do appreciate the thought of not wanting to leave female readers out, but I never felt like you were.

Will Wight link

4/7/2014 03:09:00 am

Zelda: I never felt like I was either...but, you know, it's always good to check.

Both: If I make one point here, it's that I'm trying to do the OPPOSITE of pleasing everyone. I'm designing and telling the story in a specific way in order to appeal to a specific type of reader. But the more data I get, the more focused I can be, and the more effective I can be at reaching those readers. That doesn't mean NOT reaching other people; it means delivering to that specific group BETTER.

Chris: there exists no scenario in which I'm writing something that I don't enjoy. If I didn't have fun with it, I would never finish the book at all. But ME enjoying it and YOU enjoying it are not necessarily synonymous. There are books that could be a blast for me to write and an utter chore for you to read. That's why you get literary movies and books that the creators feel very passionate about, and yet most readers want to hang themselves before they're finished.

So there's communication that I'm passionate about, and there's communication that's effective at reaching readers. You can deliver a story that's full of passion but poor in quality or delivery, and you'll miss readers. Or you can deliver a story that has all the necessary ingredients to reach the intended audience but it has no soul, and you'll miss readers.

So both of those things are necessary. I've got a lot of ideas that I'm passionate about, so I tend to focus on staying effective.

Glad you're enjoying the books! And thanks for keeping me distracted; every once in a while I need a quick break from finishing City of Light. Now it's not going to come out until September 21st*, and it's all your fault! Wallow in your guilt. Wallow, I say!

*Utter lies.

Tom

4/7/2014 02:40:36 am

Maybe you only get these results on this poll because us men are just more impatient for the new book and look at the blog more often.

Sarah

4/7/2014 07:03:40 am

As a woman, I was a bit disappointed to see that more women aren't reading your books (or at least your blog). I've been into sci-fi since middle school, and I especially enjoy books that explore different worlds (alternate history, different planets, dystopian societies) and books with complex systems of science/magic (huge Brandon Sanderson fan). So your books are right in my sweet spot! I also got my SO into them, including all the short story collections :-)

Will Wight link

4/7/2014 09:17:46 am

I was both disappointed and surprised by the results, Sarah. Seriously, going by the blog comments and fanmail I get, I was expecting 60/40 in favor of guys. Which would be, you know, pretty reasonable for a series written by a guy with a male main character. I wasn't expecting 90/10.

But hey, I'm glad you enjoyed them! Hopefully you like City of Light just as much!

Angel Nevaeh

4/7/2014 09:46:28 am

The results really shocked me. I figured there would be more men than women reading your books (which is why i did get scared you'd change your writing based on the results) but I had no idea they would out numbered us like that. I tend to like books with unique concepts. Like how in your book it was about the other guy. I fell in love with it after Simon got the Nye essence. The slow motion scenes are the best, it's so cool seeing what's going on in his frame of reference than just reading about how swiftly he moved about.

Will Wight link

4/8/2014 03:56:08 am

I knew people would worry (that I might write differently based on the results), but I'm not even sure what application these results would have to my writing style. All this tells me is who's enjoying my books NOW, not what aspects of my work they like or how I should change to reach a different audience.

I, too, am really shocked by the results. Like you, I figured there would be more men than women, but based on the comments, emails, and reviews I've received, I would have guessed a 60/40 or 70/30 split. Not somewhere between 80/20 and 90/10. That genuinely surprises me.

I'm glad you liked the slow-mo! I actually toned that down; I originally had a lot more slow-motion descriptions, especially in Crimson Vault, but I started reducing the amount of description I gave it in CV and CoL because I felt that readers were used to the effects of Nye essence by then, and I didn't want to over-describe anything.

Also, some readers found those sequences annoying.

Thanks for commenting, Angel!

Adamc

4/7/2014 11:38:18 am

Hey Billy Blanco!
Put a fork in it, it's done!
Can't wait to read CoL...lovin this series!

Will Wight link

4/8/2014 03:56:42 am

Billy Blanco, that's...that is a new one on me, I have to admit.

CoL is ALMOST done. Hoping to begin the upload process tomorrow night.

Aaron J.E.

4/7/2014 12:18:36 pm

Hmmm... Well, looking at this from a different perspective it would seem to me that due to the genre of the story, the majority of your reading audience is male. However, when you look at comments to the blogs and the emails you mentioned you have received, it seems like it is a much closer split between males and females.

I think the reason for this is that while, as I said, the genre is one more likely to be picked up by males, it strongly resonates with the female audience as well to the point where they are much more vocal about their support on average than their male counterparts. Nearly four times more likely to take an active interest, it would seem.

So I think the fact the audience is generally male has less to do with content and characters, than it does with the basic presuppositions of the genre and a lack of marketing towards a wider audience.

Just my two cents - I am not a statistician, and could be way off.

Will Wight link

4/8/2014 04:01:17 am

I'm thinking along the same lines you are, Aaron.

I haven't done anything to market to one gender over another, and based on this poll it looks like women are far more likely to comment/contact me than men.

So my working theory is that this has to do with reader expectations. Guys read it because they have certain genre-based presuppositions, and then those suppositions are met. Book's done, they have no need to comment.

When women read it, they might have a different set of genre-based presuppositions, and then my books exceed or alter their expectations, so they're more likely to comment.

Of course, as far as I know, women in general might be more inclined to comment on an author's work than men in general are. Or maybe it's the other way around, and my fans are outliers. I have no idea.

But I would suspect that, somewhere in this gender breakdown, it comes down to what the readers expect when they pick up my book.

FreudianSlip

4/7/2014 06:40:05 pm

Oh, and by the way...PRETTY PLEASE with sugar on top...can we have CoL out by Friday...? I'll sacrifice a goat if that's what it takes. I've got a 16-hour flight to India coming up Friday morning, which would be a total breeze if I could dive into CoL along the way. By all means, the book will be finished when it is finished, but I'm allowed to hope, aren't I?

Will Wight link

4/8/2014 01:27:02 am

As a matter of fact, I myself have a trip on Thursday, so I'm TRYING to start the upload process tomorrow night.

Worst-case scenario, something goes wrong and I have to start the upload over, which might push the upload to finishing on Friday (again, I have no control over upload speeds. That's all Amazon). If nothing goes wrong, though, Thursday.

FreudianSlip

4/8/2014 05:32:11 am

Oh man...! That's AWESOME news! Seriously, that just made my day. You, sir, can add 1x Amulet of Awesome +2 to your inventory, alongside a Haste Scroll and a Potion of Speed just in case that upload decides to be a real troll.

But seriously, I just read this and jumped out of my chair, shouting "Woohoo!", earning me a very puzzled look from my significant other. This is beyond awesome. Almost to the point where I'm now looking more forward to the journey to India (since I can spend it all reading) than the actual trip to India. Haha!

Will Wight link

4/8/2014 09:29:14 am

Perfect! I needed an Amulet of Awesome to complete my build.

And if I have any ambition, it's to make all plane rides more enjoyable than the eventual destination.

Aaron

4/7/2014 11:31:39 pm

I hate you so much you evil master mind. I have been reduced to reading HoB and CV 3 times just to take the edge off. I need CoL. PLEASE! !!

Will Wight link

4/8/2014 03:57:22 am

Goooood, goooooood! Your hatred feeds me, and I grow stronger with every re-read!

Aaron

4/8/2014 04:27:33 am

I read that in the emperors voice.
But i really love these books. They were a great read but i found i couldn't put them down after i started reading them, i lost alot of sleep. Worth it!!!!

Will Wight link

4/8/2014 04:33:24 am

I feast upon your lost sleep! Embrace the Dark Side, and you will never sleep again!

Juan

4/8/2014 08:09:58 am

So . . . is CoL out yet?

Pat

4/8/2014 08:43:13 am

Short answer: No

Medium answer: Given the comments above it looks like you'll have to wait till Thursday morning. The upload will probably start sometime Wednesday night.

Will Wight link

4/8/2014 09:27:28 am

Thank you, Pat.

To clarify: I plan on starting the upload process tomorrow night. Whether it will be available for purchase in the middle of the night, or morning on Thursday, or Thursday evening is almost entirely up to Amazon.

Joshua

4/8/2014 08:13:01 am

You know what? I'm worried about CoL. I dont think its ready yet, you should E-mail me what you have so far and let me double check it. :D

Will Wight link

4/8/2014 09:27:52 am

You're a cunning guy, Josh, but unfortunately I have all the help I need.

Joshua

4/8/2014 09:58:16 am

Well damn... Can't blame me for trying. on a completly unrelated notI think it would be really cool to have a map of... I want to say Damasca but I don't think that's right. But that doesn't make my point any less valid. a map of the world, and all of the...I want to say plains...but that's not right either. Man I think I need to re-read the books

mike s

4/8/2014 09:10:36 am

hey are you against fan art because i have an idea about some stories that i would like to work on but i hate the idea of you thinking i am stealing your ideas. just to be blunt i have no plans on selling or really letting others see any thing since i have terrible spelling.

Will Wight link

4/8/2014 09:26:27 am

I have nothing at all against fan art or fanfiction. In fact, I'd encourage them both...as long as you're not making money from something I created.

As long as you're not doing that, go nuts.

mike s

4/8/2014 09:26:56 am

dang i messed up on my email i can see all the money i spend on college is doing so much for me. somedays stupid is a natural state of being that even coffee or duck tape cant fix

Tempest link

4/8/2014 09:46:33 am

Coffee and duct tape can only do so much. It may be asking too much of them to cure stupid.
If only it was possible.

mike s

4/8/2014 03:18:17 pm

i want to expand on an a traveler of tartarus i want him to be more of a scholar than a warrior. but his curiosity is his biggest quality and problem that slings him into danger.

Will Wight link

4/8/2014 10:46:20 pm

Hopefully he tapes up a lot of ducks.

Hayden Desrosiers

4/8/2014 11:12:23 am

I really, really, really, really, really, really hope that in CoL you remembered to add in that scene where Simon and Alin are fighting and all of a sudden ACDC burst out from Naraka herself and starts shredding and playing a ballad for battle.

Anonymous

4/8/2014 02:24:12 pm

hahahahaha That's awesome Hayden! Gotta love it!

Will Wight link

4/8/2014 10:47:13 pm

As part of my deal with Facebook, all of my fight scenes are now accompanied by a wicked ACDC soundtrack.

Haidee

4/8/2014 04:08:22 pm

Holy hell. I have been checking back here every day (even though I'm subscribed your updates) hoping for SOMETHING and now I'm zinging because 10th? So tomorrow? Yes? Good.
Also, on the poll, the 80 something % for guys vs girls (and the people who absolutely could not resist the golden third option) seems about right! While I'm an avid sci-fi, action and fantasy fan and I know a few other girls who are, most of them are guys and of the many people I recommended this book to, mostly the guys went for it.
Also, on note to a comment made earlier by a fellow female reader, I REALLY like how you've kept the romance to a minimum. But I guess if you wanted to grow your female audience you would have to make it more of a major theme. (But please don't!) and ooooh while I'm praising you, I'd also like to say I really like what you've done with Leah's character. She's a little messed up, manipulative, but good at heart, AND she's not he stereotypical woman in fantasy novels - that is romantic, soft, less strong willed, etcetc.

Haidee

4/8/2014 04:08:56 pm

P.s. Also super scared for your trilogy to end, I really love the world you've created. What are your future plans?

Will Wight link

4/8/2014 10:51:14 pm

I like a good romantic sub-plot as much as anyone, but I'm not confident in my ability to do it right. And I know that I, personally, would rather have no romance than crappy romance.

Glad you like Leah! To tell you the truth, if I were to re-write this trilogy, Leah would receive most of my attention. Not because she's in the worst place, but because she just...has a lot more going on than most of the other characters. It's difficult to do her justice, and I feel like she might have benefited from a little more time.

As for my future plans: I do plan on writing a prequel from Valin's perspective, about the founding of Valinhall, so that should clear up a few mechanical questions about how the Territories work. And then I'd like to do something in the future of the world, though I'm not sure whether that will be another trilogy, a single book, a longer series, or just a bunch of short stories. I don't know.

I have a lot of ideas for that, but of course they all tie in to the end of City of Light, so I'm not going to get specific.

But yeah, I'm not done with the world. Although the NEXT thing I'm going to write will be a new series in a brand new universe.

Robert Winkler link

4/8/2014 09:52:21 pm

I'm a 24 year old guy. Your books were recommended to me by my 26 year old sister and I'm glad she did.

Knowing you're less than 3 months older than me is a little depressing. I'm used to programmers I admire and authors of books I like being much older than me (if not dead). I wish I had your work ethic.

I look forward to CoL and your future books.

Will Wight link

4/8/2014 10:51:57 pm

See, and I feel guilty because I never learned a programming language. So we both have things to feel guilty about.

Tempest link

4/8/2014 10:58:05 pm

Guilt is universal.

Different Sean

4/9/2014 02:29:42 am

It's not whether you're aiming to engender your book or not (which has already been addressed ad nauseum), but what no one seemed to mention is the place that you're trying to sell it. Amazon directs readers as much as possible for the best profit and tries to engender your book for you(unless you put your category as epic fantasy yourself). The only way I even found your book in the first place was by delving as far down the specificity of genres list as possible. It takes a hard core fantasy enthusiast to dredge your tome from the depths of the thousands of titles readily available for the masses. As though it were a diamond in the rough among hundreds of sparkling pebbles. Please take that into account.

Will Wight link

4/9/2014 03:12:45 am

That's...certainly true, Sean, and I actually had a conversation about that recently. "You have to sift through a pile of fantasy novels to get to me," I'm pretty sure is how I put it. "I'm comfortable in that pile. I like the pile."

But I'm not at all sure what you mean by "Please take that into account." What does taking that into account look like? Is there some gender-based restriction on who can search Kindle for fantasy novels? Does Amazon hide my books from women?

I'm just confused about what you meant. Please enlighten me.

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