Almost every romance novel
has a message in it.
I constantly ‘teach’ about tolerance.
That’s the message in my stories.
But I don’t tell readers this.
If I did,
sales would plummet.
Why?
Because most people don’t like to be taught.
They get nasty flashbacks
to bad experiences at school.
They associate it with work.
They wouldn’t willingly experience all that again.
People DO like to be entertained.
They want to be caught up
in the story.
If they learn something
while laughing or crying or being scared,
while caring about the characters,
that’s a bonus.
So my messages are not-as-obvious.
They’re hidden in the story.
This means not every reader ‘gets’ them
but that’s okay,
because many do.
I’m reaching more readers
than I would reach
if I had been heavy handed
with the messages.
Don’t ‘teach’ prospects and customers.
Entertain them.