Not Every Book Is for Everyone, and That Is Exactly Right

Why I stopped trying to write for everybody, and what I aim to give instead

A reader told me recently that my thriller was not for her, but that she reads the Scout books to her grandchildren every week. A few days later, someone else said the opposite, that picture books were not his thing but Blackwater Parish kept him up until two in the morning. Early on, comments like those would have stung. Now they make me happy, because both readers found the book that was right for them.

The Myth of the Universal Book

There is a quiet pressure, especially on independent authors, to write books that appeal to everyone. More reach, more readers, more sales. It sounds logical. In practice, a book that tries to be for everyone usually ends up being for no one in particular.

The books that matter most to people are rarely the ones that aimed wide. They are the ones that spoke directly to a specific reader at a specific moment. Trying to please everyone sands off the exact edges that make a book unforgettable to the right person.

What I Actually Aim For

So, I let go of writing for everyone. Instead, I write toward a single moment per book. My goal is not to capture the whole world. It is to create one true experience for one reader who needs it.

Sometimes that moment is a story time at the end of a long day. Sometimes it is a child seeing themselves in a character for the first time. Sometimes it is an exhausted adult getting to escape into a dark, satisfying story. Different books, different moments, each one aimed with care.

A Story Time Moment for a Family

With my children's books, the moment I am chasing is connection. A parent and a child on a couch, a goat on a page, a few minutes where nothing else intrudes. If Goat on the Go gives one family a warm pocket of time together, that book did its whole job.

That is not a small goal dressed up as a big one. Those small moments are where childhood memories are actually made.

A Connection Point for a Little Reader

Other times, the moment is recognition. A child who feels different opens The Bumpy Pumpkin and sees that being different is the whole point. A child who wonders whether their family counts opens a story and finds that it absolutely does.

That flicker of being seen can stay with a child for years. If a book gives one little reader that flicker, it has reached exactly the person it was for.

A Little Escape, and a Dose of Revenge

And then there is the adult reader who has had a long week and wants to disappear into someone else's trouble for a while. For them, A Southern Lady's Guide to Revenge offers a different kind of gift. Atmosphere, tension, and the deep satisfaction of watching a wronged woman reclaim her power.

There is something cathartic about a well-earned reckoning on the page. A small, safe dose of revenge for the reader who needs one. That reader is not the same person reading Scout at bedtime, and that is perfectly fine.

Why This Is Freedom

Accepting that not every book is for everyone turned out to be freeing. It means I can write a tender picture book and an unflinching thriller without apology, because each one is reaching for its own reader. I am not failing when one book is not for someone. I am simply not their book, and another one of mine might be, or none of them, and that is okay too.

When a Book Finds Its Person

There is a specific kind of joy that only happens when a book meets exactly the right reader. A parent tells me a child asks for the same story every single night. An adult tells me they finished Blackwater Parish in two sittings and immediately started it again. Those messages are not about reach. They are about fit.

That fit is what I am working for. One deep connection with the right reader is worth more to me than a shallow glance from a hundred wrong ones. And the only way to earn those deep connections is to write boldly toward specific people instead of cautiously toward everyone.

What Nursing Taught Me About This

Nursing taught me that care is never one size fits all. What comforts one patient overwhelms another. The skill is meeting each person with what they specifically need, not offering everyone the identical thing.

My books work the same way. Each one is meant to meet a particular reader where they are. If my whole catalog is not for you, I hope one book is. And if the right one finds you at the right moment, that is the only reach I was ever really after.