Reading is the most important thing a writer can do to improve their work. And really, it should be something that goes without saying: If you want to write, isn’t it because you love reading so much that you want to create that same pleasure for others? 

Even if you don’t have aspirations of getting traditionally published, you should be reading what’s available on the market right now so you know what readers are picking from at the bookshop or library. It’s especially important to be reading in your genre of choice so you know where your book relates to what your future fans are already reading. 

But no one can read everything, so you’ll inevitably come upon a hit series in your genre that got to book three before you heard about it. Or you might come across an author you absolutely adore who has a lot of overlap with your style but a massive backlist that goes back for years and years. 

The first thing any agent will tell you is that you need to be reading new releases. But is there any exception to that rule? 

Why New Releases?

Before you consider breaking it, it’s important to recognize why “read new releases” is such a common rule. 

A lot of people make the misguided assumption that the advice to read new releases is all about shallow business practices. You want to know how to sell your book, so you need to know what publishers and booksellers are selling. That explanation can feel a little soulless to a writer who has poured their heart and soul into their work. 

What reading new releases, especially big splashy hits, does is help you understand the context in which your readers will be encountering your book. 

You don’t ever have to copy what everyone else is doing; there is an eager reader for every kind of book you might want to write, even what might be considered “old-fashioned” to some. 

But you still need to understand where that old-fashioned book fits with everything else on the shelf and the other books your readers are encountering. It sounds obvious but you have to remember that your readers don’t know you, your taste, or your writing. You need to use widely known context to situate your book. Think of it like reaching people who don’t even know that your kind of book exists on the market—you still have to use the market as a point of comparison. 

Tracking a Hit Series

If you haven’t had a chance to read a particular big hit series until it’s a few volumes in or if a series takes a few books to gain traction, you may be asking yourself if you have to read the entire backlist to stay up to date. 

First things first: You actually can skip straight to the latest book in the series if you’re simply trying to stay on top of the biggest books in your market. As a reader, this might feel sacrilegious, but as an author, it’s fine. If this is a book you’re reading so you know what it’s like, read a synopsis of the series thus far online and jump right into the middle. If you really love it, you can always go back and start from the beginning. Even as a reader, there should be more to your appreciation of books than simply not knowing what happens next; even if you don’t get the full effect of a big reveal, you can appreciate how the author builds up to the next big spoiler. 

Second, it might actually be worth it to take the time to read from the beginning if you also write a series in your genre, that way you can learn how the story and characters progress from book to book. 

Which brings us to the next point . . .

Your Favorite Authors

As crucial as it is to read widely within your genre (and even outside of it), reading what you love will always be the highest law of the land. 

It’s one thing to step outside of your comfort zone or finish a book that you don’t love because you want to understand how it works as a full narrative. But it’s quite another thing to force yourself to avoid books and writers you love because you think you have to treat them like desserts at the smallest point of the food pyramid. 

Even thinking as strategically, even coldly, as possible, there is always enormous value to reading what you love. That’s where you get your best, truest inspiration to create stories that engage you deeply enough to put in the enormous amount of labor that writing requires and that readers will want to spend their limited free time reading. 

Reading Is Reading

All else aside, if you’re reading a lot, don’t overthink it. Reading is reading, books are books, and there’s no right or wrong way to do it. If you’re a bit lost among the infinite choices and struggling to think about what to choose next as not just a reader, but a writer too, that’s the time to look for advice. But if you’re churning through your TBR pile and easily replenishing it when you finish books, then there’s no reason to fix what’s already working. 

Chelsea Ennen is a writer living in Brooklyn with her husband and her dog. When not writing or reading, she is a fiber and textile artist who sews, knits, crochets, weaves, and spins.