I am reading the “Rabbit” series by John Updike. I read all the books years ago; I think when I was in high school, and I don’t remember them. Right now I’m on “Rabbit Is Rich”. The entire series is shear brilliance. It’s almost like reading poetry if I liked poetry even in the least bit. If the poem has nothing to do with Nantucket, I’m simply not interested. Nevertheless, the Rabbit books are captivating and they make me feel very small as a writer and author. And I think if those same books came out today…they wouldn’t sell. Not only wouldn’t they sell, but I don’t think Mr. Updike could find a literary agent to represent him.

The Rabbit books are completely character-driven. There are very few moments of tense suspense and there are no crimes to be solved. There is little shock and the chase scenes don’t last very long. There isn’t a werewolf or wizard in any of the volumes. John Updike concentrates on the characters and there is no one who can do it better. However, people don’t want that today.

When I finished writing “5ive Speed” I was asked to send the manuscript to several well known agents. I had high hopes of a large publishing house scooping it up and I’d be on my way. Mind you, “5ive Speed” was not the first book I had written; but it was the first book I truly loved and believed the public would love it as well.

The public has loved it. Read the reviews on the Amazon page. However, the agents felt differently. Don’t get me wrong. The agents loved it, also. One agent in particular told me that if I had submitted the same exact book twenty years ago, she would have no problem selling it in a minute. But the market isn’t there anymore. The market today wants thrillers, suspense, mysteries, and things they don’t have to pay attention to for more than three minutes at a time. Welcome to the MTV world. Even in the humor books, they need to have a background of intrigue and plot. There is no market for completely character driven books like the Donald Roth Series of “5ive Speed” and its sequel “Making God Laugh”.

I don’t believe the agents, so I went through Amazon Kindle’s self-publishing and I have proved them wrong. Readers love the characters of Donald Roth and his gang. The readers are the reason why I had to put aside what I was writing and write the sequel to “5ive Speed”. It was literally by popular demand. There is no mystery in the Donald Roth series. No crime scene investigations. And not one single character has translucent skin (although Emily is a bit pale).

The books are filled with dialog and interaction and funny situations. The reader will never know the pattern of the wallpaper on anyone’s kitchen walls. I believe the reader has an imagination. Let them decide how they want to decorate the novel.

I believe novels like those written by John Updike still have an incredible audience. It is to those people for whom I write. I thought about writing what the agents want, and then I didn’t want to write. You don’t need anything to blow up to captivate an audience. You need characters who you want to hang around with. That niche is not dead. It’s just been sleeping for a while.