When No One Reads You – Writing and Editing Advice by Greg Luti
Updated: Aug 22
A writing and editing advice post that speaks directly to a common fear. In “When No One Reads You,” Greg Luti shares practical ways to stay professional and keep growing even when the audience is small — or not there yet.
I was given the site of the month (for July 2026) by Midwest Book Review, which is pretty cool. I try to write practical pieces of advice for other writers on here. I am in the trenches, writing my own stories, and crafting my own plots, so whenever I do give advice, I try to make it something that I would find useful too. Thanks to Jim Cox at Midwest Book Review. I appreciate the shoutout.
When No One Shows Up
Recently I noticed that a handful of writers mentioned they know all too well about not being read, or by going to a place and not having anyone there read their work.
First off, that stinks. I know the feeling too. You put all this time into a story, one you think is worth being read, and then the most you get is nothing more than a few people who modestly care about it.
The Upside of Not Being Read
But I don’t want to dwell on the bad part of that situation. Anyone can be in that room and let it get them down, but I don’t think we should. We know the empty room, where the manager even decided to leave since they were embarrassed for you, or the lone vendor table where even the people at the fair are looking at you like, “Why is this person here? I guess they ran out of food vendors.” The feeling is bad, but also fleeting.
I think there is a good part to not being read, at least for a while. Hey, you don’t have to worry about all those annoying critics and know-it-alls who like to act as though they know your words better than you. That sounds like a win.
You also don’t have to worry about bad reviews for your book. That is mostly because you won’t get any, but hey, you can’t say anyone hated your book. I relate that last point to a moment I was talking to a buddy of mine. He said, “Power and money corrupt people.” I joked, “Well, it is a good thing I don’t have either.”
Act Professional When No One Shows Up
My advice when the event doesn’t go as planned is two-fold. The first is to act professional. Don’t bitch and complain or pretend as though the world owes you anything. They really don’t. Those people who ignore you today may be your fans tomorrow, so show some professionalism in the handling of your event.
What does that actually look like? If you are at a book reading, and nobody is there, but you promised the store owner you would read for a certain amount of time, then damnit, read for that time. Or if you go to a fair, and planned on being there for a certain amount of time, and nobody is there, then stay there.
Learn From the Failure
Now, I have to mention a realistic part to that advice. It is easy for me to say this now. Away from the reading nobody attended, and not at the empty fair. If you say no to reading or decide to leave early, will the world end? No. No, it will not. But that gets me to my second point on why you should treat the event with respect.
You want to learn from this. Hey, we all fall down. Everyone makes mistakes and fails. That is life. You are best to learn from this moment and note ways you can make it better. Perhaps you can speak to the store owner about a better time for a reading, or you can see if there are certain things you can market for the next time you are there. You can note that the fair you attended was not a success, but the sign you made for it and the organization you had for your layout were useful. Take that with you. If you are going to lose and not learn from your losses, then you should never expect any change. But if you take the losses as a learning experience, then the odds of success go up.
A Reality Check
Here is another reality check: That doesn’t mean success is automatic. I am not saying that one change will make everyone in town go to your next book reading, but I also don’t want you to get into your car and say, “Well shucks, that didn’t go as planned. I will get them next time.”
How will you get them next time? What is your strategy for next time? When is even next time?
My Own Stories of Not Being Read
I have a few funny stories about people reading (or not reading me). My first novel was read by all of nobody. I wrote it under a pen name, and now there are no reviews for it, because Goodreads is a pain like that…. Anyway, nobody read it. A cashier looked at the cover of the book when I dropped it off at a local bookstore and said she would read it. I think the store was out of business within a year. (For some reason, all writers think that one store is the beginning of something special. Like the one placement will lead to being a bestseller. I know I was naïve enough to think that.) My family, to my surprise, set up a little get-together where they would celebrate me finishing my first novel. My dad had to trick me into wanting to go to a certain restaurant. I was relaxing and not in the mood to deal with anyone. It was a weekend when I felt more like playing Call of Duty than actually celebrating the book being published. When we got to the restaurant, my family was there to congratulate me on the accomplishment. I didn’t have the heart to tell them that the book would sell all of three copies, all of which I bought, but that is not the point. I learned that I have people who support me, even when I don’t always know if the writing is worth it, honestly. You may not know it, but when you are in the empty room, reading to no one, there are a few people who are happy you are up there and would gladly cheer you on. They aren’t there, but when they learn about you going to a book reading, they would say, “Damn, I wish I was there.” Don’t forget those people. They can help you when you are down, and the words don’t do anything for you.
Then there is a second story about me not being read. I used to write on a literary blog, and one of the articles was not well received by a reader. In fact, I was so surprised that anyone read the piece that I was more honored by the insult than anything. I was like Jack Sparrow in that movie. The guy said he would never read the blog again. I thought, “Well, he did read it though.” Not everyone will like your work. It is best to not take it to heart and move on. Anything else is time wasted.
How You Handle It Matters
Like most obstacles in life, it is not really the obstacle itself, but how you handle it that matters. Failure in writing, in our case, reader reception, is no different. Keep going if you fail. Do your best to make that failure a future success. And heck, consider the experience a free story idea too.
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