Manchester, England -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/30/2015 -- There's a debate going on in the world of literature about how available writers should be to their audiences. In this age of electronic communication and social media some writers are finding that their readers are becoming more and more demanding of their time and they're struggling to cope.

In response to this award-winning author, Joanne Harris, launched a 12 point writers' manifesto as an agreement between author and reader at the Manchester Literature Festival in October 2015.

In her manifesto she promises: To be true to herself, not to sell out, to write to the best of her ability, to challenge her reader, to follow the story, to write for everyone, to include all types of people in her stories, to try new things, not to let anyone else decide what she can write, not to be aloof, to never forget what she owes her reader and to open doors for her reader (but won't blame them if they don't walk through).

In her manifesto Joanne Harris recognises the need for her readership – without them she's just 'words on a page.' But she also asks readers to understand that writers need time to write and that they're like every other human being – they get tired, grouchy and have many demands on their time.

This is more of a problem for established writers than for those just starting out who are trying to build a readership – most of who would be pleased to have readers contact them. The Writers Bureau runs online writing classes to help writers establish themselves and raise their public profile

Susie Busy, Principal of The Writers Bureau, says "It's a shame that some writers are feeling the need to speak out about the lack of time they have to respond to their fan base. There has to be mutual respect between author and reader and I think this is what Joanne Harris is trying to establish.

"Obviously, it's up to the author how much contact they have with their readers and they must find ways of controlling that contact so they have time to write. However, once an author has had a book published the next step is to sell it. And it doesn't matter who's published the book the author still has to do a lot of marketing themselves. So having a good marketing strategy is essential, and that will include contact time with readers."

Media Contact:

PR Contact: Susie Busby
The Writers Bureau
8-10 Dutton Street
Manchester M3 1LE
England
Tel: 0161 819 9922
Email:studentservices@writersbureau.com
Url: http://www.writersbureau.com/