When it comes to reading books, many readers are routinely risk-averse for various—and valid—reasons. They often have limited spending money, time, or both. In other instances, a story failed their expectations so spectacularly that they feel burned. (Readers who need to avoid harmful/triggering content have unique needs and so are not the focus of this post).

Maybe readers have never heard of a book and believe that means it can’t possibly be any good. (Does this belief apply to traditionally published authors whom readers haven’t heard of? I don’t know, but that’s a topic for another post).

To mitigate risk, some readers wait to read a book until they learn what tons of other readers think about it. Being risk-averse also comes into play when readers are concerned that a book might lack the character representation they want.

Self-published books with poor production values can prompt readers to mitigate risk. If an author doesn’t care about editing/a quality cover, why should readers take a chance with their hard-earned money?

Who Are the Adventurous Readers?

Yet not all readers are risk averse. There are readers who take chances left and right. Inevitably, some folks are among a book’s first readers. Every book has a first reader or set of first readers.

Every book also begins as an unknown story ripe for discovery, including books that later go on to become bestsellers. Which begs the question: who are the risk-taking readers who pave the way for risk-averse readers?

One type is readers who want a certain trope or character so desperately that they’ll jump at the chance to read books that have them even if said books are completely obscure and have few reviews. Other times, they’ll forgive a book with objectively poor production quality just to get their desired trope/character.

Reviewers are sometimes part of this category, although if they’re reading only trad-published/small-press books then I’d wager they’re more risk-averse than reviewers who regularly take chances on self-published books. Trad-published books come with a (publisher-funded) reassurance that the books have been vetted in some way and/or (publisher-funded) marketing campaigns designed to influence readers, which can be a difficult siren call to resist.

The “Vinegar Syndrome” Type of Readers

There are also adventurous readers who want to try anything and everything in their genre of choice. So long as the story is up their alley, such readers don’t care if the author is famous or obscure, wealthy, or living on a modest budget.

I’d wager that risk-taking readers share a sensibility with fans of Vinegar Syndrome. Vinegar Syndrome is a home video distribution company that’s also in the business of preserving films. Vinegar Syndrome customers spend hundreds of dollars on movies over the course of a year.

In fact, some of them buy a yearly subscription in the neighborhood of $1000. They never know which movies Vinegar Syndrome is going to send them—and that’s part of the fun. It’s also the opposite of being risk-averse!

Vinegar Syndrome fans are in it for the cinematic adventure and know that risk taking is part of the process. They’re willing to watch weird movies, old movies, obscure movies, micro-budget movies, movies from various countries, movies with zero known actors, and even movies with highly questionable production values.

They champ at the bit to watch movies with the Vinegar Syndrome brand regardless of whether the film is mainstream or indie. Doesn’t matter to them whether the film’s director is a heavyweight like Christopher Nolan (The Dark Night Trilogy) or the much lesser known Maureen Bharoocha (Golden Arm).

Vinegar Syndrome customers are film lovers who have a fear of missing out on obscure movies and/or the niche of the niche films. In other words, they fear that they won’t be the first to buy and consume a new release from Vinegar Syndrome.

Think about that phenomenon for a moment. Think about how that sentiment differs from a fear of missing out on something everyone else is already watching.

Vinegar Syndrome fans may watch a movie and only discover one good element about it. Even if they hate a movie they bought from Vinegar Syndrome, they don’t fault the movie. Rather, they chalk it up to a case of viewer-movie mismatch and then advance to the next cinematic discovery.

Vinegar Syndrome fans (I should know, I’m one of them) like the satisfaction that comes with having watched a wide variety of movies even if they don’t all measure up to their expectations. The enjoyment is in the journey of discovery.

And yes, books may involve more risk than a movie because it can take longer to read a story than watch a film. But regardless of medium, consumers still have to decide how much money, time, and effort they want to dedicate to their entertainment.

That said, I believe some readers are like Vinegar Syndrome fans in that they want to be among the first group of consumers of a book rather than the last. They often don’t care about obtaining power/status from an author. They may or may not care about being fans of an author (as opposed to being fans of the author’s books). Some adventurous readers may not even be interested in meeting an author of their favorite books.

Furthermore, they don’t need to mitigate the risk they take on new-to-them books very often, if at all. Rather, they’re just in it for the story.

I hope this exploration of risk-averse readers vs. risk-embracing readers gave you some food for thought. Thanks for reading!

Attention adventurous readers of sci-fi romance!

If you’re an adventurous reader who doesn’t care if an author is obscure and is just in it for the story, keep reading for information about one of my book series.

I’m neither an award-winning nor bestselling author, so if you take a chance on my books, it’s with the understanding that you’re approaching the experience with the mindset of an adventurer who is exploring slightly unknown territory. I say “slightly” because my books adhere to science fiction romance genre conventions.

Thanks to the creative freedom of self-publishing, I was able to experiment with various story elements for my steampunk romance saga A Villainous Affair. The AVA primer explains how in more detail.

However, that doesn’t mean I sacrificed quality. In fact, this quartet had two editors whose feedback I used. For more information, read the AVA Quality Control Pledge. Since AVA features mature themes, graphic violence, and graphic sex, I also included Content Warnings for those who need them.

Plus, the amazingly talented artist Elizabeth Peiró illustrated the magnificent covers. Many traditionally published romances don’t have customized covers of this quality (they should, but that’s a topic for another post). That also means I invested highly in this series to start earning your trust from the moment you saw the covers.

Intrigued? Learn more:

A Villainous Affair

Supervillains, steampunk, and social justice rebels collide in an epic adventure about an unlikely pair of thieves who join forces to battle mobs, evil scientists, and a fascist regime for control of a powerful aether invention. The outcome of their revolutionary mission will determine the fate of Victorian England—and beyond.

Meanwhile, this dynamic duo of the London underworld struggles to keep their fake marriage strictly professional at a time when they’re focused on achieving wide-scale social reform. But even their combined power of brains and brawn may not be enough to shield them from the siren’s call of love.

Heather Massey’s fantastical steampunk romance quartet mixes Birds of Prey girl gang energy with the political panache of V For Vendetta. It’s seasoned with high-octane action, fashion glow-ups, underworld intrigue, and infernal devices.

Inspired by lady supervillains, social justice movements, and the magic of science, A Villainous Affair will delight fans who love the worldbuilding prowess of Meljean Brook, the Victorian underworld characters of Sarah MacLean, and the resistance romances of Alyssa Cole.

Buy A Villainous Affair

A Villainous Affair is competitively priced, which means you get tons of entertainment bang for your bucks.

The first book, A Tale of Two Thieves, is permanently priced at $0.99 cents. The others are available at the affordable price of $2.99. Enjoy!

 If you want to know more about my work, follow me on Amazon and Twitter: @thgalaxyexpress. You can also periodically check my blog, The Observation Deck, right here on my site.