There is a strange pressure to believe that every opportunity must be pursued.
Every reader.
Every platform.
Every conversation.
As if the value of a story could somehow be measured by the number of people who have seen it.
I have never believed that.
Books have always found their way through quieter paths.
A recommendation from one reader to another.
A conversation between strangers.
A bookshop owner placing a novel into someone’s hands and simply saying, “I think you’ll like this.”
Those moments cannot be scheduled.
They cannot be automated.
And they certainly cannot be rushed.
When I finished The Prague Story, I realized something.
I wasn’t looking for everyone.
I was looking for the right conversations.
Five people who genuinely enjoy thoughtful stories are more valuable than five hundred people who only glance at a cover before moving on.
Perhaps that sounds inefficient.
Perhaps it is.
But stories are patient.
They have always been patient.
So am I.
If a book is worth spending years writing, then surely it is worth spending time introducing it to the right people.
Not every door needs to be knocked on.
Sometimes the right door is enough.
—
D. Vaen