--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Trying to have your first book read when…" description: "\"“Trying to have your first book read when you’re a perfect stranger feels like waving at people, in a dark room, when everyone is looking in the opposi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01d/charles-bonnaire-226859_books_trying-to-have-your-first-book-read-when_412998.jpg" --- # Trying to have your first book read when you’re a perfect… ![“Trying to have your first book read when you’re a perfect stranger feels like waving at people, in a dark room, when everyone is looking in the opposite direction! Painfully frustrating!!!” quote by Charles Bonnaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01d/charles-bonnaire-226859_books_trying-to-have-your-first-book-read-when_412998.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01d/charles-bonnaire-226859_books_trying-to-have-your-first-book-read-when_412998.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01d/charles-bonnaire-226859_books_trying-to-have-your-first-book-read-when_412998.jpg) > ““Trying to have your first book read when you’re a perfect stranger feels like waving at people, in a dark room, when everyone is looking in the opposite direction! Painfully frustrating!!!”” [Charles Bonnaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bonnaire/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Being an unknown writer makes promoting a book feel like shouting in darkness. **In simple terms:** Promoting as unknown is hard. Key Takeaway Seek supportive audiences. Themes writing visibility struggle frustration audience Mood frustrated determined hopeful Type Books:1 Dark room:0 Feels:0 Opposite direction:0 Stranger:1 Writer:1 Trying Book:0 Stranger Feels:0 Direction Painfully:0 When to use this quote - author events - social media - literary festivals Key Concepts marketing self-promotion psychology of fame Questions to Reflect On - How can unknown authors gain visibility? - What channels reduce frustration? A Different Perspective Visibility may be limited by resources; persistence helps. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Dark room](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark-room/) [Direction Painfully](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/direction-painfully-3678162/) [Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feels/) [Opposite direction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opposite-direction/) [Stranger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stranger/) [Stranger Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stranger-feels-3541326/) [Trying Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying-book-556569/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [I'm always trying. Between every book, I think, 'Well now, it's time to get down to the serious stuff.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/i-m-always-trying-between-every-book-i-think-well-now-it-s-time-to/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“As a child, she believed he was the kindest man she knew. But slowly over the years, Baba became a stranger and she feels…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dina-nayeri/as-a-child-she-believed-he-was-the-kindest-man-she-knew-but-slowly/) [Dina Nayeri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dina-nayeri/) > [Now and then I think of when we were together Like when you said you felt so happy you could die Told myself that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/she-s-gone/now-and-then-i-think-of-when-we-were-together-like-when-you-said-you-2/) [She's\_gone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/she-s-gone/) > [I don't feel like it serves me, always, to know what a stranger feels about me, on any given day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gracie-abrams/i-don-t-feel-like-it-serves-me-always-to-know-what-a-stranger-feels/) [Gracie Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gracie-abrams/) > [You didn't have to cut me off. Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing and I don't even need your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gotye/you-didn-t-have-to-cut-me-off-make-out-like-it-never-happened-and/) [Gotye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gotye/) > [“…dreaming backwards can carry a man through some dark rooms where the walls seem lined with razor blades.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-bragg/dreaming-backwards-can-carry-a-man-through-some-dark-rooms-where-the/) [Rick Bragg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-bragg/) > [“Deepest of all in her personality was the golden radiance that she diffused around her. As an open fire in a dark room throws…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/deepest-of-all-in-her-personality-was-the-golden-radiance-that-she/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [“And suddenly there came a second, when somehow for the first time I saw (as if a door had opened from a dark room…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seraphim-rose/and-suddenly-there-came-a-second-when-somehow-for-the-first-time-i/) [Seraphim Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seraphim-rose/) > [People go to the movies instead of moving. Hollywood characters are supposed to have all the adventures for everybody in America, while everybody in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/people-go-to-the-movies-instead-of-moving-hollywood-characters-are/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) > [“All right. You want to know about Nigel. I’ll tell you about Nigel. He’s come a long way since that so-called accident, Jon. Heck,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shawn-corey/all-right-you-want-to-know-about-nigel-i-ll-tell-you-about-nigel-he-s/) [Shawn Corey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shawn-corey/) > [“Like children in a dark room, like wayfarers passing a graveyard at night, the four men in the canoe filled the surrounding darkness with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-adams/like-children-in-a-dark-room-like-wayfarers-passing-a-graveyard-at/) [Richard Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-adams/) > [Death is staring too long into the burning sun and the relief of entering a cool, dark room.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elisabeth-kubler-ross/death-is-staring-too-long-into-the-burning-sun-and-the-relief-of/) [Elisabeth Kubler-Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elisabeth-kubler-ross/) > [Following the Noble Path is like entering a dark room with a light in the hand; the darkness will all be cleared away, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/following-the-noble-path-is-like-entering-a-dark-room-with-a-light-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You should climb around inside my brain, Dan. It's like this dark room surrounded by quicksand." "I know what you mean," her brother said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-lerangis/you-should-climb-around-inside-my-brain-dan-it-s-like-this-dark-room/) [Peter Lerangis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-lerangis/) > [Forgetting your Self is the greatest injury; all the calamities flow from it. Take care of the most important, the lesser will take care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/forgetting-your-self-is-the-greatest-injury-all-the-calamities-flow/) [Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) [Christopher K. Krebs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-k-krebs/) > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. 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