| Re: Do people read glossaries?
In my opinion, everything that the reader needs to know should be contained within the body of the novel. That's what writing should be: telling the reader stuff without it getting boring or overcomplicated. You don't have to tell everything about a species/place/character all at once; you dripfeed it, bit-by-bit during the action.
For me, a glossary has two purposes:
1. As an enriching addition to the novel for them wot like that kind of thing.
2. A reminder of details in a particularly epic book/series, when keeping track of everything might be difficult.
Neither is compulsory to the reader. Anyone who reads your work is doing you a favour; if they've bought/borrowed your book, then they've fulfilled any obligation to you, and more, already - so don't expect them to jump through hoops!
In regard to pronounciation, I skim read 95% of the time, so I don't end up (sub)vocalising names, places etc. I often find it hard, when discussing books, to keep track of what the other person's talking about because I'm not used to hearing certain words pronounced!
Also, I only generally read a glossary to check something I've forgotten, or if I've finished the book and am stuck on a plane/train with nothing to do. |