Reader development means active intervention to:

• increase people's confidence and enjoyment of reading
• open up reading choices
• offer opportunities for people to share their reading experience
• raise the status of reading as a creative activity

Reader development is audience development for literature

Reader development sells the reading experience and what it can do for you, rather than selling individual books or writers. It builds the audience for literature by moving readers beyond brand loyalty to individual writers, helping them develop the confidence to try something new.

A mission statement for reader development

The best book in the world is quite simply the one you like best and that is something you can discover for yourself, but we are here to help you find it.
© Opening the Book Ltd

This definition is freely available for anyone to use but please credit Opening the Book if you quote us directly.