The fans are everything.  If it weren’t for them, what would I have?  What’s the point of a band playing to an empty house or a writer creating books for an audience that isn’t reading them?  I love getting feedback from the fans.  Sometimes that feedback is good and sometimes it isn’t so good.  Some people really like a certain book, and some people don’t like it.  As a writer, you take the good with the bad, but overall the fans are very encouraging even if they didn’t particularly like the book they just read.  It is very humbling to get accolades from the fans and to have them tell you how much they enjoyed your work or how entertained they were by the book.  It’s very rewarding as an author to know that you wrote something that brought a bit of joy to a reader’s day or gave them a way to escape the reality of the world for a short time.  I’m very appreciative of my fans and the support and encouragement they give me.  When I have my doubts about writing or continuing to write, they inspire me to keep writing and keep the creative juices going a little longer.