Saving Me From Myself

Reading about Debi Apner's request from a stranger for her book sales and Conortje's date announcing he needed his head shrunk, I was reminded of a recent discussion of my own.

Recently I was drinking on the first floor of the Stag's Head which is not unlike sitting in someone's front room with 100 other people. (Like a wake, but without the food and weird distant relatives.) I'd been collared by a friend of a friend I'll call Dave about the progress of my novel. He fancied himself as an expert about the path to publishing so he was full of questions and suggestions. I had the measure of him; I was armoured with a trusty layer of thick skin I'd nutured after the last time we'd spoken. The conversation turned to:

Dave: So what's your market?
Me: Well the structure of my novel is very like David Mitchell's The Cloud Atlas-
Dave: *Frowns* Never heard of him or it.
Me: It was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.
Dave: Hmm, the Booker Prize is quite niche you know. You need to be careful of these limited markets, people can be put off.
Me: Oh no, it was on the bestsellers list for ages, it's still a very popular book-
Dave: *Frown deepens* The populist market is full of pratfalls. Better to set your sights higher if you want to be respected.
Me: Sorry there Dave, the bar is calling. Cheers.

(Dave by the way is doing a PHD in Art and has never written a book let alone published one.)

I was more amused than annoyed by the above exchange, and perhaps it was just idle curiosity from a bit of a know-it-all. But I did get the impression he was testing my mettle for the road ahead, even trying to catch me out. Perhaps he was trying to save me from myself?

So here's the question - why do people do this? If, for example, I met a musician I wouldn't dare interrogate or lecture them about landing a recording contract but perhaps that's just me. I have the CV of a serial job-hopper but I have never had this reaction until I started telling people I was writing a book. Are writers a greater target than other professions? Or have I just been lucky until now?