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Old 02-26-2013, 06:39 PM   #4
CWatkinsNash
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Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Fruitland Park, FL, USA
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Oh, how can I say this delicately? I can't.

Poor writing is not only abundant, it is a situation made worse by enablers. Yes! Enablers! I'm pointing directly at the people who read a self-published book and judge it by different standards as though the author should somehow be excused just because they did it all by themselves.

"Sure, there were a lot of mistakes, grammar and spelling problems, and the part with the dog didn't make much sense, but the story was really good! Five stars!!"

STOP IT! People give Stephen King 3 stars because his book is too damn long, but we give an indie 5 stars for crappy writing? This is insane!

I saw a writer proclaim that he saw no need to pay a cent during the self-publishing process for editing or anything else. I made note of his name, then hoped, for his sake, that he has some capable friends that will do the job for free.

I am a writer. I am not yet able to call myself an author. That time may be years away. In the meantime, I make use of places where authors and other writers hang out, such as the subforum here, and some groups on Goodreads. I constantly see authors asking, "Why can't I get reviews? Why is my book not selling?"

The question they should be asking is, "Do I suck at writing?" If the answer is "No", then proceed to other possible problems but, for the love of all that is good, get an answer to that question!

I have a sick hobby. When I see people repeatedly expressing bafflement over lack of sales, I go look at a sample of their books. 90% of the time, there are major issues in the sample. However, if I were to actually point that out, I'd be chased right off the internet. I don't want to be mean, anyway, so I don't know how to constructively address this on an individual level.

I don't even know yet myself if what I write is good enough, but you can be damn sure I'm going to get some kind of a consensus on that before I put it up for sale alongside people that actually CAN write.

/rant
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