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Originally Posted by meromana
But I don't think that was the question. Marketability is a whole different ball game than readability.
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Correct. I was after readability, as in generally accepted quality, rather than taste or preference based.
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I just wish there was a better way to sort out the good, the mediocre, and the flat-out awful.
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Believe it or not, sites like Amazon, NewEgg and others have a user rating system that, in my humble opinion, goes a long ways towards influencing my buying habits. Another thing that does as well is the inclusion (user included that is, to make it fair and not appear biased toward the company in an effort to boost sales) of links to external reviews of a book if it works. This Coker you speak of would be well advised to implement such a system.
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Originally Posted by Lexi Revellian
So the same old sludge, which has zero chance of publication, endlessly circulates, blocking up the system, making it hard for the odd gem to be noticed.
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Yes! Thank you! That was my thoughts as well. If it fails the first time, find out why. If it was flat out rejected with no reason, pull back, get several outside opinions on the work, fix what needs fixing and try again. Don't repeatedly beat on the door it it ain't gonna open. Just find a new key and try again.
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Originally Posted by Worldwalker
The most important part is entirely under the author's control: writing a book that doesn't suck. Unfortunately, few people (and not even all of the pros all of the time) are capable of doing that.
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Hear! Hear! Well said! And I don't count myself among the greats, but even I realize that to be great you need to have a realistic view of your writing, and a good book to go with it.
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Originally Posted by neilmarr
This is a fascinating thread with great responses. Thanks Steve and everyone.
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Thanks Neilmarr! Your response is excellent as well and nicely presented.