Quote:
Originally Posted by J. Strnad
I think I bought all of Shayne Parkinson's books there. My wife read the first in the series for free and immediately demanded the rest! These are professional quality books that should have been snatched up by a savvy print publisher, and maybe some publisher will discover them yet. Anyone interested in them should snatch them up before agency pricing hits.
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This was my experience and exactly what I said in my reviews about Shayne's books. I am still recommending them to friends and acquaintances.
Smashwords is a real mixed bag. Some of the work is pretty good, not outstanding or memorable, but pretty good -- that is, enjoyable and readable. But a lot of the books are very poorly done. One author complains in his "foreword" that he couldn't afford an editor but did have the book "proof read". He then asks more than $5 for the book.
A read of the first few chapters demonstrates clearly that the book wasn't edited and it looks like it was "proof read" by someone just learning English.
The way I approach Smashwords is this: If the description makes the book look interesting and is well written,
- and if the book is free, I'll download it without hesitation. Worst that can happen is that I end up disliking it and deleting it.
- and if the book costs 99 cents, I will buy it when I have accumulated a batch of at least 5 99-cent or more books. I consider 99 cents an exceptable gamble.
- and if the book costs $1.99, I will read a protion of the sample online. If that looks good, I will buy the book.
- and if the book costs more than $1.99 (to a maximum of $3.99), I will either read a sample online or download a sample. I will read significantly more of the sample before buying, but I will buy if it is good.
I will not buy any book on Smashwords from an author with whom I am not already familiar that
- costs more than $3.99 or
- has a poorly written description or
- that has careless errors in the first 20-30 pages, such as misspellings, homonym problems, confused paragraphs -- all things that indicate no editing
If I read an outstanding book, such as Shayne Parkinson's
Sentence of Marriage (which is free on Smashwords for those who haven't read it), I will go back to Smashwords and buy whatever else the author has written at prices up to $5.99.
I have found that authors who make the first volume in a series free and reasonably price subsequent volumes tend to be authors whose works I want to buy. Vicki Tyley comes to mind. She gave away
Thin Blood, which was excellent, and thus induced me to buy
Sleight Malice and add
Brittle Shadows to my to-buy list. Such authors demonstrate confidence in their work -- that once you read them, you will be hooked.