Quote:
Originally Posted by tompe
What I have said is that just reading a sample can never tell you if the book is really good or just OK.
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Of course it can't. But it can
certainly be used (and rather quickly at that) to determine if someone can't spell or doesn't have a firm grasp of grammar or syntax. Which -- if this thread is anything to go by -- seems to be far and away the main complaint with regard to indies being declared "rubbish." Maybe I'm just missing them, but I haven't exactly seen a lot of "indies are just OK where I'm partial to extraordinary" complaints flying around (your posts not withstanding, of course).
I don't think anybody ever claimed samples could differentiate between "really good" or "just OK." Only that they could be used to quickly eliminate marginally-literate spew and/or to help someone decide whether or not they might take a chance on something when the sample didn't do anything to
discourage their curiosity about a particular work.