Quote:
Originally Posted by cfrizz
Some of you insist on making the assumption that all books published by the BPH are gold and nothing is wrong with them. Nothing could be further from the truth. And then to make matters worse, the authors work is held hostage for years to come with nothing on either side to show for it except that it cannot be sold/published anywhere else just to keep the author under their thumb.
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Sorry for snipping, but I wanted to address this one particular point.
Speaking only for myself, I read a number of both independently and commercially published authors. I've read both good and bad books, or at least started them, and I wouldn't call all commercially published books "gold," by any means.
However, I do find that I can expect a minimum level of competence in certain specific areas with a commercially published book that I cannot necessarily expect with an independently published volume.
In short, basic spelling and grammatical mistakes are a rarity in commercially published books. The authors hare held to a certain minimum standard of technical competence, and there are copy editors to ensure they meet that standard. Sure, some errors slip through, but for the most part I don't have to worry about the book being riddled with basic errors.
There's no such guarantee with independent works. Some are thoroughly proofed and copy-edited, others are not, and there are readers who do not have much tolerance for these basic errors.
Sticking to commercially published books means that for the most part they don't have to worry about really egregious mistakes in spelling and grammar. It's not perfect, but it's enough better than the average self-published title to be worth it for some readers.