Quote:
Originally Posted by moonshot
'Obtuse' Annoyingly insensitive or slow to understand. Why would I want to comment on that? Single minded comes to mind.
Maybe that demonstrates my point. Someone who is not very good with words; or was the word obtuse used as an insult because I have a different point of view to most here.
There needs to be some sort of standard so that the buyer, whether they pay £1.74 or £16 for a book, will know that at lease a minimum acceptable standard of writing has been achieved. Otherwise the industry will become swamped and the waters muddied with 'cowboy' authors. I sort of x factor for delusional 'authors'.
For now though a litmus test could be to see if the author appears in Fantastic Fiction.
If that is 'annoyingly insensitive' all I can say is that 'maybe you really do look fat in that dress.  |
Yes, every reader needs to have a way to pre-screen books, if only because there are so many available that it's impossible to examine every one of them.
Some readers use publisher as a starting point; choosing only to read commercially published books. Other readers consider customer reviews, while still others look at covers, samples, and even blurbs.
There is no single criterion that can magically let you separate good from bad. The bad sneaks in everywhere, and there's good everywhere, too.
Use whatever method you want: you're going to miss some very good books. You'll miss bad books too, but don't fool yourself into thinking you've found a solution that accurately reflects the quality of the books or the authors.
As for hardcover publication, as others have said, in the age of print on demand, that's no guarantee either.