Quote:
Originally Posted by ApK
It's only in the recent world of unfiltered mass self e-publishing that I have come to see this as a problem.
In the old BPH world, I always saw it as simply the publisher's way of clarifying the genre for me. "If you like Star Wars..." or "for fans of Tom Clancy..." was simply, like appropriate cover art, a way of quickly finding books I might like.
It's only in the ocean of dreck we swim through now where such phrases immediately make me think "I know Star Wars, sir, and you are no Star Wars."
I don't mean to say that BPH gate-kept books always lived up to the comparisons, anymore than a great cover meant a great book. Only that it didn't seem inappropriate, or boastful, or like a mark of unoriginality.
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I can even handle the "If you like JK Rowling, you'll like this" stuff. It's better than the "This book will make you laugh/cry/howl like a jackal" crap. That's an instant "no, thanks," from me. I don't want the author presumptuously telling me how much I'm going to love his work, that's exceedingly offputting. EXCEEDINGLY.
Hitch