MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - How do you choose which self-published works to read?

Falbe Publishing · 11-01-2009, 10:15 PM

Bless your heart for even bringing up the subject of how to choose self published works to read. Because the technical quality of self published books can vary so wildly, reading excerpts is the best way to judge whether it was written by someone who can competently use his or her native language. Then, of course, there are reader recommendations. The voice of experience is invaluable. I have been selling my novels from my website for a few years now, and I include testimonials from readers so potential customers can at least see that other people liked what they got from me. Also the first book in my series is a free ebook. I do this precisely because I am not some well known author annointed by a traditional publisher. This way people can judge for themselves whether I'm any good at my chosen craft and then if they like my stories.

Picking out reading material is tough, and I commend your interest in browsing self published selections. It gives me hope. I'd like to comment that I don't find traditional publishers to be much help in the delivery of quality fiction. Yes, the writing will be proofread, but I have found numerous popular books to be meandering bores of which I easily could have edited out 100 to 300 pages.

I'd also like to make the point about the comments about bad self published works that contain endless spelling and grammar mistakes. I don't think the writers published them this way because of arrogance. I think they most often have no idea that there are technical errors. They've read their works and thought they were fine. They may not even be aware of spell check. (If any of you have ever had a job where you screen resumes, you will know that it is painfully clear that a huge segment of the population is entirely unaware of spell check.)

11-01-2009, 10:15 PM	#35
Falbe Publishing Gadget Slave Posts: 264 Karma: 600001 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Battle Creek, Michigan Device: Sony PRS505SC	Bless your heart for even bringing up the subject of how to choose self published works to read. Because the technical quality of self published books can vary so wildly, reading excerpts is the best way to judge whether it was written by someone who can competently use his or her native language. Then, of course, there are reader recommendations. The voice of experience is invaluable. I have been selling my novels from my website for a few years now, and I include testimonials from readers so potential customers can at least see that other people liked what they got from me. Also the first book in my series is a free ebook. I do this precisely because I am not some well known author annointed by a traditional publisher. This way people can judge for themselves whether I'm any good at my chosen craft and then if they like my stories. Picking out reading material is tough, and I commend your interest in browsing self published selections. It gives me hope. I'd like to comment that I don't find traditional publishers to be much help in the delivery of quality fiction. Yes, the writing will be proofread, but I have found numerous popular books to be meandering bores of which I easily could have edited out 100 to 300 pages. I'd also like to make the point about the comments about bad self published works that contain endless spelling and grammar mistakes. I don't think the writers published them this way because of arrogance. I think they most often have no idea that there are technical errors. They've read their works and thought they were fine. They may not even be aware of spell check. (If any of you have ever had a job where you screen resumes, you will know that it is painfully clear that a huge segment of the population is entirely unaware of spell check.)