|
Your point is well taken, Rhadin. BUT do bear in mind that (with few exceptions), MR authors are developing authors. Many have only one or two books out there. Many for free (so I won't read them) or for $0.99 which suggests to me that even the author doesn't think they're worth much.
I must send out about fifty rejections a month to authors who submit their work to my own wee publishing house. These are not guys and gals to be hurt, but to be encouraged to keep at it. So my notes ('declining kind offers' rather than 'rejecting submissions') are filled with advice and pointed criticism that is better kept private at their stage of the game. Otherwise it might embarrass them into quitting. My two associate authors -- also old pros -- treat new subs the same gentle way. It's like lawyer-client, doctor-patient privacy.
Other apprentice authors -- tempted by easy, instant 'publishing' -- rush straight to press through Lulu or Smashwords or Amazon or other 'publishers' who accept pretty well anything and by-pass a rigorous selection system and any professional editorial intervention.
You might call them brave and independent souls. You might also consider them ill-advised, rash, over-confident, even arrogant.
I read their 'raw' work as I would a submission to my indie house. Here, I realise that most is offered to me without the benefit of external professional input (from an editor [even a proofer] or agent) and, so, prefer to reply privately if there are glaring faults.
Even though they have usually wilfully avoided all filtering and quality control, I follow the same principle with indie authors: I respond enthusiasticall in public if someone got it right first time. It's between me and the author if I feel a little constructive ciriticism is in order.
Again, though, I must emphasise that MR indie authors are read in my precious and limited recreational reading time and, very often, it's genre that closes the book rather than the quality of authorship. I don't have the FREE time to read books in genres I don't appreciate.
And there are shining exceptions to my rule. You can find some on these very boards.
Cheers. Neil
|