What are your red flags?

[cromag]

I have most of the same "red flags," but also, for me, "length."

If an author I've never heard of before has a new book out that's 120,000 words long ... I pass.

I don't like starting a book I'm not going to finish, and it would have to be a startlingly good book for me to tackle at that length.

[Rbneader]

Originally Posted by caleb72

You would actually edit out a scene of the book? I've read of people making formatting corrections and even corrections to typos, but that's the first time I've read of someone removing narrative. Interesting.

There's usually not enough 'narrative' in sex scenes to worry about. And if I'm not definitely interested in the book at that point I'll just put it down and not bother about it again.

[LovesMacs]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I don't believe I've ever seen a book written in second person, past or present. Would you give some examples?

Several years ago I read La Modification by Michel Butor. It's written in the second person. I remember liking it but don't remember why. English Wikipedia has an article on the book, under the unexpected title Second Thoughts.

[QuantumIguana]

Originally Posted by cghipp

Weren't the old "Choose Your Own Adventure" books written in second person present tense? A while back I was talking to my fifth-grade daughter about the different tenses, and that was the only example I could come up with off the top of my head.

I've tried a couple books that were written in the second person (aside from Choose Your Own Adventure books, of course) and it really didn't work for me. I can see things from someone else's perspective in first or third person, but when a story is told from my alleged point of view, and it is very much unlike me, all I can think of is "No, I'm not".

[Catlady]

Thanks to all who mentioned titles of books written in second person present. Not one so far sounds like something I'd want to read, second person or not. Now, if there's a murder mystery or thriller in second person, I might give that a try!

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Thanks to all who mentioned titles of books written in second person present. Not one so far sounds like something I'd want to read, second person or not. Now, if there's a murder mystery or thriller in second person, I might give that a try!

I'm with you on that. But then again, what do I care? Strangely I might not even notice.

The really strange thing is that I am trying to figure out what tense I actually prefer.

Helen

[cghipp]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Thanks to all who mentioned titles of books written in second person present. Not one so far sounds like something I'd want to read, second person or not. Now, if there's a murder mystery or thriller in second person, I might give that a try!

Considering how much I don't enjoy having someone tell me what to do, I doubt very much I'd enjoy someone telling me what I AM doing!

[kyteflyer]

1) Crappy cover... I'll pass right away. Maybe the book would be good but if the author cannot be bothered getting some decent artwork on the cover, I doubt the internals would be of better quality.
2) Clearly romance/erotica with photographs of luscious women or bronzed men (or both) on the cover.
3) The blurb has to tell me something if I get past the cover stage
4) The blurb has to be on topic, and the spelling correct at the very least. My own grammar is not anywhere close to perfect so I'm more forgiving in that department.

There are probably more, but that will do for now.

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by kyteflyer

1) Crappy cover... I'll pass right away. Maybe the book would be good but if the author cannot be bothered getting some decent artwork on the cover, I doubt the internals would be of better quality.
2) Clearly romance/erotica with photographs of luscious women or bronzed men (or both) on the cover.
3) The blurb has to tell me something if I get past the cover stage
4) The blurb has to be on topic, and the spelling correct at the very least. My own grammar is not anywhere close to perfect so I'm more forgiving in that department.

There are probably more, but that will do for now.

I am with you on the blurbs. A blurb which is boring, stilted, or just an excerpt will have me looking elsewhere. And anything that suggests that this book is part of a series of cliffhangars is a big red flag. Another thing that mildly annoys me although it says nothing of the book, is when an online blurb says more... and you click the link and there is no more

I can't say covers have influenced me much. I am sure some have but cannot recall an instance. It has always been authors and genre.

I rarely see an erotic/romance cover because I don't browse those sections in stores or libraries these days. Of course an erotic book can be disguised as mystery or fantasy etc., but then the cover is probably part of the disguise.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by kyteflyer

1) Crappy cover... I'll pass right away. Maybe the book would be good but if the author cannot be bothered getting some decent artwork on the cover, I doubt the internals would be of better quality.
2) Clearly romance/erotica with photographs of luscious women or bronzed men (or both) on the cover.
3) The blurb has to tell me something if I get past the cover stage
4) The blurb has to be on topic, and the spelling correct at the very least. My own grammar is not anywhere close to perfect so I'm more forgiving in that department.

There are probably more, but that will do for now.

I think that not only does the blurb have to tell you something and be on topic but it should be concise as well. If it waffles along instead of getting to the point what does that say about the quality of the writing inside the covers?

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Thanks to all who mentioned titles of books written in second person present. Not one so far sounds like something I'd want to read, second person or not. Now, if there's a murder mystery or thriller in second person, I might give that a try!

Well, Charles Stross' _Halting State_ and _Rule 34_ are that also. I think _Halting State_ is a very good book. The point with second point present is that it gives you the feeling of a computer game and the book starts with a robbery in a computer game and is very much about games.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by tompe

Well, Charles Stross' _Halting State_ and _Rule 34_ are that also. I think _Halting State_ is a very good book. The point with second point present is that it gives you the feeling of a computer game and the book starts with a robbery in a computer game and is very much about games.

The Goodreads description for Halting State mentions orcs, a dragon, and virtual reality land, and all of those would go on my list of red flags (not that I even know what an orc is ...) regardless of tense or person. Just not my cuppa.

The Goodreads description for Rule 34 has me scratching my head in bafflement.

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by Catlady

The Goodreads description for Halting State mentions orcs, a dragon, and virtual reality land, and all of those would go on my list of red flags (not that I even know what an orc is ...) regardless of tense or person. Just not my cuppa.

The Goodreads description for Rule 34 has me scratching my head in bafflement.

Too funny. It really should be made into a video game

Helen

[xg4bx]

When ''Bob'', ''ChunkyLover69'', etc. has their Amazon reviews quoted and posted as if they came from the NYT.

''Oh, Bob enjoyed it? It must be a good read!''

[caleb72]

Originally Posted by xg4bx

When ''Bob'', ''ChunkyLover69'', etc. has their Amazon reviews quoted and posted as if they came from the NYT.

''Oh, Bob enjoyed it? It must be a good read!''