The Reading Vent & Rant Thread

[Multics]

My rant is I use Calibre to manage my ereaders. Every now and then something screws up and I have to delete or mark read/unread currently over 800 ebooks. Is there any ereader that supports this function? Calibre is fine, the ereaders suck.

[ownedbycats]

Fanfic authors putting "I'm a new author, so this isn't very good " in their summaries does not inspire me to read it.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by Multics

My rant is I use Calibre to manage my ereaders. Every now and then something screws up and I have to delete or mark read/unread currently over 800 ebooks. Is there any ereader that supports this function? Calibre is fine, the ereaders suck.

Kobo + Calibre with the Kobo Utilities plugin. The plugin lets you backup reading position to the Calibre library upon connect and then restore it later if something goes wrong. It can also backup the database.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Gardenman

You can expect authors to have some skills. Fanfic is written by fans not authors

Okay. But if you think your work is good enough to be read by others, you at least owe them the respect to make sure you can spell words correctly.

If you are such a wilting flower you cannot take feedback, then you should not post your story for others to read.

[maddz]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Fanfic authors putting "I'm a new author, so this isn't very good " in their summaries does not inspire me to read it.

Hey, at least they are doing the right thing and posting a warning label!

I got a freebie off Kindle some years ago and it was atrocious - it may have been fanfic or it may have been a short story set in the main universe; either way, it put me right off trying any of the other books in that series.

(It looked interesting, it was set somewhere I know something about, and it was Steampunk. It was incoherent, wasn't true to the setting and the writing style was atrocious - 0* review...)

[ownedbycats]

I've read self-published books that were recognizable as a fanfic with the serial numbers filed off. To be fair, it was still pretty good.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Multics

My rant is I use Calibre to manage my ereaders. Every now and then something screws up and I have to delete or mark read/unread currently over 800 ebooks. Is there any ereader that supports this function? Calibre is fine, the ereaders suck.

What exactly is screwing up?

[ownedbycats]

Corrupted database I would guess. My Aura HD was prone to that.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Corrupted database I would guess. My Aura HD was prone to that.

@Multics is showing as having a Sony T1 and not a Kobo.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

@Multics is showing as having a Sony T1 and not a Kobo.

The response is identified as a best-guess based on her own experience with a device of similar vintage and functionality.

[ekbell]

When giving concrit to fanfic authors I think it important to remember that a significant proportion of badly written fanfic is written by kids in their early teens. Not an age where it is easy to untangle criticism of one's work from criticism of one's self.

And to make matters worse, these teens often frequent social media sites where they are (inadvertently?) encouraged to become even more sensitive to perceived offense.

In my experience a positive review that points out a few *specific* typos is generally not taken badly and often leads to corrections, whereas a general complaint that the story is unreadable due to excessive errors will generally be taken badly.

[DuskyRose]

Originally Posted by ekbell

In my experience a positive review that points out a few *specific* typos is generally not taken badly and often leads to corrections, whereas a general complaint that the story is unreadable due to excessive errors will generally be taken badly.

This. You're supposed to sandwhich the bad stuff in the middle of the good stuff you're commenting on. That is, if you really think it's worth the trouble of giving them a heads up. If you think it's got promise, you start out easy and see how the author responds. If it's just a total loss, consensus is to just walk away and read something else. You don't like it, don't read. Since you didn't pay for it, no harm, no foul.

In the word ouside of fanfic, Reviews are for other readers. They're to let everyone know if the work is worth their time and money. Fanfic comments are just for the authors. Not many readers bother with them. So, the response is to two different sets of people.

And, yes, I think most of the writers are very young adults. They don't respond well to crit. Some of us older writers do, but we're still looking for politeness. So, start small, then see if the writer wants more. Then you can dig into it, behind the scenes if they're willing.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by issybird

The response is identified as a best-guess based on her own experience with a device of similar vintage and functionality.

I did notice the Sony in their profile, but didn't feel it necessary to say "...though I'm not actually sure if Sony devices have databases."

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

I did notice the Sony in their profile, but didn't feel it necessary to say "...though I'm not actually sure if Sony devices have databases."

I doubt that would have made any difference.

It has been my experience that it is not possible to word a post such that it prevents him from misinterpreting or misconstruing it. There are also all the times he completely ignores the content of the post he is replying to.

[Dsharma]

Originally Posted by Multics

My rant is I use Calibre to manage my ereaders. Every now and then something screws up and I have to delete or mark read/unread currently over 800 ebooks. Is there any ereader that supports this function? Calibre is fine, the ereaders suck.

For an alternative eReader that works seamlessly with Calibre, you might want to consider a device from the Kobo line. Kobo eReaders are known for their excellent integration with Calibre, especially for managing your ebook library.
You can consider using Calibre's 'collections' or 'series' functions. This would allow you to categorize and manage your ebooks more efficiently, preventing you from having to manually sift through 800+ ebooks.