Kaufman links e-book trend to bookburning, Nazis

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

you know, there could be some veracity to his point. he could have gone to the Amazon bestseller page and seen Stephanie Meyer in all of the top spots. that could go a long way to the concept of manipulating authors...

Yes, but if he went to Amazon, he'd have to see the ranking on his novel, "Matches" - Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,223,850 in Books.

And he's got six reviews, of which three read like publishers' internal reviewers, one sounds like an honest positive review and two manage to give him less than three stars (one two-star and one one-star), here's the one-star.

********

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
245 pages instead of 25, October 20, 2006
By James E. O'Leary (Corpus Christi, Texas USA) - See all my reviews


Am I the only reviewer who wonders why Back Bay Books of Little-Brown didn't use an editor? This is repetitious beyond belief. The characters are also beyond belief. A character named "Falk" is the first person narrator who tells the same empty story over and over is so twisted and shallow as he kills arabs in the name of protecting Jews that I would have liked to shoot him myself, not just to put him out of his misery but to punish him for wasting my time. Yes, I did finish the book, if that's what you want to call it.

********

As you can see, not the greatest review.

I believe that writing "Matches" was his 'cathartic release' novel and we'll just have to see what he manages in his second novel to see if he really has what it takes.

Derek

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

I was tempted to claim the Luddite twist as , but frankly, it's getting to be more interesting than the original thread...

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by luqmaninbmore

That is an insult to the historical Luddites who were conducting a class war against the rising lords of capital who sought to exploit them more thoroughly.

No, it's not. His views are just as anti-change as theirs was. Granted, it is NOT easy to change one's marketing approach, especially if one has never really *had* to engage in marketing as the original Luddite handloom weavers. But it *is* do-able. What marked the Luddite movement was the whole "keep the buggy-whip industry alive even if no one owns a horse-and-buggy anymore" attitude towards their chosen career. We see the same thing today in the automotive industry and others.

And given his rant against having to compete with 'lesser-quality' authors who dominate the current book markets, he clearly is a modern-day handloom weaver calling for 'wrecking the automated looms' that threaten his career. Naturally, he refuses to accept or even understand that his 'career' is most likely wallowing because he isn't meeting market demands.

So sad, but Alan Kaufman needs to either learn to work within the demands of the marketplace, or he should slink off to the welfare lines with the rest who refuse to adapt. Note I didn't say unemployment lines, those are for the ones who *want* to work.

Of course, he *could* always take the easy way out, get a PhD and take a job teaching others to hate storytelling, yet love scribbling.

Derek

[Moejoe]

Originally Posted by meraxes

I replied to it because, (as your own condescending sneering at Mrs Myer's books has demonstrated), some people always seize the opportunity to boost their egos by denigrating others' reading preferences. That sentiment is very clear in Mr Kaufman's rant - he seems to believe that he knows what others should read, and how they should read it. Kindlekitten's contribution to this discussion, on the face of it, seemed to be fully in line with this view.

The fact that her contribution was in fact an attempted sarcasm might (or might not) have become clear to me after studying all her previous postings in this thread. I don't think her postings deserve such careful study. She seems to believe otherwise, but we'll just have to disagree on that. And the fact that I took her attempted witticism at face value was enough for her to rush head-first into unimaginative innuendo about sticks lodged in the fifth point of contact. How that flagrant breach of etiquette passed your normally vigilant politeness radar is completely beyond me. But be that as it may, how do you expect me to react when I respond in good faith to what I take for a serious posting - only to be told straight away that I'm a bit of an idiot for not understanding the poster's subtle sense of humour?

And now you're backpedalling. You insulted both me and Kindlekitten in your remarks, you made personal attacks. And now you're whining because we responded in kind.

I tell you what, next time anybody tells a joke on here we'll privately PM you to make sure that you understand that it's a joke. Then we'll flag that post with a giant red flag, you know, because you can't be bothered to read anything within the context it was written.

IGNORE LIST ahoy!

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by Moejoe

Maybe, maybe, that is if Stephanie Myer can actually be considered an author.. and not an evil robot sent from the future to....*arg* *cough* *splutter*....Stephanie Myer is one of the most beloved and truly my favourite author of all time. Her delicate prose and not-insulting-to-women characters are a delight to behold. I would recommend her gladly to any fan of fiction.

Having just watched "Twilight" for the first time this weekend, I'm definitely Team Jacob!

(OMG! I've succumbed to the Stephenie Meyer Madness Syndrome! Quick! Someone give me the cure for SMMS! Is it massive ingestion of THC? Perhaps gorging on Tryptophan? (No, can't be that because I was all tryptophanned out this weekend. ) Please! I can't be caught in the SMMS cycle! )

Derek

[meraxes]

Originally Posted by Sonist

Let the guy lament an era passing by, it's O.K., really.

Let him lament all he likes, and let him even feel good about himself for all this lamenting. But not at the expense of ebook owners (i.e. every single person on this board), who are all degenerate Nazi bastards, if you accept his reasoning (or should I say, complete lack thereof).

[luqmaninbmore]

Originally Posted by jbjb

In my original comment, I wasn't referring to the historical luddites, simply using the word in it's everyday usage of "one who dislikes/mistrusts new technologies".

/JB

No prob.

[Moejoe]

Originally Posted by delphidb96

Having just watched "Twilight" for the first time this weekend, I'm definitely Team Jacob!

(OMG! I've succumbed to the Stephenie Meyer Madness Syndrome! Quick! Someone give me the cure for SMMS! Is it massive ingestion of THC? Perhaps gorging on Tryptophan? (No, can't be that because I was all tryptophanned out this weekend. ) Please! I can't be caught in the SMMS cycle! )

Derek

You must immediately report to your nearest ebook store and they will administer a dose of real vampire fiction. You must, and I can't stress this enough, must read this three times a day for at least 14 days. Soon Twilight will be nothing more than a bad memory; like flu or the hat you bought once in Tuscany from a street vendor that turned out to have some kind of strange insect living in it

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

I was tempted to claim the Luddite twist as , but frankly, it's getting to be more interesting than the original thread...

It is, isn't it.

I love to read, I have thousands of books and ebooks. But I *am* selective in my choices; to date I've never purchased or read a single work by Alan Kaufman. What saddens me is that his attitudes expressed in his screed so clearly show his state of mind and personal viewpoints that I now have NO desire to read any of his work.

It would be, to me, as if I were a customer of an automated broadloom owner who's just watched the factory smashed only to be confronted by one of the saboteurs, a handloom weaver, approaching me to demand that I now buy *his* products - at a much higher price, of course!

That just *isn't* going to happen.

Derek

[meraxes]

Originally Posted by Moejoe

You insulted both me and Kindlekitten in your remarks, you made personal attacks.

That's a lie. What was so insulting in my original post, after which I was told to "remove a stick from the 5th point of contact"? And next time one of you tells a "joke", make sure that the other is around, because no-one else is laughing.

[Moejoe]

Originally Posted by meraxes

That's a lie. What was so insulting in my original post, after which I was told to "remove a stick from the 5th point of contact"? And next time one of you tells a "joke", make sure that the other is around, because no-one else is laughing.

So this isn't insulting?

Well it's not my fault that your jokes are lame. Sounded exactly like something Mr Kaufman himself might have said. So why don't you practice your stand-up routine on your grandma first.

I'm not sure why I'm even bothering with you at this point. You're rude, obnoxious and an absolute waste of my time.

Ignored.

[Hellmark]

Originally Posted by Sonist

Wow! Poor Mr. Kaufman!

It's an essay, for Pasta's sake.... I may disagree with it, but it's heartfelt. Let the guy lament an era passing by, it's O.K., really. As he says, it's only "only a private complaint."

If it is private, why voice it in a public forum?

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by meraxes

That's a lie. What was so insulting in my original post, after which I was told to "remove a stick from the 5th point of contact"? And next time one of you tells a "joke", make sure that the other is around, because no-one else is laughing.

Please, Meraxes, Moejoe, can you both just back off and take a break?

You both have strong, valid opinions on the original topic, both of which I agree with to some extent, and I think it would be best if we returned to that.

Derek

[Moejoe]

Originally Posted by delphidb96

Please, Meraxes, Moejoe, can you both just back off and take a break?

You both have strong, valid opinions on the original topic, both of which I agree with to some extent, and I think it would be best if we returned to that.

Derek

Done The ignore list is our friend, after all

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by meraxes

That's a lie. What was so insulting in my original post, after which I was told to "remove a stick from the 5th point of contact"? And next time one of you tells a "joke", make sure that the other is around, because no-one else is laughing.

d00d!!!!


chill already!!!

no one else is laughing because they are standing aghast at the train wreck you keep adding to!