Established vs. Indie author

[jhempel24]

While I'm not too sure anything can be compared to Stephen King, I will say that reading "Silent Counsel" by Ken Isaacs (who is an author here) compares with and is better than alot of John Grisham. I couldn't put it down.

[Kumabjorn]

Do you mean Ken Isaacson?

[jessicalynn]

I believe one of our members has a blog where he (or possibly she) reviews indie books. I can't for the life of me remember the name of the blog though. Anybody?

[caleb72]

Originally Posted by jessicalynn

I believe one of our members has a blog where he (or possibly she) reviews indie books. I can't for the life of me remember the name of the blog though. Anybody?

There's a number of us reviewing indie books. I'm one of them. To find a rather large list of review sites, try this: http://www.theindieview.com/

You need to subscribe to actually see the list of review sites (it's free). However, there's a nifty page that has the latest indie reviews as they're published from a reasonably large list of indie reviewers.

[davidwfleming]

As an aspiring author myself, I also have a strong interest in finding good indie writers to use as mentors.

It's exceedingly difficult to find people who are up-and-coming and yet not already well known. This is a little on the negative side, but I've found a number of "authors" gaming the system, in my view, by investing considerable amounts of money in web and cover design, professionally optimized Kindle pages, animated book trailers, purchased reviews, etc. only to read work that would get laughed-out of the first round of a neighborhood critique group.

Many indie authors aren't paying their dues. I also suspect that many authors who have a talent for marketing spend all their time on this and not honing their craft. This is the whole reason why traditional publishing existed in the first place. Marketing and writing should naturally exist as two separate talents.

[Kumabjorn]

Last year I purchased my first Kindle book by an - at least to me - unknown indie author for $0.99. Raving reviews. What I got was a couple of pages of banter from some sort of political fora similar to MR, with >>> quotations intact including five and six line spaces between the back and fro. I have never felt more ripped of in my life. Unfortunately this "author" destroyed the possibility of me ever trying to buy something again from an unknown entity. A person like that actually ruins it for those indie authors that are serious and talented. Hence, if I am delving into that market again, I will only do it based on recommendations from people (handles) I have some trust in (Thank you Jan Strnad).

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

If you went to a bookstore, would you buy a book based on the back cover blurb, and not crack it open and read some of it? Probably not.

That's why authors who know better offer an excerpt of their books... all of my books have the first 3 chapters to read on my site for free.

I can only suggest that you don't throw out all those indie authors with the bathwater; instead, be smart about your book searching and read excerpts. Also, report misleading material you feel you are coerced into buying; you'll probably get your money back.

[Blue Tyson]

Ok,

If you like David Gemmell, Joe Abercrombie, Richard Morgan, Paul Kearney etc. then try

The Troll Hunter - Keith C. Blackmore

"A warrior with a secret.
A band of cutthroats.
And a monster of legend.

Battle rusty from the war infirmaries, a company of Sujins, the heavy infantry of Sunja, march north. They guard a mysterious koch destined for another land. Whipped by the murderous Rusk the Two Knife and led by the enigmatic Bloor, the only cavalier to survive the Field of Skulls, they will march into the unknown, and arrive at the teeth of hell.

And only one man will possess the skills to bring the survivors back."



and

131 Days by Keith Blackmore

"Strength. Honor. Death. Once every year, in the city of Sunja, gladiators meet within the arena known as Sunja`s Pit. Men such as Baylus, Goll, and Halm enter for the lure of fortune. Others enter for the fame. And some simply for the fight. The games continue for days, until a champion is finally crowned. Or all who are involved perish. This is blood sport at its finest. At its worst. At its longest. 131 Days."


I was highly impressed by both of these.

[Blue Tyson]

If you like Spartacus you might of course like the last one, too.

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by Blue Tyson

They guard a mysterious koch destined for another land.

A mysterious what? Cook? Cock? Coke? Coach?

Or is this some Australian lingo?

[Blue Tyson]

No, I didn't make that up - it is a direct copy of the blurb.

From the text : -

"“I’m always around him, you ripe bastard,” Balto growled. Balto then looked to Gatesin and followed his gaze. The resplendent Cavalier trotted further on down the line, stopping here and there. An armored koch pulled by six horses came into sight.
“What’s this, then?” Balto muttered to himself. The koch slowed to a stop alongside the ranks of Sujins. Men appeared and began mulling over the vehicle and the horses, adjusting the harnesses and the bits in the beasts’ mouths. The wagon itself was large enough to fit a family comfortably, but the exterior looked harsh and able to withstand falling boulders. Metal plates had been nailed over its heavy wooden frame as well as the shuttered windows, which could only be opened from the inside. Places where a man could jump onto the rig had been spiked with short blades. Even the wheels of the things were plated and spiked. Two drivers sat high in the perch, watching the others swarm over the koch with their final checks. A third man was perched in the rear, sitting in a small armored cradle. He held a crossbow at the ready and scoured the Sujins with an evil eye, as if wondering if he could spare a bolt for one of them."

Or a Sujin coach is a koch

[Kumabjorn]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

If you went to a bookstore, would you buy a book based on the back cover blurb, and not crack it open and read some of it? Probably not.

Unless I already had determined that i wanted the book, probably not. However, I have bought most of my books from Amazon, since before they offered a peek inside, and in this case there was no "try a chapter" available. So I was pre-ordained to buy books unseen. Also, I'm not going to bother Amazon CS over 99 cents. Is it unfair that this one fraudalent nincompoop destroys for other serious indie authors? No doubt about that. But once burnt---

It just takes time to get over something like that.

[Yapyap]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

If you went to a bookstore, would you buy a book based on the back cover blurb, and not crack it open and read some of it? Probably not.

I've never cracked a book open in a bookshop and read some of it. I've always done all my book purchases (when not based on recommendations from friends or prior reading of an author/series) based on "gut feeling", which amounts to looking at the title, looking at the cover, and looking at the back cover blurb.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but for some reason, I can't do sampling. I either read a book or I don't.

I've got 50+ samples downloaded since getting the Kindle, and I haven't read any of them. I just... can't. There's a psychological block in there somewhere; when I start reading a book, I start reading the book. I can't just read a bit here or there and then decide I don't want the book at all.

I have learned my lesson, after some really terrible self-published books, to the extent that I now take a look inside self-published books before buying (for paid books) - not to read any of it, because I still cannot, but to skim it and check for the most obvious spelling or punctuation problems. With trad-pubbed books, I don't do that - either the blurb interests me or not; if it interests me sufficiently, I trust the book to not have any horrible issues with spelling, grammar or punctuation.

People are obviously different - I know people who always read the last page first, for example, and base their buying decision on that. I can't do that. I've tried, I actually physically cannot open that last page (unless I've read the book before), because my hands refuse to do that.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

If you went to a bookstore, would you buy a book based on the back cover blurb, and not crack it open and read some of it? Probably not.

Well, I never read anything in books before buying them. And you cannot read just a couple of pages and see if it is a good book. The kind of problem you can detect by reading a couple of pages are problems that nearly never are in a book from an established publisher.

[musicman2523]

Don't forget Smashwords..................lots of 5* free books there.