Fairy Tales: talking down to one's audience

[BeccaPrice]

Originally Posted by crich70

I just looked at some of the reviews for your book "Dragons & Dreams" Becca and I don't think you have much to worry about as far as talking down to the readers. It seems a lot of people like your writing style (in the fairy stories) just fine and don't consider it to be too mature a style as far as words.

That's why the one criticism rather took me aback. Sure, I could simplify the writing, but then it seems to me that the whole fairy tale vibe would be lost.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

That's why the one criticism rather took me aback. Sure, I could simplify the writing, but then it seems to me that the whole fairy tale vibe would be lost.

It might be more suspicious and worrying if you pleased everyone.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

That's why the one criticism rather took me aback. Sure, I could simplify the writing, but then it seems to me that the whole fairy tale vibe would be lost.

On a more serious note to my previous post. The link you gave to the particular criticism was from a very specific blog where, in effect, you post your book details saying: it's not selling as well as I expect, what's wrong? I would note a few things about the context.

First that any comments made there will presuppose that there is indeed something wrong - otherwise, why would you be having problems with sales? Whereas it may be that the book is actually selling as well as it is likely to in the circumstances (type of book, author recognition, marketing effort etc.), in which case the comments made on the list will be based on an invalid assumption.

Second, and as a result of the first, the comments will be directed specifically at what is believed might be wrong. It's not much help to tell an author: it all looks good to me, I don't know why it's not selling. So the comments there will be looking for anything that might explain why the book is not selling as well as you want. Posting your book there is asking for people to actively search for reasons to criticise the book.

Search and ye shall find: there is something wrong with all books, in the eyes of at least some readers (which harks back to my previous post). The first part of Lord of the Rings is too slow (perhaps), some people never get through it. Might it have sold better had Tolkien rewritten that first part to make it more exciting? Or might it have sold worse by not having developed the atmosphere and characters as well as it does? Too late to find out now.

In that light I think the criticism was fair (though, as noted earlier, I has issues with the way it was expressed). It may indeed be that some readers could be put off the book by the writing style, but changing that might put off readers that specifically like the style. And, in between somewhere, is a space where you might find the place that satisfies both (or puts off both ). Time and experience may help you to decide.

[BeccaPrice]

Actually, the most helpful comment I got was, it's selling as well as can be expected, given the genre, the target audience, and the fact that it's unillustrated.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

That's why the one criticism rather took me aback. Sure, I could simplify the writing, but then it seems to me that the whole fairy tale vibe would be lost.

There is an old saying Becca, "You can please some of the people most of the time, but never all the people all of the time." Every writer who has ever had anything published has had their critics just as (traditionally) every writer has gotten rejection slips prior to that 1st sale. I remember seeing a short video of Stephen King the other night on youtube and he said he'd started writing and sending out his work at age 18 and he was around 20 when he made that 1st sale. Of course with epublishing via places like Smashwords and Amazon that doesn't necessarily hold true any more, but I bet even now the critics aren't unanimous in their praise of any writer. Some things never change.