Man! I hate self promoted books!

[Marseille]

Originally Posted by ficbot

This should not be undertaken as the instant path to fame and fortune.

Frak.

Now what do I do?

[GraceKrispy]

Originally Posted by Scott Nicholson

Thanks, Grace--why does anyone assume the average reader cares about "good writing"? They clearly don't. Twilight is not well written. Patterson is merely competent on a craft level.

In fiction, most people love great stories, which is why we have to beat kids over the head to get them to read "classics" in high school that are "good for them." The most common result being we have teens who despise reading.

The average reader is pretty good at knowing what he or she likes, though. It's one of the growing pains of the era, and worth it to have a little crap for the chance at lots of fresh voices and experimentation.

I do enjoy many of the classics, and love the feeling you get from finishing a very satisfying, meaningful book. In my "real life," I read lots of non-fiction, some of it dealing with very serious and heavy concepts, some of it dense with medical terminology and psychological case studies. So in my "escape life," I don't always want to read serious, coming-of-age stories, or novels dealing with beating the odds or whatnot. My job deals heavily with the emotional realm, so I prefer my hobby reading to be light and different than real life.

This actually makes me wonder how many of our reading choices mirror our lives and how many are as different as we can find? Do hospice workers seek out books dealing with end-of-life choices? Do cops like to read mysteries mirroring their jobs? My non-fiction is in tune with my job, but my fiction is often pure brain candy. We all need a break, right?

For the record, I wouldn't rate most of Patterson's books or the Twilight Saga with 5 stars (although I have read and been amused by both). I find both writing styles to be lacking.

[Scott Nicholson]

Grace, I think the answer to that question can be summed up by a pro football player who was asked if he watched "Monday Night Football." He said, "Does a butcher watch another butcher cut meat on his day off?"

While I write paranormal thrillers and have done some ghost hunting, I don't go around brooding on "evil" or dressing all in black. In fact, I am pretty light-hearted and happy--perhaps because I can exorcise my demons on paper.

Of course, if you are a specialist in a certain field, I imagine you'd have to read the non-fiction to keep up. And most authors are lifetime students anyway.

Scott

[danceswithcats]

It looks good to me. I might buy it when I've got my reader back.
Slightly silly title, though.

[Libby Cone]

I gave away e-copies of Flesh and Grass when I first released it, using LibraryThing's Member Giveaway program. I received a few reviews, most of them rather bizarre, with people getting the names of the characters wrong, seeming not to understand the book, etc. I prefer sending copies to bloggers. Many never review it, and that's OK. Some review it negatively, but are able to articulate why they didn't like the work.

It's so important to have a thick skin about this! I am normally an oversensitive person, but I refuse to take negative reviews personally. In fact, as I seem to be in too much of a hurry to show the ms to an editor before releasing it, the early negative reviews are reminders of the folly of doing that.

I write reviews for a blog; I pull no punches, and have been taken to task for it by my fellow reviewers. We are repurposing the site so that authors who are not ready for prime time don't get a snarky review, but are advised to get an editor.

[Kevin2960]

Originally Posted by plumboz

And of course I agree that it is all consumer based, as it should be. Every person makes their purchasing (and time allocation) decisions based on criteria that make sense to the individual. You choose not to even consider self published work.

However, personal status as self published author aside, may I point out that simply dismissing all self published work as unworthy of consideration is exactly like saying any musician or group that hasn't got a current recording contract must lack musical chops, taste, stage presence, whatever. And that just isn't the case. Ever seen a bar band that could rock the house all night? Or a jazz pianist with a distinctive style and amazing range? Or a guy playing fingerstyle guitar to an appreciative and discerning crowd in Central Park like my family and I did last summer? Sure, there were kazoo players of maximum volume and minimal appeal just around a tree-lined corner, but the people found the guy ripping up the fretboard on his battered Guild. I doubt if he had a recording contract at the time. Just a guitar case that was slowly filling with dollar bills. And a plastic bin that was already sold of his days allotment of CD's. I still feel badly that I didn't ask his name so I could Google him and see how I could buy his music once I got home to AZ.

It is inescapably true that much of what is self published is of poor quality. It is also true that "traditional" publishing offers up a lot of dreck. Nicely packaged, occasionally well edited dreck, but dreck nonetheless. Just like a lot of the big music companies.

Changes are happening, that too is undeniable, and change always means things are bound to be messy for a while. But ultimately what we have here, in both music and writing, is the opportunity for the artist to connect directly with the consumer. No committees of skittish marketing experts fresh from their latest fifty lashes because of a big advance that didn't pay off making their timid decisions based almost entirely on "could this endanger my bonus?" can keep a book from seeing the light of day. And once it's out there, if there is an audience, and that audience has an opportunity to hear about that book, then they make the decision regarding its worth.

Totally Agree Alan !

[plumboz]

Kevin,

You mean something I wrote makes sense? Jeez! I've lost my distinctive, individual writing style.

[Pablo]

Originally Posted by GlenBarrington

If I get Boomerang, hate it, and then try to throw it away. . . What happens?

When I read your original post, the first book that came to my mind was Boomerang (as a counter-example!!!)
I am not going to write a review on it, just get it and read it, I think you will not be dissapointed.

[plumboz]

Hi Pablo,

Thanks for the nice words re: Boomerang.

Gotta love your avatar!

[J. Strnad]

I enjoy light reading, too, but it still has to be well written. It can be light, breezy, goofy and inconsequential, but the writer needs to know how to construct sentences and has to have some kind of ear for language. Vonnegut really excelled at writing in a way that seems effortless and certainly is easy to read, but it's still top-notch writing by any literary standard.

I don't demand Vonnegut-quality writing from everyone (if I did, I'd have precious little to read) but the prose shouldn't sound like an elementary school band on Monday morning.