"The Blood of Coldfrost" Read it right here right now!

[Manichean]

Originally Posted by M. R. Mathias

If you knew the journey I took from owning my first computer just 16 months ago to being a self published author with seven titles available and thirteen more laying here in longhand, then you might actually have and show some respect for what was achieved instead of going directly at what wasn't.

So, basically, what you're saying is that because you've had some harsh times, people shouldn't expect your work to be as good? That's an... interesting attitude.

[M. R. Mathias]

Originally Posted by Worldwalker

The thing you're missing: for most MR readers, and virtually all MR authors, there is no such thing as "good enough" which is short of perfect. Even the people who can't get their stories anywhere close to perfect (a few seriously grammatically challenged people come to mind) are trying for perfect. They think they're doing it right. "It's good enough" isn't what people expect here. It's not what they do, and it's not what they read.

Well, except for the Alternate Civil War guy, but he ran away and wasn't any fun anymore.

Worldwalker, from the polling results in the 'How many MR books have you read' thread I think that most people at MR just read name authors and post around. My book is an Indie book written in prison by a convict. It is perfect as it is. IT ISN'T Supposed to get a fancy cover and a high dollar edit. If it did it wouldn't be what the guy in the prison cell wrote anymore! You guys are the ones who are missing the point. Read what the prisoner wrote. That is the point. As I said before I can point out a hundred perfectly edited books that suck, but I can also point you to a best seller that has no quotation marks.

Mine is fairly well edited if you took the time to read the 100,000 word (43%) sample you would see that.

[M. R. Mathias]

Originally Posted by Manichean

So, basically, what you're saying is that because you've had some harsh times, people shouldn't expect your work to be as good? That's an... interesting attitude.

Thats not even close to what I am saying. I am saying that you can read 100,000 words of my book for free. If you dont like it move on.

I think you mis-understood something. I was saying that my work is better. And because I was having hard times and wrote it in prison it really shouldn't be. When a convict with a pen can write a better story than the word processor having educated authors then yes you should read it! That is what I am saying! LMAO

[Manichean]

Originally Posted by M. R. Mathias

My book is an Indie book written in prison by a convict. It is perfect as it is. IT ISN'T Supposed to get a fancy cover and a high dollar edit. If it did it wouldn't be what the guy in the prison cell wrote anymore!

This, together with the quotation in my earlier post, clearly tells me "Hey, I'm an ex-convict, this book isn't edited or proofread as well as other books, but go read it goddamnit, because hey, I'm an ex-convict!"
Just saying. You might want to think about how you want to come across.

[Worldwalker]

Originally Posted by M. R. Mathias

My book is an Indie book written in prison by a convict. It is perfect as it is. IT ISN'T Supposed to get a fancy cover and a high dollar edit. If it did it wouldn't be what the guy in the prison cell wrote anymore!

So guys in prison can't write well? There are people who would prove you wrong. Guys in prison cells write good books; if you choose not to, it says more about who you are then where you wrote. Sorry, but it does.

[M. R. Mathias]

Originally Posted by Manichean

This, together with the quotation in my earlier post, clearly tells me "Hey, I'm an ex-convict, this book isn't edited or proofread as well as other books, but go read it goddamnit, because hey, I'm an ex-convict!"
Just saying. You might want to think about how you want to come across.

Go here Fantasy Book Critic and look to the bottom right. Then scroll down to the bottom and look at the site counter. Then come back tommorrow and read the review. That way you can hear what someone else has to say about it. That blog has a sub list over 3500 people daily.

A highly respected book review.

[Manichean]

Originally Posted by M. R. Mathias

Go here Fantasy Book Critic and look to the bottom right. Then scroll down to the bottom and look at the site counter. Then come back tommorrow and read the review. That way you can hear what someone else has to say about it. That blog has a sub list over 3500 people daily.

A highly respected book review.

Yeah, yeah, I get it, some people review your books. Big deal. What you're not getting is what I'm saying: You might want to think about how you write in here. Attacking anyone and everyone might be a good idea in prison, but doesn't work all that well in civil society, especially if you haven't been attacked in the first place. It just needlessly irritates people that, so far as I've seen, have offered criticism that you've asked for in the first place in a normal, respectful manner.
I don't want to drag this out into an argument or whatever, but consider that you're coming across as extremely rude and arrogant. You might want to change that.

[lene1949]

Ohh.. No... He's banned, and I found this whole thing soooo entertaining...

[queentess]

Originally Posted by lene1949

Ohh.. No... He's banned, and I found this whole thing soooo entertaining...

I wasn't online much yesterday, but apparently he posted some note about me "at about sixty different MR threads....LMAO" (his words, per his PM to me). I am a little sad that I didn't get to see it.

[Worldwalker]

He didn't make it to 60 threads before they caught him, only maybe a dozen.

Despite him personally totally missing the point, he was an excellent demonstration of something that's significant about MobileRead and online venues in general: We're interested in our authors. We care if they act like jerks or talk like idiots.

Go back a hundred years and there were plenty of authors who were not only not civilized human beings, but even their being human beings might have been open to question. Even someone like Salinger, who wrote and vanished, was not uncommon. Now we have things like authors with MR accounts, blogs, public meltdowns in the Amazon comments, and all sorts of other interactions with authors that didn't exist even 20 years ago. Instead of writing being something that happens between author and publisher, and the public sees the results when they buy the book -- or maybe, special joy!, an interview managed by a third party -- it can be, and often is, right in our faces.

A hundred years ago, there just wasn't much of an opportunity for an Anne Rice or Laurell Hamilton to go off all over the reading public. They could have bought newspaper ads in major markets, sure, but not only was that expensive, it took time and effort; it lacked the immediacy of a forum comment or blog post. Now, when someone sticks their foot in their mouth and then shoots it, the results can be around the world in moments. Most of the people we MobileReaders know have Internet access; we can send them links, or copies of the post, for their entertainment. Something an author might not have considered, or might have thought better of, a couple of decades ago is now in the permanent memory of the world.

And we dissect whatever we can get of them, which is often a lot. We read their blog articles in minute detail. What did he really think? We scrutinize their forum posts. Was she nice to the readers? In short, we look at a whole slew of things that are not, in fact, the story. Not the writing. Anne Rice's meltdown is legendary -- but did it change what theoretically matters to the readers, what we see on the page? Would her writing have been better or worse if she'd gone and written everything she did without telling us why? We laugh about LKH's characters being her "imaginary friends" but are her books better or worse because we know that? That's something I think we all need to think about.

It's something the authors need to think about, too, and a lot of them aren't even considering it. Everything they say in public is going to be picked apart. If it's "I wrote that last book in a hurry because I needed money for my mom's funeral" it's going to affect how the book is perceived, even if it's called Rasselas. There is really no dividing line between an author's public and private writings anymore. If the fans can see it, it's public. If it's a blog entry, a forum post, an Amazon review, or even a comment on some other writer's work, the fans will find it. In particular, authors can't have their cake and eat it too. They can't say "this thing which promotes my book is official" but "this other thing I said doesn't matter". And too many of them still think they can -- they think that they are the ones who can decide what the fans will look at and what they can't, even if those things are posted in the same place and with the same name. It's not just the publishers who have to adapt to a changing market. The whole writing ecosystem has changed, and a lot of authors (even a lot of new ones) really don't get it.

[Manichean]

Wait, one post, joined today, calls himself "outlaw", links to a favorable review and loves the book to death? Either it's me being paranoid or someone figured out how to register another account after being banned.

[Dr. Drib]

Outlaw:

We have Posting Guidlines.

I would strongly suggest you read them before you call the Members here "lame." A link is located at the top of every page.



Don
(Moderator)

[ardeegee]

Originally Posted by Worldwalker

It's something the authors need to think about, too, and a lot of them aren't even considering it. Everything they say in public is going to be picked apart. If it's "I wrote that last book in a hurry because I needed money for my mom's funeral" it's going to affect how the book is perceived, even if it's called Rasselas.

The perfect example? This post, which by itself ensured that I'd never, ever attempt to read any of his books.