What If the South Had Airpower?--New Historical Novel

[ardeegee]

Originally Posted by ficbot

My brother, an avid reader of historical fiction, used to describe the needs-to-be-edited bits as the 'tea in the bunker' scenes. He used to read these military novels like the Master and Commander books, and some guy would go down into the bunker to have tea with some other guy, and nine chapters later, they are still having tea in the bunker and he's all 'yes, yes, fine, but can we move it along now?'

Okay, if "tea in the bunker" isn't a code phrase for a gay sex scene, it should be. (Notthatthere'sanythingwrongwiththat)

[KarlKlein]

My My, stirred up a hornets nest didn't I? I can't IMAGINE what I was thinking. My sincere apologies to all especially the fellow who feels the outcome of the war hinged on what a few Alabama troops did or didn't do. Governor Brown of Georgia would have been elated.

[ardeegee]

Originally Posted by KarlKlein

My My, stirred up a hornets nest didn't I? I can't IMAGINE what I was thinking. My sincere apologies to all especially the fellow who feels the outcome of the war hinged on what a few Alabama troops did or didn't do. Governor Brown of Georgia would have been elated.

Dude-- when you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. You made yourself look unprofessional by jumping in with an insult the first time, and you are only making yourself look worse now.

[GeoffC]

[ardeegee]

Originally Posted by GeoffC

?

[Worldwalker]

Originally Posted by ardeegee

Dude-- when you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. You made yourself look unprofessional by jumping in with an insult the first time, and you are only making yourself look worse now.

No, no, don't discourage him!

Seriously, Karl, you come in here promoting a book which is, in a word, bad. You're far from the first one to do that, of course, though you may hold the record for sheer mass. But you've got this book to sell, you don't try to become part of the community, you don't participate, you're just hawking a book. Once again, not the only one. When someone disagrees with the premise of your book, you lash out at them with a post which I must admit is a marvel, packing more rudeness, arrogance, and petulance in a few lines than most people can fit into half a page. Now that is something we don't see a lot of.

Most of the people who want to sell something to members of the MobileRead community recognize that it is a community, and behave accordingly. Like any other community, it gets a bit defensive about rude outsiders. And yes, you are an outsider. You don't post, you don't participate, you haven't even said "hi" over in the welcome forum ... you just tacked up a flyer for your book, nothing else. Certainly, there are other authors who do this (although those who hang out with us, discuss their books and various other topics, and in general become 'one of the guys', seem to find their sales reflect that effort) but, in general, that's all they do. They post their notices and move on. I think you're the first, at least in my experience, who stuck around to insult the people you're hoping will buy your book.

This is not winning you any friends. More germane to the topic, it's also not winning you any sales. MobileRead is a more significant market than you might imagine, because many of its members and lurkers are the office/family/club "ebook expert" (even if that's defined as being the only person who knows how to load a book on the reader) and we tend to be a chatty bunch. It's not an unreasonable assumption that a very high percentage of people who buy self-published ebooks are, or know, one of us. Word of mouth is a big thing, and when someone barges in here slinging insults, that word of mouth doesn't tend to be very positive.

This would be a good time to take a step back and work on some things. Take an anger management class. Engage the services of a professional editor. Lurk around MobileRead and get a feel for the community. Then you can promote your newly-edited and perfected book and get sales instead of snark. Everyone wins.

[GeoffC]

What is this ?

A new civil war breaking out ?

[ardeegee]

Originally Posted by Worldwalker

No, no, don't discourage him!

This would be a good time to take a step back and work on some things. Take an anger management class. Engage the services of a professional editor. Lurk around MobileRead and get a feel for the community. Then you can promote your newly-edited and perfected book and get sales instead of snark. Everyone wins.

Yes, if Karl were to look around, he would find many people promoting their books here, and very very few of them being reamed out for doing so. Most of them are treated politely, even if it is pretty apparent that it is bad writing. It is only when the writer goes out of his way to be a dick that people take the time to dissect the "writing."

A tip to writers-- using a public forum for name-calling people commenting on your writing-- even when they are negative comments-- does far more damage to your image as a writer to be taken seriously than the original comments could possibly do. It makes you look like some amateur. If you have to reply to a point, be polite-- even if the commenter isn't.

Originally Posted by Worldwalker

I think you're the first, at least in my experience, who stuck around to insult the people you're hoping will buy your book.

You missed this classic thread, baby!!!!!!!!

[plumboz]

Goodness, Karl must be feeling more than a bit battered and bruised by now. In his defense all I can think of is that he has spent too much time on "writers' peer review sites" where things can get very ugly very fast. Far from being supportive places where one can learn and grow together with like minded individuals, these sites are time wasters of the first order that breed ill manners and the worst sorts of Macheavellian strategies to stand out.

Karl, sounds like a quick exit would be in order. Retreat, regroup, and, maybe even rewrite. Then give it another try. This is an excellent place to find readers, share some fun and often as not learn something. But snarky need not apply.

Take care.

[Worldwalker]

Oh, Lordy! And Dr. Drib's post is one for the ages. Reading that thread definitely improved my life; a good hearty laugh will always do that.

[plumboz]

Originally Posted by Worldwalker

Oh, Lordy! And Dr. Drib's post is one for the ages. Reading that thread definitely improved my life; a good hearty laugh will always do that.

At the risk of appearing clueless, what thread?

[GeoffC]

Originally Posted by plumboz

At the risk of appearing clueless, what thread?

the link is at the end of post #23

[plumboz]

Thanks! Now that's what I call entertainment.

[Worldwalker]

Originally Posted by plumboz

At the risk of appearing clueless, what thread?

My bad, I should have quoted. This one: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...917#post839917

*sigh* I need to refresh more often,

[plumboz]

Originally Posted by Worldwalker

My bad, I should have quoted. This one: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...917#post839917

*sigh* I need to refresh more often,

No problem. I am left wondering if gramps was putting us all on? Sort of an Andy Kaufman routine. If so, moderately well done. If not, well...