Sorting the Wheat from the Chaff - Selecting "New Market" EBooks

darryl · 09-08-2014, 08:59 AM

One of the effects of the internet and ebooks on the publishing industry generally has been the near reversal of the supply and demand for books. The barriers to publishing and distribution have gone from formidable to inconsequential. I have not looked at the statistics relevant to either supply or demand, and, as has been pointed out in other threads, the information on which such statistics must be based is commercially sensitive and much of it is not made available for this reason. Nevertheless, I think it is non-controversial to say that the supply of books has markedly increased. Nor do I think it controversial to say that the demand for books has also increased, but mainly if not exclusively at the lower price points. These lower price points tend to be the almost sole province of the “Indies”, many of which are self-published, and most of which would not have been published at all before Ebooks and the advent of the cheap self-publishing platforms. And it seems to me that this particular market, arguably a new one, is dominated by Amazon. I will refer to this as the new market.

One of the most valuable roles performed by the large publishers, who I refer to (because of my own bias) as the BWM (Buggy Whip Manufacturers) is that of gatekeepers. Often this function is not performed very well, but can be of great value, both for imposing some sort of quality control and for providing a much smaller selection of books for readers to pick from than would otherwise exist. In the case of the new market, the benefits of the gatekeeping function no longer exist. Personally, I began to look seriously at the new market during the period of price fixing after deciding that I would not pay more than $9.99 at that time for a fiction ebook.

What I think is worth discussing in this thread is how we as readers are adapting to this new market, and in particular to the much wider choice and the lack of quality control. Are you purchasing new market books? If so, have you found the lack of quality control a problem? How are you selecting your books from the new market? What steps are you taking to ensure reasonable quality? How would you rate the quality of the new market books you have purchased?

One obvious choice is to ignore the existence of the new lower priced market and only buy books from traditional publishers. This choice need not be rigid, and could extend to buying the odd book from the new market when given a good reason to.

For the rest of us, it is a question of how we adapt to this new market. I of course can relate only my own experience. Where, years ago, all of my purchases were from traditional publishers, my more recent purchases are predominantly from the new market, with a few purchases (or sometimes library borrowings) of books from the large publishers, mainly from established authors whose books I have enjoyed over the years.

My experience with books from the new market has been very positive. Overall, I would say the quality of the books I am now reading is comparable to those I used to read from the BWM. Yes, I have been caught with a few terribly written books, but that was mainly when I first started purchasing from this new market.

So how have I adapted to selecting books from this new market in the absence of BWM quality control and the very wide choices available?

In the old days when I was looking to buy paper books, I would browse through the bookshop (or library). Sometimes in the library I would look through the books just returned and waiting to be shelved. I would look at the sale items and the new books on display. I would rarely look through bargain bins as I always found the lack of organisation frustrating. I would look for authors whose work I was familiar with, and for genres in which I was interested. When browsing generally or within a genre, I would read the blurb, usually on the back cover, which was very important to me. I recall that I would be quite frustrated when the blurb consisted simply of reviews or endorsements, as what I was looking for was a synopsis or at least a brief description of the plot. Funnily enough, I would rarely read any of the book before purchase. Of course, sometimes I would visit a bookstore for the purpose of buying a particular book which I had been recommended, or read about, or perhaps acquiring more books from an author whose book I had just read and enjoyed. I payed little regard to reviews, which I found to be too dependant on the tastes and preferences of the reviewer.

Buying new market ebooks now, many things remain the same. Amazon's recommendations are worthwhile looking at, but can be quite erratic and puzzling at times. The same for their recommendations of similar books. Featured books and new releases and best sellers can be a good starting point. Books with reasonable and climbing sales may also be worth a look. I remember thinking “What is this Wool from Hugh Howey?” If you haven't read any of Hugh's books you should do so immediately. The blurb to me remains very important, whilst the cover is of even less significance than with paper books, though my attention can very occasionally be attracted by a good or unusual design. Searches for genres and plots of interest are also very useful. To use an example from another recent thread, if you are interested in military science fiction a search will bring up a variety of choices. I also found that over time I discovered a list of new authors whose work I liked, and I keep a list in a Firefox note taking app and make a point of checking occasionally whether they have released anything new. Unlike paper books, I have found it very worthwhile reading the excerpt of the book which Amazon at least provides. There is usually enough there to be able to tell if the book is appallingly written. Also, if spelling and punctuation and minor grammatical errors drive you mad, you will likely see enough in the excerpt to deter you from purchasing. Sadly, reviews must be taken with a grain of salt. This is a shame, as many new writers rely on reviews to reach a wider audience. Unfortunately this has lead to cheating to such an extent that it is difficult sometimes to tell a genuine review from a marketing piece. Websites such as Goodreads can be a useful guide, and their lists of books can be very helpful. Even threads on mobileread can provide some excellent recommendations. Best seller lists and award nominations can also be a useful starting point. But if you do buy a bad book, it has almost certainly cost you significantly less than $14.99. Not good, but not the end of the World.

How have others adapted to this brave new world? Any useful tips on selecting books and ensuring quality? And, more controversially, any suggestions for the BWM Publishers on how they should respond to the new market?

fjtorres · 09-08-2014, 09:15 AM

Well, two things I've done is I'm buying a lot of backlist from familiar authors (if the price is acceptable) and keeping an eye out for indie titles in previously underserved genres like superhero novels. A lot of good stuff that used to get filtered out for being unconventional or cross-genre is now hitting the market. I'm also picking up more euro-translations (mostly from german) now that Amazon has become the top source of translated fiction in the US.

In the olden days I'd average about 6-8 new pbooks a month between book clubs and paperbacks but since I started boycotting the BPHs I'm averaging well over 10. And spending a lot less money.

Soldim · 09-08-2014, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darryl

What I think is worth discussing in this thread is how we as readers are adapting to this new market, and in particular to the much wider choice and the lack of quality control.

I generally read non-fiction, most purchases fall between $13 and $22, and indeed they are mostly BPH books. I have, unfortunately, not been able to find non-fiction indies that fulfill my quality standards. So in this respect, BPH does have a genuine role as gatekeeper -- which does not imply they are faultless by far!!

RDaneel54 · 09-08-2014, 10:28 AM

My response is to more readily buy based on Mobileread poster recommendations. I have found some good books from indie writers that way. Frankly, I am seeing some really good indie published Science Fiction that I'm willing to buy.

For non-fiction, I also find the BPH are quite reliable and if I'm willing to wait, reasonably priced. It's hard to argue with 9.99 for the ebook version of Mcculough's "John Adams."

Really good post, darryl.

darryl · 09-08-2014, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soldim

I generally read non-fiction, most purchases fall between $13 and $22, and indeed they are mostly BPH books. I have, unfortunately, not been able to find non-fiction indies that fulfill my quality standards. So in this respect, BPH does have a genuine role as gatekeeper -- which does not imply they are faultless by far!!

Thanks for your interesting post. What I am calling the new market is of course overwhelmingly fiction. It's probably fair to say that there is no real new market for non-fiction at this stage. Which is another interesting question. Will we in fact see a new market for non-fiction? There are many non-fiction books which require significant research and specialised expertise, justifying a higher price tag, and which appeal to a more limited group of readers who are prepared and expect to pay more. I suspect there will be a limited new market for non-fiction of certain types. It would not surprise me, for example, to see some low priced new market ebooks in the areas of true crime, perhaps some biographies and autobiographies, political memoirs, first person accounts of true events and even some popular science titles. Perhaps there is a role left for the BWM or perhaps for more specialist or smaller publishers.

Synamon · 09-08-2014, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Well, two things I've done is I'm buying a lot of backlist from familiar authors (if the price is acceptable) and keeping an eye out for indie titles in previously underserved genres like superhero novels. A lot of good stuff that used to get filtered out for being unconventional or cross-genre is now hitting the market. I'm also picking up more euro-translations (mostly from german) now that Amazon has become the top source of translated fiction in the US.

Similar for me. Foreign translations from the Scandinavian countries in particular have been a treasure trove.

I've also been reading a lot of backlist from unfamiliar authors, since my reading before digital was whatever secondhand paperbacks I could find cheap (under a buck) and that meant I'd mostly been limited to current bestsellers. There are plenty of great authors that were published decades earlier and weren't available to me, plus lots of books that never sold widely thus weren't plentiful in the secondhand market. Many of these authors have reclaimed their rights and are self-publishing now.

As for newly written indie (or small pub) books, there are good discussions here in the bargain and recommended reading forums and I find at least a couple of new reads a month that way.

fjtorres · 09-08-2014, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darryl

Thanks for your interesting post. What I am calling the new market is of course overwhelmingly fiction. It's probably fair to say that there is no real new market for non-fiction at this stage. Which is another interesting question. Will we in fact see a new market for non-fiction? There are many non-fiction books which require significant research and specialised expertise, justifying a higher price tag, and which appeal to a more limited group of readers who are prepared and expect to pay more. I suspect there will be a limited new market for non-fiction of certain types. It would not surprise me, for example, to see some low priced new market ebooks in the areas of true crime, perhaps some biographies and autobiographies, political memoirs, first person accounts of true events and even some popular science titles. Perhaps there is a role left for the BWM or perhaps for more specialist or smaller publishers.

Non-fiction tends to come primarily from academics and media insiders and those are both deeply entrenched in the establishment, be it University presses or the BPHs. But as Hachette's aborted purchase of PERSEUS showed, even non-fiction is under stress so I expect those authors are going to increasingly rely on crowd funding and their day jobs.

DiapDealer · 09-08-2014, 11:08 AM

I buy fiction (from new/unfamiliar authors) based pretty-much on recommendation and/or word-of-mouth/conversation alone. Which allows me the opportunity to ignore how a book may have been published, for the most part. Strangely enough; this is how I did things before the "New Market" emerged, too. So nothing has really changed very much for me. I'm in it to read "good" books, not good indie books or good cheap books (or good BPH books).

People talk about good books, and I try to listen. I don't really care about the rest.

Anthem · 09-08-2014, 01:17 PM

I have tried a plethora of "new market" books over the last four or five years and found them to largely be HUGELY disappointing. A couple decent books, here and there, but not anything that really comes up to the quality standards set by most of the larger (and even many of the smaller) publishers.

I find the editorial/curatorial role of established publishers to be worthwhile, speaking generally.

When it comes to finding high quality "new market" books I am at a complete loss when it comes to finding them. I tried looking at "best sellers" lists. This has not worked. I have tried looking at popular items and those rated highly. This has worked a little better, but I find myself clicking purchase with great trepidation.

Now, interestingly, I'm not really bothered by it. I miss tons of great books. Always have, always will. So it does not bother me that I miss good "new market" books. I miss great books from the big publishers, so there is nothing strange happening.

Nabeel · 09-09-2014, 11:36 AM

A really interesting post. I suppose I'm still quite conservative: I initially got interested in e-books after the experience of moving house (and a few thousand paper books) twice in two years. After that, the case for the ebook seemed unanswerable.

I tend to use ebooks as a way to supplement or replace my old paper library.

My research has led me to buy four Amazon/Kindle publications. I don't have a Kindle, so I read these on my PC. Each of these was autobiographical in nature, and in each case the author had been rejected by mainstream publications. I've also had a couple of personal contacts which have pushed me to buy three publications from Smashwords: each of them as good as any paper publication.

So far, the big advantage for me has been the astonishingly cheap collected editions of classic writers. But here you have to be careful: the 99p 'Collected Dostoyevsky' contained so many awful scanning mistakes that I went wild and spent a whole £5 on a Collected Dostoyevsky, which seems mistake-free.

harriska2 · 09-09-2014, 11:48 AM

90%+ of the books I read are recommendations from family, friends, or a workshop I attended (nonprofits, autism, etc.). I don't care about covers, blurbs (other than to verify that I want to read it), or markets. If I like the book/author, I am generally loyal for life.

But then, I'm probably not a typical case. I started reading for pleasure about 14 years ago (I'm 45) after stumbling across free ebooks and the genre of mystery. Harry Potter didn't help either. Wanting to pick up another bad habit it was either reading trashy books or smoking so good thing the books won out.

tompe · 09-10-2014, 08:08 AM

I mostly discover new books through recommendations from friends or reviews that I trust. Amazon reviews is not of that kind. I have more than enough good authors to read so I look for very good authors or good authors writing things I like such as police procedurals.

Luffy · 09-10-2014, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by harriska2

90%+ of the books I read are recommendations from family, friends, or a workshop I attended (nonprofits, autism, etc.). I don't care about covers, blurbs (other than to verify that I want to read it), or markets. If I like the book/author, I am generally loyal for life.

But then, I'm probably not a typical case. I started reading for pleasure about 14 years ago (I'm 45) after stumbling across free ebooks and the genre of mystery. Harry Potter didn't help either. Wanting to pick up another bad habit it was either reading trashy books or smoking so good thing the books won out.

I was always a ravenous reader, only I had limited, restricted choices, so I read the same books over again. I began reading seriously in 2012 (which was when I joined Goodreads), and when I got my kindle. I was 33 years then. I plan to read many other works by the time I turn 45.

mr ploppy · 09-11-2014, 05:05 AM

Nothing's really changed for me, except now it's done on a computer and I'm more likely to find something I want to read. Browse by genre, click on any covers that attract me, read the description, read the first few paragraphs to see if I like the writing style. Plus now I have the option to have a longer sample sent to my reading device to make extra sure it's something I want to continue with.

I never really understood those people that say self-pub is all crap. Either they just read things at random and have been unlucky, or they've never read any self pub and are just parroting something they heard someone say.

Difflugia · 09-11-2014, 11:05 AM

My fiction reading has switched almost completely to series. So many authors have begun offering the first in a series for free that I can find eight or ten new books at a sitting. Most of these do end up in the "chaff" pile, but for every four or five that I start and discard, I find one that's worth finishing and of those, probably half are worth buying the rest of the series.

09-08-2014, 08:59 AM	#1
darryl Wizard Posts: 3,108 Karma: 60231510 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Aura H2O, Kindle Oasis, Huwei Ascend Mate 7	Sorting the Wheat from the Chaff - Selecting "New Market" EBooks One of the effects of the internet and ebooks on the publishing industry generally has been the near reversal of the supply and demand for books. The barriers to publishing and distribution have gone from formidable to inconsequential. I have not looked at the statistics relevant to either supply or demand, and, as has been pointed out in other threads, the information on which such statistics must be based is commercially sensitive and much of it is not made available for this reason. Nevertheless, I think it is non-controversial to say that the supply of books has markedly increased. Nor do I think it controversial to say that the demand for books has also increased, but mainly if not exclusively at the lower price points. These lower price points tend to be the almost sole province of the “Indies”, many of which are self-published, and most of which would not have been published at all before Ebooks and the advent of the cheap self-publishing platforms. And it seems to me that this particular market, arguably a new one, is dominated by Amazon. I will refer to this as the new market. One of the most valuable roles performed by the large publishers, who I refer to (because of my own bias) as the BWM (Buggy Whip Manufacturers) is that of gatekeepers. Often this function is not performed very well, but can be of great value, both for imposing some sort of quality control and for providing a much smaller selection of books for readers to pick from than would otherwise exist. In the case of the new market, the benefits of the gatekeeping function no longer exist. Personally, I began to look seriously at the new market during the period of price fixing after deciding that I would not pay more than $9.99 at that time for a fiction ebook. What I think is worth discussing in this thread is how we as readers are adapting to this new market, and in particular to the much wider choice and the lack of quality control. Are you purchasing new market books? If so, have you found the lack of quality control a problem? How are you selecting your books from the new market? What steps are you taking to ensure reasonable quality? How would you rate the quality of the new market books you have purchased? One obvious choice is to ignore the existence of the new lower priced market and only buy books from traditional publishers. This choice need not be rigid, and could extend to buying the odd book from the new market when given a good reason to. For the rest of us, it is a question of how we adapt to this new market. I of course can relate only my own experience. Where, years ago, all of my purchases were from traditional publishers, my more recent purchases are predominantly from the new market, with a few purchases (or sometimes library borrowings) of books from the large publishers, mainly from established authors whose books I have enjoyed over the years. My experience with books from the new market has been very positive. Overall, I would say the quality of the books I am now reading is comparable to those I used to read from the BWM. Yes, I have been caught with a few terribly written books, but that was mainly when I first started purchasing from this new market. So how have I adapted to selecting books from this new market in the absence of BWM quality control and the very wide choices available? In the old days when I was looking to buy paper books, I would browse through the bookshop (or library). Sometimes in the library I would look through the books just returned and waiting to be shelved. I would look at the sale items and the new books on display. I would rarely look through bargain bins as I always found the lack of organisation frustrating. I would look for authors whose work I was familiar with, and for genres in which I was interested. When browsing generally or within a genre, I would read the blurb, usually on the back cover, which was very important to me. I recall that I would be quite frustrated when the blurb consisted simply of reviews or endorsements, as what I was looking for was a synopsis or at least a brief description of the plot. Funnily enough, I would rarely read any of the book before purchase. Of course, sometimes I would visit a bookstore for the purpose of buying a particular book which I had been recommended, or read about, or perhaps acquiring more books from an author whose book I had just read and enjoyed. I payed little regard to reviews, which I found to be too dependant on the tastes and preferences of the reviewer. Buying new market ebooks now, many things remain the same. Amazon's recommendations are worthwhile looking at, but can be quite erratic and puzzling at times. The same for their recommendations of similar books. Featured books and new releases and best sellers can be a good starting point. Books with reasonable and climbing sales may also be worth a look. I remember thinking “What is this Wool from Hugh Howey?” If you haven't read any of Hugh's books you should do so immediately. The blurb to me remains very important, whilst the cover is of even less significance than with paper books, though my attention can very occasionally be attracted by a good or unusual design. Searches for genres and plots of interest are also very useful. To use an example from another recent thread, if you are interested in military science fiction a search will bring up a variety of choices. I also found that over time I discovered a list of new authors whose work I liked, and I keep a list in a Firefox note taking app and make a point of checking occasionally whether they have released anything new. Unlike paper books, I have found it very worthwhile reading the excerpt of the book which Amazon at least provides. There is usually enough there to be able to tell if the book is appallingly written. Also, if spelling and punctuation and minor grammatical errors drive you mad, you will likely see enough in the excerpt to deter you from purchasing. Sadly, reviews must be taken with a grain of salt. This is a shame, as many new writers rely on reviews to reach a wider audience. Unfortunately this has lead to cheating to such an extent that it is difficult sometimes to tell a genuine review from a marketing piece. Websites such as Goodreads can be a useful guide, and their lists of books can be very helpful. Even threads on mobileread can provide some excellent recommendations. Best seller lists and award nominations can also be a useful starting point. But if you do buy a bad book, it has almost certainly cost you significantly less than $14.99. Not good, but not the end of the World. How have others adapted to this brave new world? Any useful tips on selecting books and ensuring quality? And, more controversially, any suggestions for the BWM Publishers on how they should respond to the new market? Last edited by darryl; 09-08-2014 at 09:04 AM.

09-08-2014, 10:28 AM	#4
RDaneel54 Aging Positronic Brain Posts: 633 Karma: 2155452 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Aurora (when off-Earth) Device: Amazon Oasis; iPhone, iPad Mini	My response is to more readily buy based on Mobileread poster recommendations. I have found some good books from indie writers that way. Frankly, I am seeing some really good indie published Science Fiction that I'm willing to buy. For non-fiction, I also find the BPH are quite reliable and if I'm willing to wait, reasonably priced. It's hard to argue with 9.99 for the ebook version of Mcculough's "John Adams." Really good post, darryl. Last edited by RDaneel54; 09-08-2014 at 10:30 AM. Reason: Added text.

09-08-2014, 11:08 AM	#8
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 27,545 Karma: 193191846 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	I buy fiction (from new/unfamiliar authors) based pretty-much on recommendation and/or word-of-mouth/conversation alone. Which allows me the opportunity to ignore how a book may have been published, for the most part. Strangely enough; this is how I did things before the "New Market" emerged, too. So nothing has really changed very much for me. I'm in it to read "good" books, not good indie books or good cheap books (or good BPH books). People talk about good books, and I try to listen. I don't really care about the rest. Last edited by DiapDealer; 09-10-2014 at 08:10 AM.

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09-08-2014, 09:15 AM	#2
fjtorres Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,732 Karma: 128354696 Join Date: May 2009 Location: 26 kly from Sgr A* Device: T100TA,PW2,PRS-T1,KT,FireHD 8.9,K2, PB360,BeBook One,Axim51v,TC1000	Well, two things I've done is I'm buying a lot of backlist from familiar authors (if the price is acceptable) and keeping an eye out for indie titles in previously underserved genres like superhero novels. A lot of good stuff that used to get filtered out for being unconventional or cross-genre is now hitting the market. I'm also picking up more euro-translations (mostly from german) now that Amazon has become the top source of translated fiction in the US. In the olden days I'd average about 6-8 new pbooks a month between book clubs and paperbacks but since I started boycotting the BPHs I'm averaging well over 10. And spending a lot less money.

09-08-2014, 01:17 PM	#9
Anthem Guru Posts: 704 Karma: 1622328 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: USA Device: Kindle Oasis, OnePlus Nord	I have tried a plethora of "new market" books over the last four or five years and found them to largely be HUGELY disappointing. A couple decent books, here and there, but not anything that really comes up to the quality standards set by most of the larger (and even many of the smaller) publishers. I find the editorial/curatorial role of established publishers to be worthwhile, speaking generally. When it comes to finding high quality "new market" books I am at a complete loss when it comes to finding them. I tried looking at "best sellers" lists. This has not worked. I have tried looking at popular items and those rated highly. This has worked a little better, but I find myself clicking purchase with great trepidation. Now, interestingly, I'm not really bothered by it. I miss tons of great books. Always have, always will. So it does not bother me that I miss good "new market" books. I miss great books from the big publishers, so there is nothing strange happening.

09-09-2014, 11:36 AM	#10
Nabeel Zealot Posts: 146 Karma: 2747136 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Britain Device: Kobo Aura One	A really interesting post. I suppose I'm still quite conservative: I initially got interested in e-books after the experience of moving house (and a few thousand paper books) twice in two years. After that, the case for the ebook seemed unanswerable. I tend to use ebooks as a way to supplement or replace my old paper library. My research has led me to buy four Amazon/Kindle publications. I don't have a Kindle, so I read these on my PC. Each of these was autobiographical in nature, and in each case the author had been rejected by mainstream publications. I've also had a couple of personal contacts which have pushed me to buy three publications from Smashwords: each of them as good as any paper publication. So far, the big advantage for me has been the astonishingly cheap collected editions of classic writers. But here you have to be careful: the 99p 'Collected Dostoyevsky' contained so many awful scanning mistakes that I went wild and spent a whole £5 on a Collected Dostoyevsky, which seems mistake-free.

09-09-2014, 11:48 AM	#11
harriska2 Addict Posts: 272 Karma: 8000000 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Corvallis, OR Device: Kindle PW2, iPad Pro	90%+ of the books I read are recommendations from family, friends, or a workshop I attended (nonprofits, autism, etc.). I don't care about covers, blurbs (other than to verify that I want to read it), or markets. If I like the book/author, I am generally loyal for life. But then, I'm probably not a typical case. I started reading for pleasure about 14 years ago (I'm 45) after stumbling across free ebooks and the genre of mystery. Harry Potter didn't help either. Wanting to pick up another bad habit it was either reading trashy books or smoking so good thing the books won out.

09-10-2014, 08:08 AM	#12
tompe Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,452 Karma: 7185064 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Linköpng, Sweden Device: Kindle Voyage, Nexus 5, Kindle PW	I mostly discover new books through recommendations from friends or reviews that I trust. Amazon reviews is not of that kind. I have more than enough good authors to read so I look for very good authors or good authors writing things I like such as police procedurals.

09-11-2014, 05:05 AM	#14
mr ploppy Feral Underclass Posts: 3,622 Karma: 26821535 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Yorkshire, tha noz Device: 2nd hand paperback	Nothing's really changed for me, except now it's done on a computer and I'm more likely to find something I want to read. Browse by genre, click on any covers that attract me, read the description, read the first few paragraphs to see if I like the writing style. Plus now I have the option to have a longer sample sent to my reading device to make extra sure it's something I want to continue with. I never really understood those people that say self-pub is all crap. Either they just read things at random and have been unlucky, or they've never read any self pub and are just parroting something they heard someone say.

09-11-2014, 11:05 AM	#15
Difflugia Testate Amoeba Posts: 3,049 Karma: 27300000 Join Date: Sep 2012 Device: Many Android devices, Kindle 2, Toshiba e755 PocketPC	My fiction reading has switched almost completely to series. So many authors have begun offering the first in a series for free that I can find eight or ten new books at a sitting. Most of these do end up in the "chaff" pile, but for every four or five that I start and discard, I find one that's worth finishing and of those, probably half are worth buying the rest of the series.

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