How Many of MR's Indie Authors Have You Read ?

[netseeker]

Originally Posted by Kevin2960

Don't Know of One,

Anyone Help ?

Dream's signature is a very good start, especially the list of MR Authors on feedbooks
.

[Kevin2960]

Originally Posted by netseeker

Dream's signature is a very good start, especially the list of MR Authors on feedbooks
.

Doh! Why didn't I think of that Sorry, I can be thick at times


BUT Yeah OBVIOUSLY start with DREAM'S Signature

[dreams]

Thanks guys. We've had a few more authors join MR, so I need to update and add a few more names to that thread.

[Kevin2960]

Originally Posted by dreams

Thanks guys. We've had a few more authors join MR, so I need to update and add a few more names to that thread.

Dreams We All apreciate all the work you put in, and it is of course invaluable especially on a thread like this

[rhadin]

I selected 6-10. I like to give indie authors a try but too many of them here on MR seem to only offer their books on the Kindle, which shuts out those of us who aren't Kindlers and who do not buy from Amazon. In my own case, I tend to not download books from MR indie authors that are in genres I simply have no interest in, such as romance, horror, and vampires.

I am also reluctant to buy my first book from an indie author. What I mean is, if I haven't read the author's work before, I hesitate to buy. Too often the quality is not good when I have done so. OTOH, if I download a free book from a new indie author and find I like the author's writing, I generally immediately search for all other books the author has written and am willing to buy them. A good example is Shayne Parkinson's Promises to Keep series. (I reviewed this series here.) She offered the first book, Sentence of Marriage, free, I downloaded it, read it, and even before finishing the first book, purchased the other 3 books she had written.

Another MR indie author whose books I discovered here with a free first book and then immediately purchased the rest of the books in the series is Tracy Falbe and her series The Rys Chronicles.

Although Parkinson and Falbe are not the only indie authors whose books are well written and interesting (at least to me), too many indie authors are sloppy at best. You can find some examples of what I have encountered here.

It would be incorrect to say that some of the same problems do not exist with traditional publishing, but it would be correct to say the problems seem -- at least in my experience -- to be fewer.

When we find indie authors who can write and tell a good story, such as Parkinson and Falbe, they should be supported so that they continue to write. The problem is finding them.

[Kevin2960]

True "Some" Indie books may benefit from editing, or perhaps will never become bestsellers,

In the end though, there are a large number of very capable authors especially here on MobileRead, and we should support, encourage, review, and enjoy thier works, perfect or not!

The fact is that I think this is a wonderful site giving access to many very exciting books and the people behind them, They all deserve our support,

Read and Review keep the work going, and Don't forget all our wonderful moderators and book uploaders / converters they all do fantastic job making this one of the best eBook site on the Internet!

[anabelee]

In my case, I was visiting Smashwords and getting books before I came to MR, and then find that Vicki Tyley was here. I love her work!

Now I visit other MR'authors work too when I search Smashwords.

[jaxx6166]

*Blush* I'll speak for the somebodies (starrigger - I'm lookin' at you) and the nobodies (memememe!) when I say thank you guys for your support. It means a lot to us. =)

[SameOldStory]

Originally Posted by rhadin

I am also reluctant to buy my first book from an indie author. What I mean is, if I haven't read the author's work before, I hesitate to buy. Too often the quality is not good when I have done so.

I've gotten ticked off with some big name authors that don't say a thing on the covers of their "newest greatest" book. They just assume that you will buy it so you don't need to know what the book is about.

With new authors you will get to read at least a few pages of the book. Some will let you read the first half of the book. So after a few pages, or a chapter or 2, you should know if you want to buy it.

Sometimes, though, I become so embarrassed by the quality that I just can't say a word. But that happens within the first page or 2, at most.

All in all my biggest complaint is that some of them don't write enough.

[neilmarr]

I'm a full-time (read fourteen-by-seven) fiction editor and with a commissioned book of my own on the go right now for another house, so recreational reading time is tight. But I've bought between half a dozen and ten books from MR pals here (not all read yet) and continue to add to my MR TBR list. I tend not to read freebies.

One or two MR authors, I've actively promoted (only as a happy reader, mind you). Others haven't appealed quite as much -- though that's more a matter of preferred genre than any reflection on quality.

I reckon in a club like MR, where authors are obviously striving to provide what read-only fellow-members want (see another poll that started today that shows the proportions), readers could do a little more flag-waving with reviews when a book has hit the spot.

Because we're talking indie authors here, criticism, I think, is best expressed -- when it's constructively intended and written in that spirit -- in a PM to the author unless s/he expressly invites such public critique.

Cheers. Neil

[Kevin2960]

Originally Posted by neilmarr

I reckon in a club like MR, where authors are obviously striving to provide what read-only fellow-members want (see another poll that started today that shows the proportions), readers could do a little more flag-waving with reviews when a book has hit the spot.

Because we're talking indie authors here, criticism, I think, is best expressed -- when it's constructively intended and written in that spirit -- in a PM to the author unless s/he expressly invites such public critique.

Cheers. Neil

Important points Neil, Thankyou,

The thing is that MR is a community of people with a common interest in reading, and in books,

Other than that we are all different, with varied views,

The best way to keep such a community fresh is to support the other members in anyway we can,

Hence me banging on about our Author freinds, and the need to Read and Honestly Review thier works,

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by neilmarr

Because we're talking indie authors here, criticism, I think, is best expressed -- when it's constructively intended and written in that spirit -- in a PM to the author unless s/he expressly invites such public critique.

Neill, I disagree with you about PMing crticism. That the writer is an indie doesn't -- at least to me -- make a difference about whether a critical review should be public or not. I'm sure Stephen King doesn't want to read a bad review any more than an MR indie author does. But if you put your book out there for people to buy/read, then you have to be willing to accept public criticism. If you want public praise, you should accept public criticism, too.

Aren't potential readers entitled to know what is wrong with a book just as they should be told what is good?

[neilmarr]

Your point is well taken, Rhadin. BUT do bear in mind that (with few exceptions), MR authors are developing authors. Many have only one or two books out there. Many for free (so I won't read them) or for $0.99 which suggests to me that even the author doesn't think they're worth much.

I must send out about fifty rejections a month to authors who submit their work to my own wee publishing house. These are not guys and gals to be hurt, but to be encouraged to keep at it. So my notes ('declining kind offers' rather than 'rejecting submissions') are filled with advice and pointed criticism that is better kept private at their stage of the game. Otherwise it might embarrass them into quitting. My two associate authors -- also old pros -- treat new subs the same gentle way. It's like lawyer-client, doctor-patient privacy.

Other apprentice authors -- tempted by easy, instant 'publishing' -- rush straight to press through Lulu or Smashwords or Amazon or other 'publishers' who accept pretty well anything and by-pass a rigorous selection system and any professional editorial intervention.

You might call them brave and independent souls. You might also consider them ill-advised, rash, over-confident, even arrogant.

I read their 'raw' work as I would a submission to my indie house. Here, I realise that most is offered to me without the benefit of external professional input (from an editor [even a proofer] or agent) and, so, prefer to reply privately if there are glaring faults.

Even though they have usually wilfully avoided all filtering and quality control, I follow the same principle with indie authors: I respond enthusiasticall in public if someone got it right first time. It's between me and the author if I feel a little constructive ciriticism is in order.

Again, though, I must emphasise that MR indie authors are read in my precious and limited recreational reading time and, very often, it's genre that closes the book rather than the quality of authorship. I don't have the FREE time to read books in genres I don't appreciate.

And there are shining exceptions to my rule. You can find some on these very boards.

Cheers. Neil

[FizzyWater]

I've gotten burned by independent epubs too many times and seldom buy from them any more.

In fact, if I see a post "wonderful, inciteful novel - .99 at Smashwords"...and the author has made less than 5 posts, it just ticks me off. Hang around here awhile before trying to hard sell me!

[jaxx6166]

Karma for saying what's been on my mind for a while now.

I'm more likely to trust an indie that I know and can speak with regularly than some strange vacuum salesmen at my front door.