Three Easy Steps to Evaluate a Novice Author's Veracity
There are exceptions to every rule; however, the following methodology accurately measures a novice author's veracity the vast majority of the time.
Author's Profile
References to past career and academic achievements that include specific, detailed information pertaining to schools attended, former employers and awards that could be easily verified are usually valid and honest. Vague references lacking specifics and details are usually not.
Basic Language Skills
The consistent appearance of typos, misspelled words, grammatical errors and awkward syntax in book blurbs, self-promotion posts and discussion group comments indicate that the person lacks the basic language skills required in order to claim the title of professional writer.
Number of Views
The number of times an author's self-promotional post and discussion group contributions are viewed indicates the level of unbiased interest. However, if the number of views only slightly outnumbers the number of comments posted in a specific thread, it may indicate that the originator is gaming the system by constantly adding comments themselves. A group monitor views each new comment to ensure compliance with established rules.
Author's Profile
References to past career and academic achievements that include specific, detailed information pertaining to schools attended, former employers and awards that could be easily verified are usually valid and honest. Vague references lacking specifics and details are usually not.
Basic Language Skills
The consistent appearance of typos, misspelled words, grammatical errors and awkward syntax in book blurbs, self-promotion posts and discussion group comments indicate that the person lacks the basic language skills required in order to claim the title of professional writer.
Number of Views
The number of times an author's self-promotional post and discussion group contributions are viewed indicates the level of unbiased interest. However, if the number of views only slightly outnumbers the number of comments posted in a specific thread, it may indicate that the originator is gaming the system by constantly adding comments themselves. A group monitor views each new comment to ensure compliance with established rules.
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Alicia wrote: "Good topic.Which meaning of veracity did you have in mind, Jim?
'Habitual truthfulness' or 'Conformity to facts, accuracy'?
I think, from your comment about the Author Profile, you mean the sec..."
Alicia,
The comments in the blog post pertaining to an author's profile refers to those posted upon any literary website, including, but not limited to, Goodreads. Many novice writers allude to awards and past career achievements without specifically referencing the name of the award or the corporation or company they served while accomplishing the aforementioned achievements.
Facts can be easily researched and confirmed. Vague claims and factoids cannot!
As for the last sentence in you comment - fiction, by definition, is made up and, therefore, not based upon truth. Professional authors of fiction depict happenings within their work that are not based upon fact and, therefore, are not true. However, they do present fact and easily verifiable claims in their biographies and profiles.
Thank you for remaining a loyal follower of the blog and, once again, sharing your thoughts.
Jim Vuksic
Jim - Author Profiles (Platforms) are by nature, a means of creating an individual Brand - giving the author an internet presence that both builds a familiarity with him and his work. Such branding takes time, consideration, and an understanding of the objectives. An author wants his followers to: 1. Know him. 2. Like him. 3. Trust him. Unfortunately too many authors miss the point and instead of building an honest brand for themselves - they try to sell books by any means necessary. Your points are spot-on and scream amateur every time.
Christine wrote: "Jim - Author Profiles (Platforms) are by nature, a means of creating an individual Brand - giving the author an internet presence that both builds a familiarity with him and his work. Such branding..."Christine,
Your reminder that an author's profile is a critical part of the overall and continuous process of creating and promoting a brand is well stated. The adage "Honesty is the best policy." is a proven recipe for success.
Thank you for continuing to follow the blog and, once again, sharing you opinion and advice. They are always welcome and appreciated.
Jim Vuksic
You wrote "Many novice writers allude to awards and past career achievements without specifically referencing the name of the award or the corporation or company they served while accomplishing the aforementioned achievements," Jim. Why does this bother you so much?I am sure many author's previous careers have nothing whatsoever to do with their current writing "career" and can therefore be of no interest at all to fellow writers on a site like GRs. Do you and others reading GRs honestly want to know about all my civil engineering exploits over the years, all about my photographic career and all the letters I can put after my name and all the prizes and awards I have won?
Yes, information about someone's past life adds a bit of colour and may be relevant to what they are now writing about, but more than likely it is not, so there is no point in giving it more than a passing mention.
Christine wrote: "Jim - Author Profiles (Platforms) are by nature, a means of creating an individual Brand - giving the author an internet presence that both builds a familiarity with him and his work. Such branding..."I wonder how much of a “brand” Franz Kafka, purely for example, had to create? No, I am not suggesting that authors of his ilk didn't have problems getting their work published, but all this “1. Know him. 2. Like him. 3. Trust him.” is about inde publishing on the internet, not about writing. So it is hardly surprising that people who might be quite good at writing don't have a clue about marketing via the likes of Twitter and Facebook!
Leslie - The "Know, Like, Trust" principle is about building an Author Platform that establishes the writer and creates a internet persona, people want to know, grow to like, and eventually trust. Jim's reference to the honesty and validity of a writer's comments and opinions is right on. Also your conclusion, branding is only about Inde Publishing on the internet is not entirely correct. Traditionally published authors create platforms using these principles to help their readers identify with them . The authors are able to keep their followers informed of upcoming events in both their personal and writing life.
We are in a digital age and the fact readers expect to know writers cannot be ignored. I'm sure Franz Kafka was neither faced with the constant and extensive communication created by digital resources, nor was he competing with the massive number of writers publishing today. His publishers used the means available to market books and readers bought what they enjoyed reading.
No writer needs a degree in marketing, but it is in their best interest to provide an honest, thoughtful, and well written profile for their potential readers. It's about connection and as Jim pointed out - writers are definitely judged on your comments and discussion points.
I've found some wonderful authors on GR, because their comments and opinions, well written and interesting, peaked my interest in their work.
Leslie wrote: "You wrote "Many novice writers allude to awards and past career achievements without specifically referencing the name of the award or the corporation or company they served while accomplishing the..."Leslie,
Whether or not an author or the publisher chooses to provide a profile, brief biography or post such information in the discussion threads of a literary website or periodical does not bother me in the least. That is their prerogative.
You may have misread or misinterpreted the title of the blog post. It is focused entirely upon how to evaluate the veracity of statements and/or claims actually provided by an author or the publisher.
Thank you for viewing the blog post and contributing your comments and opinion. Such input is always welcome and very much appreciated.
Jim Vuksic
Which meaning of veracity did you have in mind, Jim?
'Habitual truthfulness' or 'Conformity to facts, accuracy'?
I think, from your comment about the Author Profile, you mean the second - claims about who they are that gives them the credentials to write what they are writing. Wouldn't that be most applicable to non-fiction? And then there are people like Tom Clancy, who didn't have the credentials himself, but was VERY good at establishing a network of professionals of all kinds to make sure his facts were correct.
On my blog, about half of the comments are mine - because when someone takes the time to comment on a post of mine, it often ends up in a nice little discussion which extends the post itself. I value those contributions, and have made a lot of friends, writers and non-writers, that way. Did you mean here on GR? It might vary a lot depending on the thread here - on my author threads I post something frequently - informational sometimes - whether there is a response or not.
But you are 100% correct that if you start reading a novice author's posts as a set, the author will be vetted. The totality of what is written is a great clue to at least the parts of the author's personality that get discussed.
As for 'habitual truthfulness,' fiction writers lie a lot - to express deeper truths.