Your Work Speaks for Itself. Don't Interrupt!

During my time as a Goodreads member, I have been very impressed by quite a few of my fellow avid readers and professional authors. That said; I have been quite irritated by members who expound upon every subject except books and unprofessional authors.

Why anyone would join a literary website to discuss everything except literature is beyond me, so I will not belabor the subject. I will, however, offer some unsolictied advice to those who claim to be a professional author, but consistently act unprofessionally.

A published author is technially a professional author, regardless of method of publication. However, many self-published authors often act unprofessionally.
Examples
1. Posting a rating/review of one's own work.
2. Offering compensation in exchange for a review (free book - cash - reciprocation - gift).
3.. Aggressively and constantly soliciting ratings and/or reviews.
4. Publishing work rife with technical errors: mis-spelling - poor grammar - improper punctuation - disjointed sentence/paragraph structure.

No book I have ever read, regardless of method of publication, was totally error-free; however, those written by a true professional contained very few errors.

Take the time to write, proofread, have others proofread, and rewrite as often as necessary. Obtain the services of a copy editor and conceptual editor, if possible.

Once your book is published, promote and market to gain public awareness. You have done your part. If a reader wishes to purchase your book they will. If they wish to then post a rating or review, they will. Your work speaks for itself. Don't interrupt.
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Published on January 24, 2023 08:46
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message 1: by Robert (new)

Robert Drews All good points, Jim.


message 2: by Christine (new)

Christine Hayton Great post, Jim. You would think after the last couple decades with self-publishing being so popular that these points would be obvious by now. I stopped reading reviews a long time ago. There were so many bogus reviews there was no point to reading them. I read the authors that are traditionally published or books that are recommended to me by friends. I've already wasted way too much time on terrible self-published books.


message 3: by Jim (last edited Jan 30, 2023 08:33AM) (new)

Jim Vuksic Christine wrote: "Great post, Jim. You would think after the last couple decades with self-publishing being so popular that these points would be obvious by now. I stopped reading reviews a long time ago. There were..."

Christine,

Thank you for, once again, taking the time to read the blog and offer your opinion..

It is a shame that the proliferation of bogus reviews, resulting from so many novice authors continuously soliciting and obsessing over obtaining numerous reviews, has resulted in many avid readers placing little or no trust in any review.

Jim


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