The Next Best Book Club discussion

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Book Related Banter > Reading Speed vs. Writing Speed?

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message 1: by Justin (new)

Justin (justinbienvenue) Remember being tested in 3rd grade to see what reading level you were at? Then feeling super overconfident when you found out it was higher then half the people in your class? Anyone? I know this isn't just me..anyways!
When you tell people your a faster reader and that you can read several books within a short period people tend to notice and think, 'hey thats a faster reader and good thing to be able to do'. Yet when you tell people it took you 2 months to publish your book they tend to look down upon you and not take you seriously at all. They think this is one of the flaws of Self-Publishing and why it cant be taken seriously compared to Traditional.

So why is this? Why is it okay to be a fast reader but not okay to write and publish a book just as fast? I mean it seems sorta the same thing and maybe it doesn't matter to some but I'm curious as to why some people think like this. Whats everyones thoughts?


message 2: by Dee (new)

Dee (austhokie) | 618 comments i'm not even sure there is a correlation between the two...so it seems like an inplausible argument...

I think the 2 months to publish your book and the looks is probably because traditional publishing takes SIGNIFICANTLY longer...so there is the belief that anything done in a shorter time may be not to the same standard (high or not) that people expect of traditional publishing


message 3: by Lori, Super Mod (new)

Lori (tnbbc) | 10621 comments Mod
I agree with Dee. Our rate of reading has no impact or influence on our ability to write.

Churning out a book from concept to finished, final, published product in a two month period? You'd even have me, a supporter of small press (and marketing director of one) and self published works, hesitant to believe that what you just published is of superior quality.

How many drafts did you write during that time? Good stories take time to develop, an author needs to step away from the book once the first draft is complete to give themselves some distance from it before being able to read through it a second time and be critical of the work.

Did you send out your book to be edited for content and grammar? That process usually takes a month or two in its own right, assuming the work was of strong quality to start with. Was the cover image given a lot of thought, or just slapped together?

Not to be nit-picky, but there are grammatical errors with your post here and in your author bio on your goodreads page... so how closely are you double-checking your work?

The reason I am bringing these things up: quality takes time. Reading quality work doesn't have to.


message 4: by Justin (new)

Justin (justinbienvenue) I wasn't saying this for the two to be compared I was saying why is it that people tend to notice and compliment on fast reading but not fast writing.

Also I was NOT referring to me and I certainly don't write or publish my work in 2 months I meant other do. I take my time in my writing but again this is not about me this is about reading speed vs writing speed.

My first post in this group? FAIL.. :(


message 5: by Lori, Super Mod (new)

Lori (tnbbc) | 10621 comments Mod
Still not seeing why fast writing is something to be complimented on?

And sorry, I just assumed you were talking about yourself. So change all my yous to theys and voila. Point still had.

Fail not...


message 6: by Justin (new)

Justin (justinbienvenue) Its fine no worries. I prepare way longer then a few months for writing a book. I'm a bit of a everything has to be just right kinda guy lol.

Yeah, my point made sense last night but now I'm being dragged away from it.


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