Fringe Fiction Unlimited discussion
Self-published books are like homemade cookies
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That's a great blurb, Courtney . . . as long as someone else writes it, lol!
That's actually not bad. But, if the book doesn't live up to that, I'm calling you out on it.
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But "conjured" correlates to "wizardry."Although, to be more accurate, maybe you should go with "sorcery."
Conjured fits with wizardry though, right?
I would say go with "witchcraft" but Courtney may smack me for that one lol
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Courtney wrote: "Okay, that was my first instinct, too. You all think I should emphasize the magical quality if my mobid spectacle of fantastical phantasmagoria rather than the staggering, timeless brilliance, whic..."....sure
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Seriously, though, remind me to pick your guys brain when it comes time to promote myself and The Damsel :D
I'll personally make sure we make you cry.
Courtney wrote: "Okay, that was my first instinct, too. You all think I should emphasize the magical quality if my mobid spectacle of fantastical phantasmagoria rather than the staggering, timeless brilliance, whic..."/rolls up his sleeves
Indubitably. However, attend to the relevancy of your advertisement, in that, specifically, you desire the attentions of a certain subset of bibliophages and that, in and of itself, dictates the linguistic acrobatics you must perform in order to satisfy the proclivities of one side or the other.
Edited to add: I was writing this when Courtney decided to knock off the off-topic, so I'll stop too :)
Lily wrote: "Or, it can be an honest mistake. When I type too fast, I missed letters, especially on a touch keyboard. I don't think that means I deserve any bashing. It's just an honest mistake."Absolutely. I do it all the time. But it should be picked up in the editing process by you or by your professional editor.
Lynne wrote: "Lily wrote: "Or, it can be an honest mistake. When I type too fast, I missed letters, especially on a touch keyboard. I don't think that means I deserve any bashing. It's just an honest mistake."..."
And if it's not, that's worthy of bashing? I really don't think so. The average reader doesn't care.
I think many do if there are heaps of them. I've had some of my friends (who would probably never notice something like the breathe/breath problem, for instance) sometimes comment on a book that has so many mistakes even they found it annoying.
Yes Martyn! I've done those tricks too...setting the book aside for ten years, trying a different font, and reading it aloud. All are very helpful!
Renee wrote: "Not necessarily, Jacek. They may just be telling you that they don't think their regular customers will buy your cookies. Or that they don't foresee anyone wanting to buy movie rights. Remember, th..."Or possibly that your cookies are inedible -- because that editor just doesn't like oatmeal cookies. (Editors sometimes miss works because they are just not to their taste.)
Or because there is no way to sell it from their house. This can be because someone submitted a cooking book to a fantasy line, but also because it's so niche that they can't tell the bookstores where to shelve it.
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Think of all the times an author offered you an ARC and something about it just didn't grab you so you passed. Or it sounded good, you gave it a chance and it disappointed you. Or it wasn't so much disappointing as competently written but otherwise banal and uninspired.
I'm not shocked agents don't ask to read even a sample from every book that offers nothing more than regurgitated trends without anything to up the "same old, same old" ante or sweeten the deal. Maybe it's not being pitched right but agents aren't going to be able to predict whether a compelling manuscript is behind a clumsy query.
As for the rest, maybe that manuscript doesn't deserve to be published. Maybe no publisher wants to apply that much polish and elbow grease to something not fit for public consumption.
Not to say such a manuscript can't be changed or improved but that lack of dismissal and rejection has eliminated the natural selection process. It's not the best and brightest stories going to print, it's whatever story the author is content to release.
It's not even survival of the fittest in self-publishing. The "dog eat dog" world is in overdrive - like a herd as far as the eye can see. Readers could choke on the weak and straggling while the books that could set themselves apart are getting crushed or lost by competition they shouldn't have.
People will complain books like Twilight or Fifty Shades should never have been published and that's telling of how reliable the opinions of traditional publishers are. Nonetheless, millions of readers disagree with such critics. Nobody is telling them to like books like these. Respect it or not, publishing houses picked winners and proven products.
A self-published author inherently lacks any discriminating taste because he or she believes they should be published. It's simple bias and doesn't mean they told a terrible story but - practiced en mass - it is responsible for far more atrocious, absurd or unremarkable stories than traditional publishing has put out.
There are so many inedible cookies I'm almost worried self-publishing will topple under its own weight before any astonishing paradigm shift in publishing can occur.
I think your post hits many nails on the head, Courtney. With my own stuff, I've always sought some kind of third party validation before self-publishing. A good chunk of my short stories are prize winners or published elsewhere, my MPhil thesis was assessed and peer-reviewed, my Casanova translation was turned down by one publisher (but only because they had another Casanova book on their slate already), and then I walked away from a contract with some guys who were a little too eager to publish it.I've always needed just that little reassurance that my stuff is worthy of being read, even though there's no room for it in a mainstream commercial market.
What worries me is the number of people who have the hubris to just declare that the world must read the contents of their head, and who are prepared to shout so loudly against anyone who might think otherwise. If a publisher rejected my work for poor spelling, what kind of person would I have to be that I'd take to the internet ranting about dead tree books and obsolete business models and gatekeepers, rather than just running a damn spellcheck?
Andrew, hahahaha...I'm sure many feel the exact same way. I know I do.
In my perfectly honest humble opinion, many self-pubbed books are less than stellar because they're hiding behind homemade cookies. It's a front. Pour on the icing, and just hide the insecurity.
So although it will seem like shouting their wares, what they're actually saying is, THE BEST YA NOVEL EVA! (whispers, don't hurt me and please don't look behind the curtain).
"A macabre vision of dark delights conjured from the storytelling wizardry of Courtney Wells."
Boom. My humble request to be a bestseller.