I've been poking around the web, checking out various forums and venues for book promotion, and one thing I've noticed is how rude and crude and clumsy BSP (Blatant Self Promotion) has gotten again. It's like we've come full circle. When I first experimented with self-publishing (waaay back when iUniverse was the hottest game in town), aspiring writers frequently did things like spam everyone on their mailing list, bombard discussion lists with announcements of their releases, butt into every conversation with clumsy references to their own work...and so on and so forth.
And what happened, inevitably, was that readers and other writers got fed up and began to lash out at these hapless newbie boobies. It was a brutal but effective learning curve. And in fairness, choosing to go it alone is such a scary, solitary road and it's understandable that these inexperienced scribes would grab desperately at every chance to keep their book afloat.
The problem is that while a single writer inserting himself and his book into every conversation might be overlooked as the gauche behavior of one member of a community, five hundred authors doing the same thing will be viewed as an assault. The barrage of spamming ensures that reader tolerance will reach its limit and snap. Often the unhappy recipient of all that pent up reader antagonism will be someone newly arrived on the scene with the sheer bad luck to open his mouth at the wrong moment.
Now with self-publishing reaching a whole new zenith, Author BSP is sinking to a new nadir, and once again it's getting ugly and hostile out there. No wonder. I've had several posts from authors in the past couple of weeks featuring subject headers that would do the purveyors of penis enhancers proud. I THOUGHT THIS WAS INTERESTING proclaimed an author who shall be nameless. The message?
Book Title X now available as ebook on Amazon, Google Books and Barnes and Noble.
Come on. Seriously?
Why would anyone think this stark, unvarnished spam from a stranger -- directed to another writer no less! -- would be anything but irritating? I didn't check Amazon, Google or B&N, I didn't even click on the author's profile. I hung onto the message so I could write this post. Period. Spam is spam, and unwelcome advertising, be it for learning to speak a language I have no desire to learn, "a life full of hot babes," or a book with the same generic titles as a dozen other books, is not going to persuade me otherwise. Adopting the tactics of the worst email spammers -- people who rely on hitting that lucky idiot out of every thousand targets -- will not be successful for most people trying to sell literature.
1 - Don't resort to the shlocky tactics of sleazy offshore spammers.
2 - Don't bombard every list you belong to with repeat announcements about your book. At the very least, mix it up, trade off excerpts, personalize them, and above all don't post every day and don't post more than once per day unless you are actually engaged in conversation.
3 - Don't drag your book into every conversation. Let's say you wrote a mystery and you're hanging around the Amazon mystery forums desperately looking for an opening to mention your book. Someone asks for a recommendation of mysteries with strong middleaged protagonists and you wrote a mystery with a middleaged protagonist!!! It's Fate! It's the perfect opening! No. It's not. DON'T jump into the conversation to recommend your own work -- unless you can also recommend several other titles by others (and personally I don't think you should mention your own work even then).
4 - Don't keep commenting on your own announcement posts in order to keep them high on a forum page. This is rude behavior -- and the fact that you acknowledge the rudeness by excusing it on the basis of "posts falling off the front page so quickly" doesn't make it any better. Everyone wants a turn on the front page. Get in line and don't take cuts.
5 - Don't make up an alternate ego to do any of the above on your behalf. First of all, we all know that no one -- not even the most devoted of readers -- spends all her time hitting lists on behalf of her favorite author. Besides, bad behavior on the part of someone representing you will reflect on you.
Readers, what are your biggest turn-offs when it comes to authors trying to promote themselves? What tips could you give them from the reader perspective?
My new favorite catchphrase: newbie boobies!!! How funny!
ReplyDeleteAs far as author blatantly self-promoting, yeah. I "friended" an author on a social site, and suddenly there were emails in my inbox all about his book, at least one a week if not more. It did NOT make me want to read his book; in fact, it had exactly the opposite effect.
If an author is really looking for a way to promote his/her work, I would suggest word-of-mouth. I know from my work in a book store and now a library that the best way to move a title is to tell people you and/or others liked it/have good things to say about it. Sort of like reading reviews, but the customer/patron knows the reviewer in this case.
And yes, I've told lots of people about you, Josh. And I while I do hope it's helped your sales, I do it because I think you - and all good writers - deserve to have new followers!
I'm not sure why these obviously cheesy, crass approaches seem like a good idea to so many new writers. Maybe because they try the regular channels and don't get much traction, so they get desperate.
DeleteAnyway, I do appreciate those reader recs! I think they are the most effective promotion there is, but of course the question for writers is how do they get to the point of readers reccing them to other readers.
That's the tough question.
So far I was generaly lucky with the authors. But, there is always one to mess with you. I recently added an author's book on GR. A self-published mystery with very good reviews. It should have been close to the top of my TBR pile. But, then author send me a friendvite. We had no "friends" in common, no books in common, no shared groups, nothing if you don't count the fact that he writes mysteries and I read them. I declined. In the following months, I received more than a dozen new friendvites from this guy. Every few days another would pop up in my inbox. Needless to say, his book is still on my TBR pile and it's not moving. I was afraid that if I accepted, I would have the same experience as Traci.
ReplyDeleteI do interact with authors, but usualy it's a spontaneous thing and neither one of them was this blatant. Especially when I was already interested in the book.
I find the whole friending concept confusing and perilous whether at GR, FB or LJ. In fact, I don't friend anyone. I'll friend pretty much anyone BACK -- I really am quite friendly! -- but I don't initiate friending lest it be misperceived.
DeleteThere are two really good promo methods that work for me. The first is word-of-mouth. If a reader recommends a book, or an author recommends another writer's book, I'll take notice.
ReplyDeleteThe other is a regularly and reasonably frequently updated website. Josephine Myles' website is a good example.
I think word of mouth is the #1 way in which readers find books. Friends talking to friends. Nothing beats that genuine enthusiasm.
DeleteAn good -- and updated -- website is an absolute must.
But of course a reader has to have already heard of you before they check out your website. This is what sends so many new authors spinning in circles.
HOW to get noticed -- and yet not cross the line into offensive behavior. Jo is actually an excellent example of a new writer working steadily and effectively to get known -- and yet never veering into bad behavior.
Be honest, Tavdy - it's the vintage porn you hang around for really, isn't it?
DeleteI would very quickly get bored with blogging if it were all about me and my books. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have found a bunch of likeminded friends who now come along and comment on my posts. It's lovely having people to natter with, over the vintage smut!
I'm put off by anything that even remotely suggests a lack of manners, humor and/or imagination, and hate any hint of desperation and, above all, idiocy :).
ReplyDeleteFor me any author I haven't yet tried should display the kind of intelligence and sense of humour in their promotional efforts that I like to encounter in his/her stories.
Oh, and I couldn't agree more with the remark about authors' websites.
For me any author I haven't yet tried should display the kind of intelligence and sense of humour in their promotional efforts that I like to encounter in his/her stories.
DeleteThis is excellent, right here.
Perhaps writers should get in the habit of asking themselves What Would X Do?
X being their protagonist. :-D
Except that intelligent writers + intelligent writing do not always equate intelligent protags (that's often where the sense of humour comes in) :)
DeleteExcept that intelligent writers + intelligent writing do not always equate intelligent protags (that's often where the sense of humour comes in) :)
DeleteI CANNOT IMAGINE TO WHAT YOU REFER!!!
DeleteI'm sure you know I was not specifically referring to any story, let alone any of yours.
DeleteIn any case it would take a GREAT writer to sell me any story with an even moderately dim protag.
Speaking for myself, I love to read about smart, competent people. But of course if characters were always smart and competent, a great many story possibilities would be ruled out.
DeleteNot that this would always be a bad thing.
Twitter over-promoers make my fists itch. I had one the other day where he (and sadly it does seem to be invariably men, or at least in my corner) just kept saying "Excellent murder mystery XXXX now available at XXXX" in many different ways every five minutes or so. I just unfollowed him eventually. I find that if an author makes funny, interesting tweets I'll go to his twitter page, then his website and decide like that - but constant tweeting just pisses me off.
ReplyDeleteThis is a sales approach that continues to perplex me: BOMBARD THEM INTO SUBMISSION.
DeleteI think it's motivated by late night TV advertising where the same idiotic ads run over and over and over usually at some insane volume.
But what works for selling cars to insomniacs is not necessarily going to work for selling books to prospective readers.
I don't understand the Twitter approach, either. If you're following me on Twitter, I assume it's because you already read my books, so why should I bombard you?
DeleteOf course, if I were adept at hashtags, maybe Twitter would work for me better.
I'm a Reader who expresses my opinions of books through reviews for other readers. I also beg authors I read or want to read for interviews that showcase new releases. I'm hoping other readers will find books to their taste from my cyber word of mouth.
ReplyDeleteI think review blogs are the new book clubs.
DeleteI think you're right Josh, people on a tight budget can't afford to waste money buying books they won't enjoy. Reading is the most affordable entertainment available.
DeleteOne of the best things about the modern review blog versus the old formal review in a newspaper is the blog is interactive. It allows for discussion. Even sometimes debate. This makes it more fun and possibly more meaningful for many readers.
DeleteThis is not to say that I don't think formal reviews still have their place, but interactive seems to be the new normal in publishing.
I'm turned off by authors on Twitter who say nothing for ages then tell everyone about their latest sale/release/cover art before going silent again.
ReplyDeleteFalse modesty is another bugbear of mine. "Oh, you enjoyed my book? *giggle* Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy the next one which is due out blah blah blah!!! Here; have some more exclamation marks!!!!!"
Thanking someone for a compliment is A-okay, but you can usually tell when it's fishing...but that's a different subject to the whole author promo discussion.
There are probably a high number of people who don't like writers who swear a lot and talk nonsense...*shifty eyes*...but there's a kind of honesty in that, I believe. If you're just yourself, instead of trying to SELL yourself, you'll gain followers and readers.
Build it and they will come.
It is a definite balance.
DeleteMade harder by the fact that most writers -- the majority of writers -- are not naturally extroverts or even socially competent. :-P
And there's also the fact that Twitter, FB, GR...these are all pretty new to all of us and we've yet to determine the right amount of writer/reader interaction. If you poke your head into the Amazon reader/reviewer forums you will quickly form the opinion that for most people books and reading would be the perfect experience if only writers didn't exist. But of course that's not true. Online interaction is only a fragment of whole book interaction. And Amazon and Twitter and FB and so on are only a fragment of a fragment.
We're all finding our way through this brave new world. But treating others (readers in this case) as you wish to be treated is a pretty solid rule of thumb.
I find it funny how many authors befriend you in attempt to promote their work. Now, they could like your work anyway and could befriend you because of that, but as soon as they start leaving posts on your page about their book... I mean, how tacky is that? Or leaving a post on their own page, with mentioning your name in there and it shows up on your page as well...
ReplyDeleteIt just don't peak my interest.
I recently wanted to buy a self published book in metaphysics. It had tons of 5 star reviews, and one negative one. So I read it to see what was wrong with this book, and comments left on that review as well. Turned out an author had left him a comment telling him how wrong he is. And three 5star reviewers left a similar message within 12 min period. So the original reviewer told the author that either these are all your accounts, or you are buying reviews. The rest of us joined the conversation and I dare to say we really busted that author. Within 24 hours several 5 star reviews disappeared. Ironically if she would have left that review alone, no one would have paid any attention to it.
One of the bought reviewers had left a review on Relaxation mp3. (Such a great product I bought two of these!)I knew to be careful about books and such, but relaxation mp3??? Nothing is left untouched on Amazon!
Book reviewing has a weird dynamic on Amazon -- weird because Amazon initially started out strictly selling books.
DeleteBut the most useful reviews are probably the reviews for other products. If I'm in the market for a food processor, an iron, a vitamin, a you-name-it, I always read the negative reviews because I know they will list the problems with the item. They will go into detail and the reviews will (mostly) be legitimate.
But when it comes to books, everything changes. You certainly have the honest reviews, positive and negative, but you also have reviews tainted by the review process. Meaning you have people reviewing who hope to build a career as reviewers. You also have competing authors downgrading peers. You have authors paying for reviews and writing their own reviews.
In short, when it comes to books the review process is a very different thing.
And there's no way to fix this -- reviewing is changing just as publishing is changing.
What I would say to new authors is to try and take reviews in stride. It is inevitable that a widely read book will have negative reviews. That's a fact. Sooner or later someone is going to hate your work enough to say so in public. It doesn't mean that the positive reviews are no longer valid.
The spammage irritates me so much I don't autofriend back on Twitter. I do on GR and FB, but I spend very little time there. Having to weed through reeking puddles of spam to get to the content is one of the most irrating things about the net.
ReplyDeleteTo my mind, the key thing to remember is to have good content there on your blog/newsletter/whatever, but to wait for people to choose to subscribe and/or friend you. Going out and "friending" everyone purely so you can spam them with "buy my book" is bad manners and looks somewhat desperate. It's more likely to turn me off a book. Word of mouth and reviews on trusted blogs is my favourite way to get book recs.
I do find myself skimming so much of Twitter -- and Goodreads I just skip everything and go straight to my own group. I have no idea what goes on there. As for Facebook...that's probably where I pay the most attention and interact the most. That format works well for me.
DeleteThe main thing I think authors need to remember is that if you keep blah-blah-blahing people tune you out and then you do literally become invisible. They just don't hear you or see you anymore.
This is an interesting discussion--part of my job is to do online marketing for non-fiction work so it's always fascinating to see what methods work and what doesn't, and how does one walk that fine marketing line since marketing is often so very necessary. (For a long time, my work did very little--they would finish a book and basically throw it on the street and then wonder why people weren't buying it.)
ReplyDeleteSo, how do we encourage authors to adopt best practices that won't piss off readers while still getting the word out in a growingly crowded market? It's a tough quandary, and I think in the end, some won't like the reality of what one has to deal with, namely:
1- Manage expectations. Not every book is going to blow up suddenly like 50 Shades of Gray, so it's better to not hold on to that expectation. So many excellent authors toil away for years without ever getting to that level of notoriety. That doesn't make them or their work less worthwhile. Managing expectations and not being disappointed if things don't take off immediately might be difficult for a new author, but you're definitely doing yourself a favor.
2- Focus on craft and building the backlist. You've said this before, Josh, and it's excellent advice that can get forgotten if people focus on having one work take off like a rocket. It's easier to build sincere word-of-mouth and a community of fans if one has a backlist of quality work. At the same time, strive to produce good work, because as you've mentioned before, it's also easy to build bad word-of-mouth if a piece is not up to an author's usual quality.
3- Community participation. (Especially with something like the m/m genre, which seems very community-based.) For new authors, participating in the community can be very beneficial in building name-recognition. And the community provides a lot of opportunities to get the word out, including participating in product give-aways, interviews, and contributing content like columns, essays, and response pieces. Then you have these writer projects like what the GoodReads m/m romance group does, like the Boxer Falls serial or those multi-month story campaigns where new free stories are released every few days. To do all that, it means one has to work and produce quality content (often for free) but again, building recognition.
I think a lot of things like bad email marketing, over-twittering, or clumsy conversation inserts appear to be low-hanging fruit to some authors and seems very easy.
It's a lot harder to swallow that one's success might be based on a lot hard work (like writing!), community participation, and the understanding that one's level of success might not reach the heights of other authors. But if newer authors can focus on how much they love doing it, and then remember the fan community they are actually building along the way (no matter how small), then they'll probably have a better and more satisfying career experience.
My last point is that even if some readers don't like it, it is necessary to be a little shameless about putting your work out there and talking about it. If you can't step out and be vocal about your own work, it's going to be really hard for most people to find you. That point might be harder to understand if one hasn't tried putting work out there before, so hopefully readers can be a little forgiving for a little shamelessness.
On the flip-side, readers can also take action—if there's an author or a new work one really likes, especially for someone new, one can review and recommend. Sincere recommendations are such a gift. I think we get so used to consuming and not always "appreciating," so it's a good reminder that reviewing can be really important for authors, and no reader's voice is too small to share.
Thanks for chiming in with that excellent advice.
DeleteManaging expectations is key. This is not to say that we can't all hope to have brilliant bestseller success, just that it helps to keep in mind that probably isn't going to happen. Every book cannot be a "bestseller."
You've hit on something too with the notion of low-hanging fruit. Writing is hard. So is self-promotion. Most of us do not enjoy it and are not terribly good at it. If we had our way, we would skip that part all together.
But alas. Publishing doesn't work like that anymore. I'm not sure it ever did! We do have to promote and skilfull promotion WILL help sell books.
I think sometimes people confuse publicity with promotion. It may be true that there is no such thing as bad publicity, but I do think there is such a thing as bad promotion, and bad promotion can turn potential readers away.
I felt the most turned off by something that happened live and in person. I was at a convention, sitting, waiting for a panel discussion to begin. Now, I know writers get onto panels at least in part to get their names out there and hawk their latest releases. Done in moderation, that's fine. But when one of the panelists came out into the audience as the panel was supposed to start and handed us all bookmarks, postcards, and fliers--whether we wanted them or not. There was no saying "no thank you", they were just thrust into our faces. I was utterly unimpressed--and I wasn't the only one.
ReplyDeleteThat's a little too door-to-door.
DeleteAlso...it's kind of rude to the other panelists. Yes, they could also wander the audience handing out business cards (because that's what it amounts to) but imagine the overall effect?
And the irony is, that poor writer probably had to force herself to do that. She was probably proud that she had overcome her nerves and insecurity and managed to go through that audience handing out her promo. But she'd have done better to be smart and articulate on the panel and friendly and approachable afterwards.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteLet me try this again.
ReplyDelete"The problem is that while a single writer inserting himself and his book into every conversation might be overlooked as the gauche behavior of one member of a community, five hundred authors doing the same thing will be viewed as an assault."
Josh, this is akin to walking down a bazaar where everybody is trying to sell you something similar. Typically what happens with me in a situation like that Is that I end up ignoring everyone and walking quickly away, as I suspect will happen with the publication model as well (by the way, unsolicited Pharm*acy who wants to sell me cheap Cialis from Canada every day, several times a day? Not buying that, either.).
I have to also comment on one other thing, the 'friending' from authors. If you're someone I know, or seem to stalk :-) then you know, I wouldn't mind a friend request on GR or elsewhere. (I myself am shy about sending those requests to published authors). However, there is one person (who shall remain nameless), who by virtue of my membership (not even participation) in a particular group sends me a friend request complete with website address and (polite, I have to say) request to check out his books several times a year.
He may mean well, but it does not bolster his cause, especially as we have had no interactions of any sort, ever.
I'm rather pessimistic about this situation overall: I think that with the sheer volume of social media and eager new authors, things are going to get worse, not better. And I fear that I will be missing many works and authors that I would like, just because they are getting lost in this white noise.
Great post, as always. Your friend forevah!
It does get overwhelming, doesn't it? I feel this way sometimes when I'm shopping. Just shopping in general, not even necessarily for books. In particular when I have limited time and resources.
DeleteI think it probably will get worse, but then I think it will begin to shake itself out. Or maybe we'll all get better at sifting the information rushing toward us?
We can hope so, anyway. And if the writers who know better will demonstrate by example instead of caving in and following the stampede, maybe we'll see a learning curve materialize.
There is a favorite author on my list. I absolutely love the books...and will continue to buy them. The author offers a link for the follower/reader/supporter to send in money.
ReplyDeleteI don't follow the blog like I did before the link was posted. I go to the blog now or publisher website to see if any new books have been listed.
Cory Doctrow does this or recommends this, I believe.
DeleteAnd I've seen it suggested as "pirate salve," meaning readers who are forced to pirate because of global restrictions or problems with payment methods, can still support their favorite authors.
Interesting.
This is why I deleted the Facebook account I set up for my blog. I was overwhelmed by people asking to friend me and then, when I did, I was overwhelmed by people inviting me to their book release events. It was all too much and I felt like I was only being friended so people could push their books at me.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a little like that at Good Reads too, especially because if authors invite you to their book event and you don't respond, you get regular emails reminding you about the event. My inbox was getting full of all these spammy type reminders. Since then I've been a bit more picky about who I friend on GRs. I would mostly prefer to be friends with people who have my taste in books and who I can share reviews and book ideas with, rather than have an author I've never heard of try and get me to read their book.
This is why I don't friend anyone. Meaning, I will happily friend back, but I don't want to initiate friending/following lest it look like I want something.
ReplyDeleteThe thing about social media is that it can't just be about promotion and selling books. Even though, yes, we all take part in social media to promote our reviews or books or whatever. But if it was just about promotion, we would run an ad. Social media requires...socializing. With sincerity.
And that is not a bad thing.
In fact, it is probably the best thing about social media.
Social media requires...socializing. With sincerity.
DeleteAnd that is not a bad thing.
No, indeed. In fact one of the better ways I've seen recently of authors using social media wisely has been in the author groups set up at Good Reads. It's a win/win situation because people who want to interact with an author can join and have fun chatting with the author or discussing books, but there's a space available to advertise new (or past) releases through the folder/forum system. The fans look in that area for new releases, add them to their books in their library and then their friends, who may not know the author, see the release is coming up to and may be interested enough to check out the book themselves. Word of mouth wins over being spammed any day :).
LinkedIn baffles me. I've stayed well away!
Yes! I've had excellent experiences with Goodreads. Both in my own little group and as a guest of larger groups like JR Ward's.
DeleteGoodreads is one of the social mediums that I will continue to hang onto.
Why? Yes, it is good promotion. But it is also fun and satisfying to participate there. That makes it valuable to me.
I've been wondering about setting up one of those GR groups myself - not sure I'd have enough people wanting to interact there to warrant it, but I much prefer the option of having readers come to me rather than me aggressively bashing them over the head to read my books. Word of mouth will get me there, eventually... I hope!
DeleteJo, if I'd belonged to a publisher's Goodreads group, I probably wouldn't have bothered to set up a unique group. At the time I was first exploring Goodreads none of my publisher's had groups there.
DeleteAs a postscript, I deleted my LinkedIn account this week. I was tired of being spammed.
ReplyDeleteI’ve had the same problem as Josh and everyone else. Shameless self-promotion has reached ghastly heights. Writers should hire publicists and get this done right without offending the audience they’re trying to reach. Something else I don’t understand is how any fool without an education in literature or background in the field can call him/herself a reviewer. I thought a reviewer was someone who works for a legitimate newspaper, magazine or broadcast outlet and has vast knowledge in the field s/he reviews. Now it seems that anyone with an eighth grade education (or less judging from the lack of skills in spelling and grammar) is a critic. It reminds me how people can call themselves actors, poets or artists without having ever earned a penny in those professions. You can’t call yourself a doctor, dentist or attorney if you don't have proper credentials without risking prosecution. Shouldn’t people be required have qualifications in order to be considered critics?
ReplyDeleteWelllll, I guess we could say this of writers in general! :-D
DeleteI can't think of almost any other art where everyone feels equally qualified to not only take part but make tons of money.
Or maybe it's merely that the gatekeepers are gone when it comes to literature. Now days anyone can publish their work at whatever stage they feel it's ready. Thus we have the rise of the first draft as viable artform.
http://vacuousminx.wordpress.com/2012/06/06/the-rise-of-the-published-first-draft/
I guess that's also true of indie music and movies, but it's much more expensive to produce your own album or movie, and I think that discourages a lot of people. Especially when they don't make that initial investment back.
Hi Josh,
ReplyDeleteWow, that was a quick reply. I guess this is all part of the dumbing down of society in general. I read one or two sentences of "reviews" and as soon as I realize most of them are just telling me the whole story with spoilers including I stop reading.
I just posted on the MLR Yahoo author site thanking Laura for putting up a link to Dick Smart's interview. I found your comments quite useful since I've been working on a trilogy that's m/m romance/lit fic/family saga. I realize that I'll have to be a magician to market it in more than one area but I like to take on impossible tasks.
I'm enjoying Mexican Heat and I suggested to Laura that it would be interesting if you and/or she did a blog post on how two authors can write a novel together.
Don't worry: when my work comes out I won't spam you; I'll let you learn about it in the media.
Happy Pride!
Anonymous (only on here) -- well, okay, maybe some other places, too.
Happy Pride to you as well!
DeleteI think the basic thing I learned from co-writing with Laura is that I am a bad candidate for cowriting. :-P I am just too much of a control freak.
I'm not worried about you spamming me. The majority of writers who take the time to educate themselves about both their craft and their industry, don't make those kinds of errors.
I loved Mexican Heat, it's one of my favourites, and I liked the skeleton outlines of the sequels that were posted. I was very disappointed when you decided not to continue with that series, but I can see how the control freakery might make it more trouble for you than it was worth.
ReplyDeleteI often do have a look at things recommended on Amazon, I discovered KA Mitchell because people who bought your books bought hers, and that was great. The one time I succumbed to buying a self published book, which the author kept recommending it was dire! The trouble was that the plot was good, the world interesting and the characters could have been interesting, the problem was that the author couldn't write. His prose limped like a centipede down to its last five feet, his grammar was defective and he had no idea about why you might want a new paragraph! I was tempted to write a review on Amazon which said so, but in the end I couldn't be arsed. Anybody who put something that bad out must have had a reinforced concrete, teflon coated email!
Thank you! I think about those sequels sometimes. ;-) MH was an excellent learning experience. And it's gratifying that so many people love that book.
DeleteThe publishing industry has never been quite as fascinating as it is now. More opportunity than ever before for those who want to strike out on their own. Even so, most people who self-publish -- as most writers in general -- are not able to make a living at their writing. I think all these tales of brilliant success (which are actually only a tiny percentage of the whole) create false expectations and make everyone more unhappy and frustrated that they aren't experiencing bestsellerdom. And that's when they start to get stupid. Desperation makes you stupid.