Recently, I have found myself overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of self-published and ‘indie’ authors in my network clamoring for me to read and review their books. I have had ten requests already this year. Out of the ten, only one book held my interest for more than a couple of paragraphs, and that one lost me before the end of the first chapter.
The culprit? Poor writing. Typos alone could be ignored; unfortunately, what I am seeing is basic mistakes – pronoun confusion, tense switching, extreme use of passive voice, incomplete or confusing description, etc. Many, if not most of these authors are active members of the on-line writing community and I encounter them on Facebook, on Twitter, at Goodreads, on Linked In and here. They all seem like such nice people. They all seem so committed to writing.
Of course, I am not the only one encountering this, and there is a lively discussion happening across the community on how we as writers should approach the problem. Chuck Wendig has a lovely (if profanity filled) blog post on it here.
One thing that Chuck brought up is the fact that so many self-published authors gush over the writing of other ‘indies’ regardless of the true quality of the writing. There seems to be such a strong feeling of camaraderie and support in the ‘indie’ community, which is good for authors, but does not truly serve the readers.
I have contributed to this atmosphere by politely saying nothing when given a free book that I subsequently find unreadable. I don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings, so I just say nothing. I am beginning to think that is wrong. As I said in my comment on Chuck’s blog post – I need to develop a polite but firm way of calling bad writing, bad. I am beginning to suspect that no response lets authors off the hook. Perhaps no one has told them that their writing is not up to snuff.
After all, my own mother thinks that all the drivel I write is magic. My husband will help me with trouble spots, but in the end knows me so well that his mind fills in blanks left in the story. My writing buddies that haven’t yet finished a novel are in awe that I have. My writing buddies that are published have little time to spare.
In the end run, the critical eye is one of the main functions of the so-called ‘gatekeepers’ of publishing. These are people who don’t know you and don’t care how long it took you to write the book. They are judging the writing independent of any knowledge of you.
One of the things I think writers who choose to ‘indie’ or self publish need to do is create their own ‘gatekeepers’, a group of Beta Readers that can serve as honest reflections of the writing. This means finding people who do not know you, who do not know how long you have labored and who do not care if you succeed, but only whether the writing succeeds.
In the meantime, maybe the rest of us in the writing community need take the gloves off and start being direct and honest with those that have asked our opinion. Here is my version of a ‘Thanks but. . . ‘ reply note:
Dear Aspiring Author:
I greatly appreciate that writing a book is a massive undertaking, and for accepting that challenge, I salute you. However, I do not think this manuscript is the best it can be.
Although I liked: (insert positive things here),
I was unable to read past (the first page) due to: (list of problems here).
I sincerely hope you will not give up on your dream of being an author, but reapply yourself to the craft, working and shaping your prose until you have words worthy of your aspirations.
Remember: “What is written without effort is in generally read without pleasure.” Samuel Johnson
Sincerely, Me
I would love to know what others in this community think.
Tags: opinion
Eddie Louise. I could not agree with you more. I, too, have been asked to both write reviews and critique work and have been appalled at the quality of writing. In each case I made honest but constructive comments and from there, politely declined. The experience has made me very wary, as the responses were less than appreciated. I refuse to pad my comments with praise when I do not like what I have been sent. On the other hand I still try to encourage the writer to go back to the drawing board and ‘learn’ the craft.
Eddie Louise: You should join http://www.indiePENdents.org or we should join you, but all the group now working for the same cause need to unite their efforts and come out as a single strong voice. We are trying to devise ways of making self-published authors respectable by asking them to submit to the redaction of their books by their peers. Those who pass would get our PEER APPROVED seal. Currently we are in a frenetic discussion what it should take to have a work so approved. Your input would be of great value to us. We have a blog too, on our site. Is mutual posting a way to cooperate?
I think this is a great idea.
It will hopefully help with the over-saturation effect that can be off-putting to readers. I know many readers that won’t read a book without a recommendation from a review site like Kirkus or a librarian’s suggestion. As it stands now, there is no avenue for similar recommendations for indie books.
Some readers are real browsers, willing to sift through titles, read user reviews and sample chapters, but I suspect that most are actually not.
My book, No Tildes on Tuesday, was published by Tate Publishing and Enterprises. Tate is not recognized as a traditional publishing company, but they stress that they are not a vanity publisher. At any rate, whatever anyone thinks of them, I went with this publishing company, and I have been pleased with their professionalism. Anything that I didn’t like was taken care of immediately. But, all should know this: Before sending my book to ANYONE (including Tate), I had it professionally edited and critiqued. There’s nothing more embarrassing than to have work published in any form or fashion that has grammatical errors in it. NO AUTHOR, whether Indie, self-published, or traditionally published would want this.
From time to time, I also go back to my website at: http://www.BooksThatSow.com to review some of my articles, blogs and posted materials. I realize that I am not perfect, but I am a professional, so it is important for me represent myself and my work very well.
Whenever someone gives me advice about my writing, I suck in my pride (because it does hurt at first — I want to believe that my writing has improved over time), but the hurt subsides soon, so that I can get back to the business at hand – writing and producing good work/writing. My audience deserves it!
So, thank you for your words. I’d rather be told the truth, so that children will love to read my books, and tell their parents to purchase my books for them. I also love blogging and sharing my thoughts and passion as relative to my platform topics: diversity and bullying issues, so I had better write great stuff, right?
Thanks for allowing me to share -
Cherrye S. Vasquez, Ph.D.
Books That Sow: Strength, Character & Diversity, DBA
http://www.BooksThatSow.com
Thanks Cherrye. You have a great attitude, and no matter what the state of publishing, it is attitudes like that which I believe we as a community should encourage.
I have to agree with both Eddie Louise and Yvonne. I am an indy published author and even though I went to what I thought (at the time) was an execssive use of four people to read and critic/find typos my mss, I still came out with too many typos and not enough useful feedback. I am now in the process of making revisions after paying an editor to edit my novel and half way through I feel the cost was worth it. I am learning SO MUCH about my abilities, where my strengths and weaknesses are. I want my novel to be the best it can be. I don’t want to be lumped in with the writers you have described above. I will do whatever it takes to be “big publisher” worthy, even if I am the only one to publish my work. I want my novel (s) to stand out. I want them to be noticed in a positive way. Thank you for posting this because I believe it is relevent. I would love to have someone like you two read my novel, because I know then I would get honesty in a not too crushing way. Lisa
That is the number one thing I have against the ‘I just finished writing, so now I’ll format and publish tomorrow’ attitude I have seen in some authors.
No-one has EVER written perfectly in first draft. Shakespeare, Dickens, Twain – manuscript after manuscript in our musuems show that all of our most cherished authors revised and edited extensively.
I am thrilled to see this! Most writers would be glad to hear the truth I would think. I know i surely would. I’m paying for a professional editor, and I’d want to know if she’s not doing her job! I also want to know if i’m not doing mine.
Debra – that is a good point. I didn’t think about the fact that predatory and incompetent editors do exist.
Eddie Louise. I agree that honesty is the best policy to quote a cliche. I believe the fault resides in not so much telling the truth to the writer’s submission, but “not telling anything at all.” Telling a writer that “they’re not accepting submission right now” is saying nothing. If they took the time to read the cover letter and the sample chapters then they should know that the writing isn’t up to par. It isn’t that the writer didn’t get praise. It is no recognition at all. Most ms. are thrashed or not read. That is what started the Indies in the first place. Too many years were lost waiting and waiting.
When I started helping other authors with independent publishing, I realised that what was obvious to me wasn’t obvious to them. I’ve surrounded myself with truth-tellers all along. Yeah, I love it when my wife calls me a genius, but I also want my toughest (friendly) critics to appreciate it, or it’s not the best it can be.
It’s important that we speak the truth, but in a way, as you have, that encourages rather than discourages. I’ve heard supporters of traditional publishing say something wasn’t worth publishing. I say, it’s not ready for publishing *yet* but with work, it could be.
An honest critique is worth gold to any writer. If you don’t have a tough skin you shouldn’t be putting your work out for others to read. I have been traditionally published and also self-published.
The edit I paid for on my “Treadwell, A Novel of Alaska Territory” was much better than the one provided on my last traditionally published work.
The things the new writer must realize is that there is a learning curve to overcome, having written to work they need someone else read it for content and errors, that someone should know what they are doing and not their boyfriend or girfriend (unless they indeed, are an editor), and most importantly – a critique is about the work, NOT the author. Writing must be a profession, not a mutual admiration society.
The tools that enable writers to self publish are a blessing and a curse. The blessing part–it allows the writer unprecedented creative control over his or her writing for little or no cost outlay. The curse? Just because those tools exist doesn’t mean every writer should rush to publish.
I appreciate your honesty, Eddie Louise. I have, for the most part, passed on commenting on work I thought wasn’t ready for ‘prime time.’ I do wonder if that does the writer a disservice.
I have struggled to get through many highly touted books that were mediocre at best. I’ve also struggled with what to say about them. How can I be certain that my opinion is anything more than just that: opinion. If I were in a crit partnership, I would be perfectly comfortable giving feedback, because there would already be a relationship of trust between me and the writer. Barring that, my inclination is to say nothing.
I know that doesn’t serve the writer, but I’m not sure that’s my job when I’m being a reader, if that makes sense.
Good food for thought, here.
I am so pleased that so many people are joining this conversation. Thanks all for stopping by!
Spot on. I’m cautious about accepting novels to read/review– I never buy at any price without being able to sample somehow (library, excerpt, Kindle sample) and I’ve found damn few books lately, (published in any way), that are as winning as their covers. I rarely make it past the first page of most e-books, and mostly I pass on being a reader for other novelists.
I do feel we have an obligation just as in an academic discipline to give back to our craft, and part of that is being honest. Now that everyone wants to be a writer, there are more people with promise of talent than experience beginning to write, and they are putting out books not ready for a discerning reader. They confuse the tools of writing with writing itself, confuse artifice with art, and rush into print before they’ve gotten some perspective on the work.
Maybe the cream will rise to the top anyway, maybe not. I’m thinking that those of us who have read steadily for decades are in a prime position to uphold standards. Not giving false compliments is a good way to start! Myself, I am gently honest within my own critique group and at the writing sites I frequent, where I make a point of commenting often. At present I’m not asked for back page “blurbs” and thank goodness, because nobody would talk to me after the first couple I gave out.
You don’t have it so easy, but I for one would be grateful to receive a reply note like the one above; knowing what the problems are is the first step in fixing them. And although it’s falling out of fashion to say so, writers like all other artists do need to develop a tough skin and learn to take both well-fashioned criticism and plain old rejection with grace and objectivity.
Peace, Mari
The biggest issue here is that indie (and not just indie!) writers have never been taught to be business people. How to build their own little publishing company (literally!) by hiring the right editors, proofers, cover designers and format specialists. There is so much more to it than simply writing the book and that fact is being lost. If writing were treated like any other business, more writers would put out quality product, I’m certain of it.
That being said, you have two choices, really–either stop reviewing indie writers or ask for a sample page (that should be all you need) before you agree to anything. Speaking out about that writer will probably only amount to heartache for you and them. It’s a sad fact, and no it isn’t fair. We’ve seen both traditional and indie writers melt down over just such issues, often messily and in public. I wish you luck!
It is the ‘melting down’ part that really boggles my mind.
And it is also why we (at least in my experience) keep schtumm when met with inferior writing in the indie world. In the world of big publishing, if a book is published with poor writing there are many places to spread the blame, in indie writing, it is nearly always because a writer has published something without the business framework you mention.
But is keeping quiet serving anyone in the long run?
Eddie, I love this post. I am thrilled to see so many people stand up and take a voice against published drivel that seems to be rampant all of the sudden. When free reign is given to a rookie, this is what happens.
On the other hand, it’s really no different than any other business–there are competent people and incompetent, ego-driven folks with nothing to back it up, and hard-working, driven folks determined to make a name for themselves.
Great conversation.
I’m going to say something mean and controversial.
Most of the time, spelling and grammar mistakes can be fixed by any good editor, but the underlying work is still going to stink (unless the editor pretty much rewrites the whole manuscript). The end product is just well-edited crap. Cardboard characters. Stilted dialogue. Plot holes. Boring prose.
I’m glad that professional editors have a bigger pool of potential customers, but honestly, I have no idea how you guys can bear working with what you undoubtedly see. And then there’s the problem dealing with the reactions to your suggestions. Cluelessness is too often accompanied by thin skin.
It must be teeth-gnashingly aggravating.
Cheers!
Pete,
I don’t think this is mean. Controversial? Perhaps, but this is exactly the issue I am speaking of. I recently was asked to read a work that had numerous 5 star review on amazon, and had many indie writers crowing about it as well. The author in the 1st three paragraphs contradicted herself twice – stating a fact and then showing action that put the lie to the fact. If done for humor this sort of linguistic reversal can be very effective. In a purported para-normal fantasy, it was irritating. Worse because I could tell it was down to poor vocabulary. The author had the word Guardian firmly in her head in its parental function, forgetting that it also could mean bodyguard.
As an Editor I would have had this entire passage excised. As a reader, it made it impossible for me to read the book because in my head I was lecturing the writer, not getting to know the characters.