tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5850172499490375035.post2129327213592835621..comments2024-02-23T00:53:07.310+00:00Comments on Rooksmoor's Tablets of Lead: One-By-One My E-Books Are Snuffed OutRooksmoorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15563445039351828997noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5850172499490375035.post-12919569487901139832013-01-27T20:26:20.654+00:002013-01-27T20:26:20.654+00:00Well, since then the number of bad reviews has gro...Well, since then the number of bad reviews has grown. I realise that I had become hooked on the money the books were earning me and to see that halted simply from one person's misguided comments is painful. I am going to come back with a new book hopefully in February and it is going to feature that coup as a chapter.<br /><br />As for hanging myself I have even managed to fail at that, as noted in another posting here, so for the moment I am not going anywhere.Rooksmoorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15563445039351828997noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5850172499490375035.post-11487034436823401452013-01-26T13:45:21.819+00:002013-01-26T13:45:21.819+00:00Alexander, screw those four reviewers! -- I just s...Alexander, screw those four reviewers! -- I just stumbled across your blog via some ref. to the 1974 alleged 'coup' issue and can already tell your writing is worthwhile. Don't hang yourself, for God's sake, but instead hang with the rest of us who are interested in ideas! <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5850172499490375035.post-38166032803402872152013-01-04T21:41:25.686+00:002013-01-04T21:41:25.686+00:00I have tried to establish different accounts so th...I have tried to establish different accounts so that I can buy my own books and then comment on them, but Amazon is wise to this and it is very difficult (though apparently not impossible) to comment with anything but your real name.<br /><br />Pedantic is just how things are these days. I cannot remember how many published books I have read with major errors in, let alone scores of minor ones. However, in this age of everyone having to be indignant about the most minor point, a couple of errors is enough for your entire work to be dismissed. This is the society we live in and I guess I am simply not up to that level of proof-reading/editing, but then again nor is Henning Mankel, so I am in good company.<br /><br />The language issue is a difficult one, especially as I have received contradictory criticism. The advantage of e-books is that you can go back and correct and re-write and have the book out again often in fewer than 12 hours. I have tried to break up sentences and to make them simpler as I have become aware that I am increasingly selling to readers from outside Europe. However, then I am criticised that my text is too fragmented.<br /><br />Whilst I tried to adopt a 'chatty' style for my books rather than a heavy academic one, encouraged by what I drew from my blog, this is seen as inappropriate. Yet, I always run the Word grammar checker over my work and as anyone who has used it knows, it is incredibly fussy about what it sees as 'sentence fragments'. Maybe in the UK we can accept more implied verbs and pronouns, but with Word checking your grammar you cannot avoid but putting in every part of a sentence, surely enough to satisfy even US readers, or so I thought. Perhaps I need to go fully over to US spelling and grammar. I have tried writing for an American publisher before and there are loads more differences than you would ever realise.<br /><br />The big change with e-books is the power of a single reviewer. If you go to buy a book in a bookshop, even if there have been numerous critical reviews in the newspapers or online, they are not leaping out at you when you go to buy the book. You make your own judgements. With Amazon no-one can buy an e-books without seeing the reviews of others, or, at least the star rating. Given how quickly sales die the moment I get a 2-star review, it is clear that a lot of shoppers only look at that.<br /><br />The other thing is that, even though I have sold over 500 copies of 'Other Americas' I have no idea how many people have actually read it. From friends I know who have Kindles it is quite typical for people to buy tens of e-books that they never actually read. So, yes, I am probably getting a lot of indifference.<br /><br />I do not think these people actually care, they are rather out there seeking something to get indignant about; something to show their superiority over. If people spot errors, these days they can email me and I can have them changed and back up by that evening. However, they are not actually looking for better writing, they are looking to show how clever they are in spotting any errors. For them the satisfaction is not a rising quality of writing it is eliminating another writer simply because they can; a couple of errors or a style of writing they do not get on with is enough to score them a victory. They are winning victories over me very quickly. I have had to unpublish one book; I have one which now sells nothing and two which sell a third of what they once did all due to just four reviews.<br /><br />I know these people feel that they are fighting on behalf of other readers and eliminating poor quality work from the internet. For me it is working wonderfully well. I have lost so much faith in my writing as a result of these four reviewers that there seems no point in continuing. That is frustrating because once I believed I was at least as good as many mainstream authors. Yet, it is clear now that I lack the microscopic perception that would show me I am over the line and actually in the category of those writers who waste people's time and money. <br />Rooksmoorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15563445039351828997noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5850172499490375035.post-80724265613992127692013-01-04T21:38:02.580+00:002013-01-04T21:38:02.580+00:00I have tried to establish different accounts so th...I have tried to establish different accounts so that I can buy my own books and then comment on them, but Amazon is wise to this and it is very difficult (though apparently not impossible) to comment with anything but your real name.<br /><br />Pedantic is just how things are these days. I cannot remember how many published books I have read with major errors in, let alone scores of minor ones. However, in this age of everyone having to be indignant about the most minor point, a couple of errors is enough for your entire work to be dismissed. This is the society we live in and I guess I am simply not up to that level of proof-reading/editing, but then again nor is Henning Mankel, so I am in good company.<br /><br />The language issue is a difficult one, especially as I have received contradictory criticism. The advantage of e-books is that you can go back and correct and re-write and have the book out again often in fewer than 12 hours. I have tried to break up sentences and to make them simpler as I have become aware that I am increasingly selling to readers from outside Europe. However, then I am criticised that my text is too fragmented.<br /><br />Whilst I tried to adopt a 'chatty' style for my books rather than a heavy academic one, encouraged by what I drew from my blog, this is seen as inappropriate. Yet, I always run the Word grammar checker over my work and as anyone who has used it knows, it is incredibly fussy about what it sees as 'sentence fragments'. Maybe in the UK we can accept more implied verbs and pronouns, but with Word checking your grammar you cannot avoid but putting in every part of a sentence, surely enough to satisfy even US readers, or so I thought. Perhaps I need to go fully over to US spelling and grammar. I have tried writing for an American publisher before and there are loads more differences than you would ever realise.<br /><br />The big change with e-books is the power of a single reviewer. If you go to buy a book in a bookshop, even if there have been numerous critical reviews in the newspapers or online, they are not leaping out at you when you go to buy the book. You make your own judgements. With Amazon no-one can buy an e-books without seeing the reviews of others, or, at least the star rating. Given how quickly sales die the moment I get a 2-star review, it is clear that a lot of shoppers only look at that.<br /><br />The other thing is that, even though I have sold over 500 copies of 'Other Americas' I have no idea how many people have actually read it. From friends I know who have Kindles it is quite typical for people to buy tens of e-books that they never actually read. So, yes, I am probably getting a lot of indifference.<br /><br />I do not think these people actually care, they are rather out there seeking something to get indignant about; something to show their superiority over. If people spot errors, these days they can email me and I can have them changed and back up by that evening. However, they are not actually looking for better writing, they are looking to show how clever they are in spotting any errors. For them the satisfaction is not a rising quality of writing it is eliminating another writer simply because they can; a couple of errors or a style of writing they do not get on with is enough to score them a victory. They are winning victories over me very quickly. I have had to unpublish one book; I have one which now sells nothing and two which sell a third of what they once did all due to just four reviews.<br /><br />I know these people feel that they are fighting on behalf of other readers and eliminating poor quality work from the internet. For me it is working wonderfully well. I have lost so much faith in my writing as a result of these four reviewers that there seems no point in continuing. That is frustrating because once I believed I was at least as good as many mainstream authors. Yet, it is clear now that I lack the microscopic perception that would show me I am over the line and actually in the category of those writers who waste people's time and money.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5850172499490375035.post-75503655964465166242013-01-04T19:42:47.921+00:002013-01-04T19:42:47.921+00:00in a word - cheat. if someone has left an arbitrar...in a word - cheat. if someone has left an arbitrary review that is damaging your sales, put in a review that returns it to balance. I am not suggesting loads of 5 star reviews, but rather one that restores balance.<br /><br />As for reviewers screw the pedantic ones. the opposite of love isn't hate its indifference. These people actually care enough to write a responese.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com