I got 280 reviews in one of my lastest books, and it was published on october 2019. Also, my third book was published on november 2017 and it only has 109 reviews.
Well, my books are free and they are published only in Play Books, that’s why (I think) they have all those numbers, but now I understand that the difference between both books are, basically, the cover and the blurb. It’s something that I learned here, in this page.
I like your covers but I think they can be better, also your blurbs are not so exciting. I think you need to refine them.
But, man, you are a good author, don’t get discouraged. Also, if I were you, I would listen to Hitch too.
I love the way people here assume I’ve taken the path of least resistance. I tried to obtain representation, but when I couldn’t get anyone interested I chose not to give up or feel sorry for myself and instead taught myself graphics, formatting, and ebook creation. Other than Identity all my books are on their third or fourth cover as I’ve learned new techniques, but I’m still limited by my lack of money, training, and artistic ability. I’ve also rewritten my blurbs countless times trying to balance a solid hook with useful information for the potential reader. when I was hit by my disability in 2011 it prevented me from working even an office job becasue I can’t even sit upright very long, or sometimes at all, so the only money I had available were for ISBNs, my editor, and to pay the publishing service (which fortunately refunded my money when I expressed my displeasure with their performance).
Hitch’s problem is that she can only see this from one perspective. She’s seen success stories as someone who is paid to assist with that success, so she equates that path with all independent authors. In reality indie authors face incredible bias. Publishers and agents do not want to take the risk on unknowns, so only those with a history of marketability, financial success, or with a personal contact in the business are even considered (I received my latest FO letter from an agent today, even though my work is exactly what she asks for on her site). That’s where the saying comes from: “Publishers and agents are only interested in us the moment we no longer need them”.
Amazon pushes our books to the back of the listings (I’ve seen women’s lingerie come up in book searches before my books), and their ad system favors the publishers. Many review services require a book to already have a minimum number of reviews (so you need reviews to get reviews just like you need sales to get sales). It’s also difficult to obtain technical advisers when you’re an unknown, and the few who bother to respond usually aren’t interested in more than a single exchange (I had one from Cornel Astronomy commit to helping me with my next book only to disappear without a word).
In spite of all these obstacles I’ve stayed mostly positive on the slim chance someone will discover and like my work enough to tell others, but for whatever reason even those who rave about my books don’t seem to do so. With my failing health it’s become too stressful seeing month after month go by without any book sales or KU reads.
(…)but I’m still limited by my lack of money, training, and artistic ability. We are on the same ship, mate.
Also, you know, at this moment you are feeling sorry for yourself.
I’m going to tell you something that I would have liked to hear a few years ago: you are the only one interested in your work.
If someone likes it, it’s because you were not whining about bad luck or about people who doesn’t care about your work, but you were working on improving it.
Is your book on the fourth cover? Nobody cares, is your book on the fifth blurb? Nobody cares. It’s only you who needs to care about it. So, if you need to make a tenth cover or write the twentieth blurb, you need to do it, period. It’s the only way to improve and achieve something.
Hitch just wanted to give you an advice, I just wanted to give you an advice too because we understand how are you feeling and what do you want to achieve.
You need to stop blaming others (quoting you: In reality indie authors face incredible bias) and keep trying, and trying, and trying.
So, are you going to stop complaining and start working again or are you going to give up?
You’re misinterpreting my points and suggesting a lack of awareness which simply doesn’t exist. I have been busting my ass as much as I can in spite of personal limitations and the bias against authors such as myself, and I am always willing to update my work when I believe it will help and I have the means to do so. I always write for myself and fight tooth and nail against the idea of writing for a specific audience because it results in poor-quality storytelling. I’d rather die penniless than with a fat bank account if it meant selling my creative soul. I never needed my books to be best sellers nor be adapted into movies, but I genuinely thought I’d sell enough to feed myself and buy essentials like soap, shoes, and a new t-shirt now and then.
I’m not blaming anyone so much as pointing out the reality of self publishing, which many new authors do not understand and end up being taken advantage of by opportunists (not unlike what Hitch suggested). Many new authors end up cheated by those claiming to have the secret formula for success, including claiming every written work must fit a certain format. My first novel had plenty of problems when I completed the first draft, but there isn’t a Goddamn thing wrong with the way it opens because it fits with the story I told.
As far as the bias, I completely understand the powers-that-be want to stick to what has already proven profitable. Yes, that creates hurdles we must overcome yet I have always been willing to try. If I was going to give up at the first sign of trouble I never would have finished my first book, or at the very least I would have quit after my editor returned the manuscript with notes on every page plus a three-page list of additional notes. Instead I got to work making it better based on her feedback, and when the first reviews were less than favorable I worked on it again, resulting in much better reviews since that final revision.
However, after six years and no real traction I am having a hard time justifying further effort when every day it becomes a little more difficult. (I had to write this in two sittings). Quitting has nothing to do with feeling sorry for myself. I am frustrated, sure, but ending my professional writing career is a practical response to the realities of the situation. As I said before I am very proud of my work and have accomplished yet another goal most people have not. As far as making money from it, I gave it a shot and it didn’t work.
I don’t get it. Are you suggesting that our advices are similar to those “opportunists”?
Well, I will try to be as clear as possible:
As an editor, everyday I have to deal with the I write for myself trope; as all the books published by my editorial are free, I’m “okay” with that. But I’m the one who has the last word on covers and blurbs.
If you were my author, I would tell you that your novel is good to be published but that your covers and your blurbs do not attract the public because they are too generic. Next you would have two options: accept my comments or withdraw your books. If you accept my comments then the covers would be made as I say, I would not be interested in your suggestions because my main interest would be that the novel attracts the public; the same goes for the blurbs.
If you attract readers with a good cover or a good blurb then you have won the fight, because the rest will depend on your writing.
In my case, what I’m criticizing is that your covers and your blurbs don’t work, you need to improve them. I’m not interested in what is written inside, I’m interested in the presentation; if nobody buys your books then you need to work on them until you have good results. It doesn’t matter how many times you need to made them.
You also need to promote your books, at least on social networks, if you want readers to be interested in your work.
On the other hand, a recipe is indeed required to attract the public, even if you don’t want to believe it. It’s important that you learn to distinguish who is an opportunist and who really knows what he is talking about. Nobody here is an opportunist.
Finally (and I think it is something that all self-published authors who want to make money with their books should know) if you want to make money with what you write you have to invest. If you can’t invest money, you have to invest time and learn to create a product that attracts buyers. Books are a product and should be treated as such.
I know you are going to tell me I have invested time and I learned a lot, but I don’t see the six years of experience and work on your covers and blurbs.
Good grief. You people are so determined to portray yourselves as superior that you refuse to pay attention and instead draw ridiculous conclusions to justify unfounded or obvious criticisms. I never suggested the people here are opportunists, and you continue dumping on me under the pretense that I am being obtuse about my book covers or the presentation of my books in general. You acknowledge my lack of funds to produce better covers yet clearly don’t understand what that actually means. I am many things, from electrician to woodworker, pastry chef to auto mechanic. The one thing I am not is an artist. I cannot draw. Not one bit. I am working on a computer that is twelve years old, using Paint Shop Pro from 1998 with an occasional effect added using GIMP. I already know my covers are average at best, but am doing the best I possibly can with the tools and ability available. If I could create better covers I would, and I have done exactly that when I learned a new trick or found artwork I could use without cost.
No offense, but you don’t have a fucking clue what it’s like to be flat broke and unable to use any of the skills you spent your life learning because even the simple act of standing or sitting up is excruciatingly painful. You don’t suffer from subdural hygromas in your skull that trigger permanent tinnitus, vascular tumors in your thoracic spine that create the worst permanent backache imaginable, or have perineural cysts in your sacral spin that not only apply pressure to the nerve bundle but cause cerebral spinal fluid pressure fluctuations that allow you brain to shift, resulting in a permanent headache interrupted by moments of intense cranial pain that knocks you to the floor. Oh, lets not forget the chronic fatigue caused by the chromosome defect that results in a testosterone deficiency that cannot simply be supplemented with shots, patches, or creams. I also suffer from a very mild form of dyslexia, so I end up correcting a lot of misspelled words when I write. I’m sure you see this as me making excuses, but in spite of the issues I listed above I still managed to sit at my old Goddamn computer and write five novels, a number of short stories including two award winners, format them into six books in both Kindle and paperback, and create all of the graphics for the books, my web site, and promotional material. I’ve also been looking for an agent, and contacting every book blogger I can find to either review my work or allow me to post topical articles to increase my exposure. I’ve been on every popular social media platform at one time or another, but those are terrible places to build an audience (great for interacting with an audience, if I had one).
My covers are not great and that frustrates me, but you cannot say I didn’t put effort into them and they are far better than most produced with similar budgets. I have pushed my tools and skills to the limit, so please stop assuming I am satisfied with the result. I am not one of those people who craps out garbage and pats myself on the back. Even with my severe limitations I constantly challenge myself to learn new things and get better, just as I had done with all those skills I can no longer use (you can’t imagine how painful it’s been selling off all my tools because I can’t make use of them any more and need the money to eat). The main reason I participate on Cover Critics is to improve my graphics skills while also helping those who seek it. If not for that practice I would not have been able to create the covers you’re happily shitting on. I’m sorry you don’t like them, but it’s the best I can do right now.
Just in case you still insist I’ve been resting on my laurels, here is a graphic I created showing the progression of my covers and ability.
BL: After what happened with the ballfield cover, I’m hesitant to suggest this, but…if I were you, on Arbor Day, I should consider redoing the beginning and open in action. There’s not a damned thing wrong with your writing–it’s not like the “why am I not selling’ people that we see on the various author’s forums, who can’t string two coherent sentences together–but the opening doesn’t hook the reader.
I read through the whole, car-runs-out-of-gas, buddy-comes-picks-him-up stuff and left off before the next chapter. My one and only criticism is, it lacks excitement. It’s not compelling. I know you didn’t ASK for criticism or input, but…that’s mine. Feel free to ignore it, of course.
I’m not rewriting my first novel, especially since I’m going to unpublish it as soon as I can afford to buy a set of hard copies for myself. My books may not sell but I’m still proud of them.
That opening is deliberately mundane to offset the event when it occurs, but it also sets up some important payoffs later in the book and making it more action-oriented would give them away (the opening line in particular is important to both Arbor Day and Plan B). Once I decided to write sequels it was even more essential that Arbor Day didn’t rely too much on action or the series would have become repetitive. besides, anyone who requires mindless action to stay engaged won’t like Arbor Day anyway, especially when the science kicks in.
By the way, the only thing that happened with The Diamond cover is that I got a lot of criticism without suggestions how to improve it. Once I got usable advice I listened and now have a completely new cover. The exact same thing happened with my Relative Age cover which is very similar to one of the mockups presented.
Yes–but your initial reaction to that criticism about the Diamond cover is exactly the same as your initial reaction here. Hell, BL, don’t rewrite it. Unpublish it if you wish. It’s no skin off of my nose, but I feel that if you took the book to any expert in the biz–say, James Scott Bell or Patterson or any of the guys that run writing courses these days, for creating selling fiction, they’d tell you the same thing. Please, don’t make me regret bothering to look and comment.
You like to make assumptions. You assume I’ve had no formal training in writing and you assume I’ve never had my work proofread or used an editor. You previously assumed I never tried to find representation because you knew of a few cases where unknowns found representation and concluded everyone can do so (coincidentally I received yet another rejection letter as I was writing this reply). You also assume I take things personally and become angry, but I am one of the most pragmatic people you will ever know. I merely explained that the slow start was deliberate rather than me being inexperienced.
I approach everything logically and with as little bias as possible, solving each problem until the task is completed. “It sucks” provides no opportunity for growth nor improvement so I reject such reactions. As I said before, when I’ve received useful advice I applied said advice, and my work reflects that. In my life I have learned dozens of trades and skills and received many certifications and diplomas in a host of disciplines. I was not able to do so by being closed to learning and improving, and I never learned nor improved a single skill by having someone simply tell me my work sucked. When I asked why the ball and tractor work but not the ghost face, your response was mean spirited, but on Cover Critics RK provided a clear and intelligent explanation without that spiteful tone, and I thanked him for it.
You seem to exist in a bubble and base your conclusions on a relatively small sample size (as with your assumption I had not sought representation). Just because someone found success does not mean theirs is the only way to do so or that anyone can follow the same steps to the same level of success. Often, those who sell their success in the form of advice or paid courses are doing so more for their own benefit than for their disciples. They know very well every good writer must find both their own voice and writing process and anyone who mimics another author is destined to fail as a creator. I was fortunate to have writing instructors who were well educated and motivated by a desire to pass on their knowledge, not to massage their own egos.
There have been plenty of literary works that don’t follow established story structures yet have become bestsellers, and those are often the ones we best remember. Good writing both sells and flops just as bad writing sells and flops, and the same applies to traditional and non-traditional writing. I have no doubt there are plenty of people out there who would have enjoyed my work had they discovered it, but sadly circumstances both personal and otherwise have prevented that. There is no anger, just disappointment.
WHY do you think I’m making those assumptions? That’s patently absurd. I think you’re confusing me with someone else. I told you what I saw and AGAIN, I’m sorry I bothered.
@Nathan–please remove my post about BL’s book. BL, I’ll know better next time. Please–don’t ask me again for any input on anything you do.
ADMIN NOTE: B.L. Alley will no longer be participating in our discussions here at LBC.
283 ratings. I’m definitely quitting. It’s just too frustrating.
I see 343, BL, I’m sorry to say. But it’s been up for nearly 8 years, so you’re being a bit tough on yourself, kid.
Arbor Day has been available for almost 6 years and only has 6 ratings. It’s not going to get any better, so it’s time to pack it in.
I got 280 reviews in one of my lastest books, and it was published on october 2019. Also, my third book was published on november 2017 and it only has 109 reviews.
Well, my books are free and they are published only in Play Books, that’s why (I think) they have all those numbers, but now I understand that the difference between both books are, basically, the cover and the blurb. It’s something that I learned here, in this page.
I like your covers but I think they can be better, also your blurbs are not so exciting. I think you need to refine them.
But, man, you are a good author, don’t get discouraged. Also, if I were you, I would listen to Hitch too.
I love the way people here assume I’ve taken the path of least resistance. I tried to obtain representation, but when I couldn’t get anyone interested I chose not to give up or feel sorry for myself and instead taught myself graphics, formatting, and ebook creation. Other than Identity all my books are on their third or fourth cover as I’ve learned new techniques, but I’m still limited by my lack of money, training, and artistic ability. I’ve also rewritten my blurbs countless times trying to balance a solid hook with useful information for the potential reader. when I was hit by my disability in 2011 it prevented me from working even an office job becasue I can’t even sit upright very long, or sometimes at all, so the only money I had available were for ISBNs, my editor, and to pay the publishing service (which fortunately refunded my money when I expressed my displeasure with their performance).
Hitch’s problem is that she can only see this from one perspective. She’s seen success stories as someone who is paid to assist with that success, so she equates that path with all independent authors. In reality indie authors face incredible bias. Publishers and agents do not want to take the risk on unknowns, so only those with a history of marketability, financial success, or with a personal contact in the business are even considered (I received my latest FO letter from an agent today, even though my work is exactly what she asks for on her site). That’s where the saying comes from: “Publishers and agents are only interested in us the moment we no longer need them”.
Amazon pushes our books to the back of the listings (I’ve seen women’s lingerie come up in book searches before my books), and their ad system favors the publishers. Many review services require a book to already have a minimum number of reviews (so you need reviews to get reviews just like you need sales to get sales). It’s also difficult to obtain technical advisers when you’re an unknown, and the few who bother to respond usually aren’t interested in more than a single exchange (I had one from Cornel Astronomy commit to helping me with my next book only to disappear without a word).
In spite of all these obstacles I’ve stayed mostly positive on the slim chance someone will discover and like my work enough to tell others, but for whatever reason even those who rave about my books don’t seem to do so. With my failing health it’s become too stressful seeing month after month go by without any book sales or KU reads.
(…)but I’m still limited by my lack of money, training, and artistic ability. We are on the same ship, mate.
Also, you know, at this moment you are feeling sorry for yourself.
I’m going to tell you something that I would have liked to hear a few years ago: you are the only one interested in your work.
If someone likes it, it’s because you were not whining about bad luck or about people who doesn’t care about your work, but you were working on improving it.
Is your book on the fourth cover? Nobody cares, is your book on the fifth blurb? Nobody cares. It’s only you who needs to care about it. So, if you need to make a tenth cover or write the twentieth blurb, you need to do it, period. It’s the only way to improve and achieve something.
Hitch just wanted to give you an advice, I just wanted to give you an advice too because we understand how are you feeling and what do you want to achieve.
You need to stop blaming others (quoting you: In reality indie authors face incredible bias) and keep trying, and trying, and trying.
So, are you going to stop complaining and start working again or are you going to give up?
You’re misinterpreting my points and suggesting a lack of awareness which simply doesn’t exist. I have been busting my ass as much as I can in spite of personal limitations and the bias against authors such as myself, and I am always willing to update my work when I believe it will help and I have the means to do so. I always write for myself and fight tooth and nail against the idea of writing for a specific audience because it results in poor-quality storytelling. I’d rather die penniless than with a fat bank account if it meant selling my creative soul. I never needed my books to be best sellers nor be adapted into movies, but I genuinely thought I’d sell enough to feed myself and buy essentials like soap, shoes, and a new t-shirt now and then.
I’m not blaming anyone so much as pointing out the reality of self publishing, which many new authors do not understand and end up being taken advantage of by opportunists (not unlike what Hitch suggested). Many new authors end up cheated by those claiming to have the secret formula for success, including claiming every written work must fit a certain format. My first novel had plenty of problems when I completed the first draft, but there isn’t a Goddamn thing wrong with the way it opens because it fits with the story I told.
As far as the bias, I completely understand the powers-that-be want to stick to what has already proven profitable. Yes, that creates hurdles we must overcome yet I have always been willing to try. If I was going to give up at the first sign of trouble I never would have finished my first book, or at the very least I would have quit after my editor returned the manuscript with notes on every page plus a three-page list of additional notes. Instead I got to work making it better based on her feedback, and when the first reviews were less than favorable I worked on it again, resulting in much better reviews since that final revision.
However, after six years and no real traction I am having a hard time justifying further effort when every day it becomes a little more difficult. (I had to write this in two sittings). Quitting has nothing to do with feeling sorry for myself. I am frustrated, sure, but ending my professional writing career is a practical response to the realities of the situation. As I said before I am very proud of my work and have accomplished yet another goal most people have not. As far as making money from it, I gave it a shot and it didn’t work.
I don’t get it. Are you suggesting that our advices are similar to those “opportunists”?
Well, I will try to be as clear as possible:
As an editor, everyday I have to deal with the I write for myself trope; as all the books published by my editorial are free, I’m “okay” with that. But I’m the one who has the last word on covers and blurbs.
If you were my author, I would tell you that your novel is good to be published but that your covers and your blurbs do not attract the public because they are too generic. Next you would have two options: accept my comments or withdraw your books. If you accept my comments then the covers would be made as I say, I would not be interested in your suggestions because my main interest would be that the novel attracts the public; the same goes for the blurbs.
If you attract readers with a good cover or a good blurb then you have won the fight, because the rest will depend on your writing.
In my case, what I’m criticizing is that your covers and your blurbs don’t work, you need to improve them. I’m not interested in what is written inside, I’m interested in the presentation; if nobody buys your books then you need to work on them until you have good results. It doesn’t matter how many times you need to made them.
You also need to promote your books, at least on social networks, if you want readers to be interested in your work.
On the other hand, a recipe is indeed required to attract the public, even if you don’t want to believe it. It’s important that you learn to distinguish who is an opportunist and who really knows what he is talking about. Nobody here is an opportunist.
Finally (and I think it is something that all self-published authors who want to make money with their books should know) if you want to make money with what you write you have to invest. If you can’t invest money, you have to invest time and learn to create a product that attracts buyers. Books are a product and should be treated as such.
I know you are going to tell me I have invested time and I learned a lot, but I don’t see the six years of experience and work on your covers and blurbs.
Good grief. You people are so determined to portray yourselves as superior that you refuse to pay attention and instead draw ridiculous conclusions to justify unfounded or obvious criticisms. I never suggested the people here are opportunists, and you continue dumping on me under the pretense that I am being obtuse about my book covers or the presentation of my books in general. You acknowledge my lack of funds to produce better covers yet clearly don’t understand what that actually means. I am many things, from electrician to woodworker, pastry chef to auto mechanic. The one thing I am not is an artist. I cannot draw. Not one bit. I am working on a computer that is twelve years old, using Paint Shop Pro from 1998 with an occasional effect added using GIMP. I already know my covers are average at best, but am doing the best I possibly can with the tools and ability available. If I could create better covers I would, and I have done exactly that when I learned a new trick or found artwork I could use without cost.
No offense, but you don’t have a fucking clue what it’s like to be flat broke and unable to use any of the skills you spent your life learning because even the simple act of standing or sitting up is excruciatingly painful. You don’t suffer from subdural hygromas in your skull that trigger permanent tinnitus, vascular tumors in your thoracic spine that create the worst permanent backache imaginable, or have perineural cysts in your sacral spin that not only apply pressure to the nerve bundle but cause cerebral spinal fluid pressure fluctuations that allow you brain to shift, resulting in a permanent headache interrupted by moments of intense cranial pain that knocks you to the floor. Oh, lets not forget the chronic fatigue caused by the chromosome defect that results in a testosterone deficiency that cannot simply be supplemented with shots, patches, or creams. I also suffer from a very mild form of dyslexia, so I end up correcting a lot of misspelled words when I write. I’m sure you see this as me making excuses, but in spite of the issues I listed above I still managed to sit at my old Goddamn computer and write five novels, a number of short stories including two award winners, format them into six books in both Kindle and paperback, and create all of the graphics for the books, my web site, and promotional material. I’ve also been looking for an agent, and contacting every book blogger I can find to either review my work or allow me to post topical articles to increase my exposure. I’ve been on every popular social media platform at one time or another, but those are terrible places to build an audience (great for interacting with an audience, if I had one).
My covers are not great and that frustrates me, but you cannot say I didn’t put effort into them and they are far better than most produced with similar budgets. I have pushed my tools and skills to the limit, so please stop assuming I am satisfied with the result. I am not one of those people who craps out garbage and pats myself on the back. Even with my severe limitations I constantly challenge myself to learn new things and get better, just as I had done with all those skills I can no longer use (you can’t imagine how painful it’s been selling off all my tools because I can’t make use of them any more and need the money to eat). The main reason I participate on Cover Critics is to improve my graphics skills while also helping those who seek it. If not for that practice I would not have been able to create the covers you’re happily shitting on. I’m sorry you don’t like them, but it’s the best I can do right now.
Just in case you still insist I’ve been resting on my laurels, here is a graphic I created showing the progression of my covers and ability.
Perhaps I’d still be optimistic if I was a kid, not yet beaten down by life.
BL: After what happened with the ballfield cover, I’m hesitant to suggest this, but…if I were you, on Arbor Day, I should consider redoing the beginning and open in action. There’s not a damned thing wrong with your writing–it’s not like the “why am I not selling’ people that we see on the various author’s forums, who can’t string two coherent sentences together–but the opening doesn’t hook the reader.
I read through the whole, car-runs-out-of-gas, buddy-comes-picks-him-up stuff and left off before the next chapter. My one and only criticism is, it lacks excitement. It’s not compelling. I know you didn’t ASK for criticism or input, but…that’s mine. Feel free to ignore it, of course.
I’m not rewriting my first novel, especially since I’m going to unpublish it as soon as I can afford to buy a set of hard copies for myself. My books may not sell but I’m still proud of them.
That opening is deliberately mundane to offset the event when it occurs, but it also sets up some important payoffs later in the book and making it more action-oriented would give them away (the opening line in particular is important to both Arbor Day and Plan B). Once I decided to write sequels it was even more essential that Arbor Day didn’t rely too much on action or the series would have become repetitive. besides, anyone who requires mindless action to stay engaged won’t like Arbor Day anyway, especially when the science kicks in.
By the way, the only thing that happened with The Diamond cover is that I got a lot of criticism without suggestions how to improve it. Once I got usable advice I listened and now have a completely new cover. The exact same thing happened with my Relative Age cover which is very similar to one of the mockups presented.
Yes–but your initial reaction to that criticism about the Diamond cover is exactly the same as your initial reaction here. Hell, BL, don’t rewrite it. Unpublish it if you wish. It’s no skin off of my nose, but I feel that if you took the book to any expert in the biz–say, James Scott Bell or Patterson or any of the guys that run writing courses these days, for creating selling fiction, they’d tell you the same thing. Please, don’t make me regret bothering to look and comment.
You like to make assumptions. You assume I’ve had no formal training in writing and you assume I’ve never had my work proofread or used an editor. You previously assumed I never tried to find representation because you knew of a few cases where unknowns found representation and concluded everyone can do so (coincidentally I received yet another rejection letter as I was writing this reply). You also assume I take things personally and become angry, but I am one of the most pragmatic people you will ever know. I merely explained that the slow start was deliberate rather than me being inexperienced.
I approach everything logically and with as little bias as possible, solving each problem until the task is completed. “It sucks” provides no opportunity for growth nor improvement so I reject such reactions. As I said before, when I’ve received useful advice I applied said advice, and my work reflects that. In my life I have learned dozens of trades and skills and received many certifications and diplomas in a host of disciplines. I was not able to do so by being closed to learning and improving, and I never learned nor improved a single skill by having someone simply tell me my work sucked. When I asked why the ball and tractor work but not the ghost face, your response was mean spirited, but on Cover Critics RK provided a clear and intelligent explanation without that spiteful tone, and I thanked him for it.
You seem to exist in a bubble and base your conclusions on a relatively small sample size (as with your assumption I had not sought representation). Just because someone found success does not mean theirs is the only way to do so or that anyone can follow the same steps to the same level of success. Often, those who sell their success in the form of advice or paid courses are doing so more for their own benefit than for their disciples. They know very well every good writer must find both their own voice and writing process and anyone who mimics another author is destined to fail as a creator. I was fortunate to have writing instructors who were well educated and motivated by a desire to pass on their knowledge, not to massage their own egos.
There have been plenty of literary works that don’t follow established story structures yet have become bestsellers, and those are often the ones we best remember. Good writing both sells and flops just as bad writing sells and flops, and the same applies to traditional and non-traditional writing. I have no doubt there are plenty of people out there who would have enjoyed my work had they discovered it, but sadly circumstances both personal and otherwise have prevented that. There is no anger, just disappointment.
WHY do you think I’m making those assumptions? That’s patently absurd. I think you’re confusing me with someone else. I told you what I saw and AGAIN, I’m sorry I bothered.
@Nathan–please remove my post about BL’s book. BL, I’ll know better next time. Please–don’t ask me again for any input on anything you do.
Actually, no, I won’t remove it, because I think it’s very instructive to others who may read it.
O indie authors, whosoever hath ears to hear, let him hear.
I just want you to know that I both hate you and love you right now, Nathan.
I get that a lot.