One Bad Apple
Writing|I should be able to spot a bad apple when I see it. I’ve used apples many times in my writing. It’s the ultimate symbol of temptation. As Markis asks Uly in the short promo story I wrote for the Swithin series, “Bite?” In this case, I definitely decline the taste of spoiled fruit.
If you’re wondering what I’m talking about head over to “Dear Author” and read their comments on a bad apple a.k.a. a bad book. I’m not suggesting you read the plethora of comments but I have to agree with those who feel sorry for the writer. This book and this author clearly weren’t ready for publication and the publisher who has put this work out has harmed this person, this writer, their reputation, ebooks, and the writing industry as a whole. They’ve done no one any favours.
Imagine that the writer was probably thrilled to bits. An acceptance is what every writer dreams of; that unequivocal yes, the vindication. Yayyy, a publisher wants my work. At last, I’m an author! Not only must she feel devastated as a ‘writer’ but there’s no way she cannot take some of these comments personally. Even if they didn’t heap praise on this poor unsuspecting person, the writer has to deal with the flack now aimed at her. Maybe it’s justified but it shouldn’t have happened in the first place. She shouldn’t have to go through this.
Despite the obviously poor writing there is a hint in the review that the writer had a unique concept. It doesn’t sound like one that would interest me but it happens. A story can be good but the writing poor. The writing can be good but the story poor. If I look back at what I was producing when I first put pen to paper (and back then those were the only tools I had at my disposal, but that’s another blog right there), I was a poor writer. However, reading anything I produced so long ago I can see I was always a storyteller. With the right nurturing and guidance many poor writers can achieve their potential so I’m not going to aim a personal attack at this unfortunate person. I can’t, however, call her a writer. She hasn’t been given the opportunity. As brutal as a rejection can be, sometimes honesty can be more helpful than politeness. If I were an editor and came across a story that I believed had a hint of talent I would advise that person to go away, learn how to write, do a course if need be, and then try again in the future. One major mistake many amateur writers make is that they don’t study the books they read. They have little concept of punctuation or grammar, or how stories are plotted. Can someone be taught to write? I would say no, BUT one can be taught the mechanics. The storytelling is something more instinctual.
Alas, it’s instances such as this that lead to one bad apple spoiling it for the rest. Some of you may or may not be aware that epublishing has a bad reputation. Some liken it to little more than vanity press (companies who will publish anything at the writer’s expense and reap profits for doing no work) and it’s a valid argument. It’s valid because like any industry there are those who jumped on the bandwagon. They opened their doors with little intention of being much more than a vanity publisher, or they opened with the right intentions but no business practices behind them. Some are run by authors and that’s fine. Small press has been run by authors and editors for years and produced excellent work and launched many famous careers. Stephen King started in small press and even wrote horror stories for porn magazines.
The trouble arises when anyone opens a press with the mistaken belief that it will be ‘easy’, that it won’t be as difficult — even more difficult — than running a normal business. Many were simply opportunistic and it’s the good publishers and writers that will suffer.
I’m not commenting on this particular publisher and cannot even guess as to their reasons for letting this work go to press. It only harms their business. I’m calmly crossing them off my list of possibles. I’m sorry if there is anyone out there that has had a great experience with them. If that’s the case, please speak up now in their defence. Let someone come forward to explain why such a poorly edited work made it into the public domain.
Epublishers aren’t the only ones to blame. Poor books by larger presses make it to print so ‘bad books’ aren’t restricted to ebooks by any means. Sometimes what constitutes a bad book is open to interpretation. It’s a lamentable fact that gives publishing a bad name, it gives certain genres a bad name, and it demoralises the writers. I am pleased to say there ARE good epublishers out there, every bit as dedicated as some who specialise in print. Some print publishers are now bordering that gap and easing into new technology. The sad truth behind epublishing was that to entice a readership to the idea of embracing this new kind of reading material, they had to offer something different and this is the reason for the influx of erotic romance publishers. I’m hopeful that in time there will be greater opportunites for those in epublishing. Even if this proves not to be the case, I didn’t want to be one of those who said CDs would never take off and replace records.
I have always tried to choose my publishers carefully. Does that mean I’ve loved every book ever produced by the companies I write for? No, of course it doesn’t, just as I may not love every book put out by even my favourite authors. You can’t please everyone all of the time, or even try to, but you should try to do the best job you can and check your work thoroughly. I can only speak for myself and that’s to say, I cannot guarantee my work will never go out without a typo (I’m currently reading one of Robert Jordan’s ‘Wheel of Time’ series in print and even there I’ve spotted the odd typo) but I hate it if it does. I always do my utmost not to write substandard. I don’t expect everyone to love everything I write. I write too varied for that to be possible. I just try to tell a great story, and check and check and check my work until it drives me to distraction in the right kind of way. I will always do my best not to hand you a bad apple. Please please please don’t throw away a whole barrel. There are genuine publishers out there and there are some fine authors.
June 23rd, 2009 at 7:48 pm
I read that thread too, and I think the publisher deserves to get panned for it. I do bad for the author, but even at that she should have polished her story more before she submitted it. I think there is enough blame to share in this story, and yes e-publishing does have a bad name, and it has yet to tell us otherwise.
I do feel for e-authors who actually write good stories. But the bottom line is, I’ll read 99% more crap in e-book format that I will ever in print.
June 24th, 2009 at 8:05 am
It has to lie at the publisher’s feet first but in this particular instance you may be right about the author. I’ve since seen she’s involved with another publisher. I don’t know what her writing credits are, but it appears she does have some sort of background and should therefore know better. Publishers will take bad scripts if it’s an incredible story but then they’d work on educating the author. Alas, many amateur writers (by that I mean people who may only write for a hobby and are only just starting to submit — could even be submitting for the first time) don’t know they’ve made mistakes. They’re hurt by rejection without realising it was for good reasons.
I guess I’ve been lucky in my epublishing experience. I don’t read as many ebooks as I would like because I spend too much time in front of a screen as it is so I’ve been very selective. As with print, I tend to follow authors I know I’ll like and then try a new one now and then. If we don’t click or I feel the work was bad the chances are I’ll likely never read that person (and depending on the presentation, that publisher) again.
There’s also another ‘behind the scenes’ argument to this. Publishers will put out work that sells and, inexplicably, sometimes bad work outsells anything else. Even in print I can read an acclaimed book and wonder why it did so well. LOL. But you’re right and the sad fact is in the e-market there are many more opportunistic people willing to set up a business with little thought. Because the costs are lower at the start they’re more likely to give unknown writers a chance on something they might not otherwise publish, which is both good and bad for the writer. For writers, there can be good reasons to write for the e-market but that’s another blog.
July 2nd, 2009 at 12:51 am
I have to say, I can’t believe a publisher will take on any manuscript if it is riddled in grammar mistakes and typos. I don’t know, I suppose if you look at some of these e-pubs strict guidelines, and the fact they get 50-60 submissions a months (as some have stated) will they bother with something like that?
I like writing, I thought I wanted to be an author, however I realised I’m just too lazy and in truth couldn’t be bothered. I submitted a piece to a e-publisher once, and was rejected because there wasn’t enough sex.
I am more likely to stop reading an author, as opposed to stop visiting the publisher. I think in the comments section of that DA post, many authors were scared of the very fact.
See that’s just an opinion though, like myself I sit there thinking why J.K. Rowling is so scared? I dislike the Harry Potter franchise, but I understand that it wouldn’t be so popular, if it weren’t deemed enjoyable to millions of people around the world. I don’t think the writing is bad, nor do I think the stories are. I simply, in this case don’t get the hype.
Yup, there are too many e-pubs who open up their doors, and think they know how to sell/write a book. You don’t need to have a back long, as long the River Nile to be seen as a “author” not to me anyway. However, it is where and when you submit.
July 2nd, 2009 at 7:57 am
I did hear of a story in a magazine some years back of some large publisher taking on a poorly presented book but I think the circumstances were exceptional due to the writer’s background and it was at heart supposedly an exceptional book. I’ve found the smaller the market the harder you have to work. Part of the prestige of getting into small press magazines derives from that. I had to laugh on the lazy part. Oh, most readers don’t know the half of it. It is bloody hard work at times and it’s not just the writing.
The not enough sex thing can be disheartening. Not all my stories would fit the market. They wouldn’t find a publisher, not because of the story but because the story has to match up with a publisher, and I hate putting anything into a book for the sake of it. Hype is a strange thing as are some awards. I don’t care what anyone says, we’ve all read some acclaimed book and wondered why was it so successful when another excellent book failed. I also agree there can be this pressure to get the next book out asap. It’s something that’s even sneaking into the mainstream print industry. Used to be authors were discouraged from putting more than one book out a year. That’s not the case now, not if they’re household names that will sell.
July 5th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
I’m too much of a scatter brain, I write for a fun mostly and I don’t think I’ve updated some of my stories in four years. Writing is like any job, except you have to be much more disciplined to be a writer (unless you’re in the army). I come online, and visit my favourite haunts or just read, or watch videos. Writing never comes into the equation anymore, unless I’m doing research or essays for university.
That’s probably why, if I were ever to write a book I’d opt not to publish ‘e’. I think that really put me off, and at the heart of things, to me at times that’s all e-pubs care about. Sure they want a good story, but more sex the better. I’m not one to generalise here, but I see it all the time. I buy books and out of the 100 pages they deem as a “novel” at least 85 were made up of sex scenes.
I guess for me I don’t buy books for the ‘erotic’ nature. Hell I could no without the sex. P.A. Brown who published L.A. Heat with Alyson (and now through MLR Press). The first edition had the whole fade-out style when it came to sex scenes, which I preferred. I’m not sure if the new edition through MLR Press has included sex scenes now? I did read the original publication, which was (is?) free online, and that had sex scenes in it. Even though she wrote them well, I again did not feel it was needed.
I suppose the whole point of the e-market is the very fact people can push boundries, and write explicit sex scenes and BDSM etc. However, when the becomes the focal point of the whole book, you can’t call it a story.
I only feel bad for talented authors (imho) who feel they need to get a book out fast. There are some who should just stop piling out crap. I rather wait a year or two for my favourite authors need book. After all, there isn’t going to be a lack of reading material between that time. As with yourself, other than your short story in the ‘I Do’ anthology, I haven’t read anything else of your material, due to the fact nothing you have written has interested me. I know you’re a good writer, and I am waiting for another m/m contemp from yourself. However, I have no problem waiting and would rather see something polished and well-written then 50 short stories or novellas that are just going to make me cry
July 6th, 2009 at 10:19 am
I’ll send you around to many people I know and you can repeat that writing is like any ‘job’. LOL. I hear what you’re saying but what can you do? The majority of readers do want the sex. The difference for me I feel is that I have a very clear definition in my head as to what defines a necessary sex scene. Something has to be happening to the characters during that scene as much as any other. I may not always succeed in pulling that off but I do try. Cosmic is doing well but reviews puzzled me as they do tend to shout ‘this is a great’ book but you’re going to actually have to read a story to get to the passionate parts. To me there’s no dividing line. It should ‘all’ be necessary and be a whole rounded creation, if you see what I mean.
As to the next m/m contemp…I’m trying! My time is not my sodding own at the moment. Sigh. I’m also fighting the editing urge because as it develops I want to go back over and keep deepening it when what I should do is get the first draft down and then work on it.
July 11th, 2009 at 1:09 am
Do people say to you writing isn’t a job? That’s surprising I might add. I only see it in the ‘e’ market because well, erotic romance isn’t really sold at your local bookstore. Then again, I haven’t bought a straight romance book in ages , from the likes of Borders and Amazon; other than the Twilight Saga (which is young adult, so doesn’t count).
I think a lot of authors feel the same way as you do. Ones that actually write a story. I feel incredibly annoyed when authors write short stories, and if it’s 12 pages long 9 of it is made up of foreplay and sex. I don’t take into the lousy excuse of the characters have already been established in a story previously. Publishers should just warn readers: Book contain only sex scenes. Saves those who want a story a lot of trouble.
I’m sorry but any reviewer who says, “Damn you have to read a PLOT to get to the sex scenes” is just not worth listening too. I can understand if the relationship aspect takes a long time coming into. Like there was a story I read, and it was probably about 150 pages or so, and the relationship only got started in the last 40 pages. That doesn’t mean they started having sex by then, it means that they didn’t actually get together. Which was a bid, sad for me because I felt I was reading two separate lives, there wasn’t a build-up to their friendship and ultimately their relationship until the end; which was a poor rush job.
I get people want to “see” the sex. But if they want character boinking into the first three pages, then I can’t take their opinion seriously. Any reviewer who says that, will not entice me into taking their thoughts seriously.
I just saw your newer post, and I wish you the utmost luck with it.
July 14th, 2009 at 9:17 am
Even writing for the e-market is work. Maybe more so because there aren’t huge marketing departments to back you up. It doesn’t matter who you write for, a writer is expected to promote and help market these days (some publishers ask for full marketing plans along with the manuscript) but it’s probably more work for the ebook writer. Writing doesn’t just involve the writing. But, yes, there are some people who think you happily have all the time in the world to tap away all day and you’re living a big house in a beautiful place, with a scenic view in front of your desk (the movie ‘Something’s Gotta Give’, as good as it was really did nothing for the mistaken image the world has of the idyllic life people ‘imagine’ most writers live).
There are also some people who see it as a hobby and so relate it to ‘having fun’. It is fun…when it’s going well and just flowing. It’s also work. It’s also maddening and frustrating when it’s not flowing, when you’ve worked really hard and someone misses your point entirely or just hates it anyway, or an editor is telling you to maybe heighten a sex scene you don’t want to heighten or asking you to alter something to suit housestyle or ‘could this character not do this and maybe do this…’ etc. LOL. Okay, often editors are wonderful. I’ve been lucky. I’ve learned a lot from them. No one is always right, including me, including my editors. It’s all opinion at the end of the day. A writer friend of mine believes authors shouldn’t apologise — it is ‘their’ creation when all is said and done.
There are some writers who have switched publishers and even some editors who have left the business because they are sick of characters having sex before they’ve barely said hello so you’re not alone.