• Welcome to BookAndReader!

    We LOVE books and hope you'll join us in sharing your favorites and experiences along with your love of reading with our community. Registering for our site is free and easy, just CLICK HERE!

    Already a member and forgot your password? Click here.

A Warning that I have arrived

TerishD

TerishD

New Member
Hello everyone. I am TerishD, a writer with a couple of published novels under his belt and more to come. I have been writing all of my life, but was inspired to start showing off his talents almost exactly four years ago (It was in the latter half of April). Since that time I have been posting installments of stories every five days on a variety of sights.

What brings me here is that one of my sites shut down. I was posting a story with a slightly mature undercurrent, so was seeking somewhere where I could restart and continue. I read and understood the rating icons of this site, and felt that such was more than understandable. Note that most of my stuff is not R/X/XXX rated, but I also do not consider myself writing for children. On the other sites that I am on, we also consider it proper to warn if material might be appropriate, but I am already posting stories there and was looking for a new place.

Note that I write mainly fantasy, although have recently finally discovered a science-fiction setting that I approve of (my degree is in Physics, so I tend to cut down most sci-fi). I am a strong critic, and in time you should find that I am a dependable person to respond to posts (except poets).

I look forward to speaking with you all.
 
TerishD said:
I am TerishD, a writer with a couple of published novels under his belt and more to come.
Click to expand...

With all respect, you are not a published author, but a self-published author.
 
Reply

With all respect, you are not a published author, but a self-published author.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I saw the diatribe against PA. Let me say that my first book WAS self-published. PublishAmerica has treated me BETTER, and given me a BETTER product, AND I paid NOTHING.

Let me also say that I enjoy reading independent books. I buy books from PublishAmerica and other fringe publishers. Mass-market books are tossed by me. I hate entering a books store, because I know that I am throwing my money away. I am back to having to do so (I do put mass-market in my reading stack), because I am changing others to reading independents. Mass-market fiction/sci-fi is horrible stuff.

I fear the day that I become mass-market. I can envision it happening, but it hasn't yet. I already expect to start hearing about the glory of my early stuff when my stuff finally starts appearing in book stores.
 
TerishD said:
Yeah, I saw the diatribe against PA. Let me say that my first book WAS self-published. PublishAmerica has treated me BETTER, and given me a BETTER product, AND I paid NOTHING.

Let me also say that I enjoy reading independent books. I buy books from PublishAmerica and other fringe publishers. Mass-market books are tossed by me. I hate entering a books store, because I know that I am throwing my money away. I am back to having to do so (I do put mass-market in my reading stack), because I am changing others to reading independents. Mass-market fiction/sci-fi is horrible stuff.

I fear the day that I become mass-market. I can envision it happening, but it hasn't yet. I already expect to start hearing about the glory of my early stuff when my stuff finally starts appearing in book stores.
Click to expand...


I have rarely come across an ego the size of yours. Let me just say that if your books ever are carried by bookstores, I won't be throwing my money away on anything by you. :cool: Plenty of people enjoy and buy mass-market books for a reason- they are for the most part well written, edited, and marketed. I have no idea if your overpriced books are full of typos, in which case I'd probably demand my money back or mail the ashes of the burned book back to you. This is not a personal attack or a flame- I am extremely curious about your attitude towards mass market books, bookstores, and your apparent obsession with independent and self-published books. It all sounds like you're trying to get attention for your books.
 
Reply

Hello, Miss Shelf. Yes, I have an ego, but I will apologize if I am rude. Also, yes, I did come here to promote myself and my writings, but I will also respond to other writers and will buy their published works (and hand them out to others).

Let me say that I disagree with your comments about mass-market books, I do not find them well written, or well edited. They are often poor on consistency with a plot stretched very thin. I have also challenged a number of people to find a mass-market book free from EASILY NOTICED errors (ie. any modern word processor would have flagged it).

I did not come here to argue, but I will also not stay quiet. I however do state the reasons for my views. I do not bicker. There many that disagree with me, but we are friends because our positions are well stated. Those that cannot reason out their beliefs (they simply feel that they are correct) are those that will detest me.
 
I'll agree to disagree, but I think you have a very narrow viewpoint about mass market books. They're there because a publishing house thought they were worth spending money on to publish.

Yes, not all mass market books are well-written or error-free, but I would trust a book from a bookstore much more than I would a self-published book. For instance, your books have no reviews, and readers depend on your descriptions rather than having the opportunity to see what's inside before they agree to buy the book. I think a lot of self-published books are lacking this option. At least in a bookstore, I can page through a book to get an idea of what's inside before I spend my money on it.

That being said, a healthy ego is essential for success-Trump didn't get where he is today by being a wuss. There's nothing wrong with it, and people are people-there are always people who won't get along.
 
Reply

It is good getting to know you, Miss Shelf.

The only response I want to say is about your comments of reviews and being able to flip through the pages of the book. Those are factors of marketing, and that is one benefit of a mass-market publisher. I don't put stocks in reviews, so did not seek them myself, but being active on the internet I figured that people would be easily able to gain samples of my writings (such could be wrong thinking on my part). Note that I have turned in copies of my books to Amazon for their "Inside the book" feature, but I have yet to gain that benefit (I can only speculate as to why).

Let me also say if bookstores were more open to independents, then I believe the readers would be better served. I know the bookstores in my area often claim that they do not get orders for certain authors, but then state that they cannot get certain books (so I order from another source, so my bookstore still claims that they do not get orders for certain authors, and the cycle goes around).
 
TerishD said:
It is good getting to know you, Miss Shelf.

The only response I want to say is about your comments of reviews and being able to flip through the pages of the book. Those are factors of marketing, and that is one benefit of a mass-market publisher. I don't put stocks in reviews, so did not seek them myself, but being active on the internet I figured that people would be easily able to gain samples of my writings (such could be wrong thinking on my part). Note that I have turned in copies of my books to Amazon for their "Inside the book" feature, but I have yet to gain that benefit (I can only speculate as to why).

Let me also say if bookstores were more open to independents, then I believe the readers would be better served. I know the bookstores in my area often claim that they do not get orders for certain authors, but then state that they cannot get certain books (so I order from another source, so my bookstore still claims that they do not get orders for certain authors, and the cycle goes around).
Click to expand...


I was talking about being in a bookstore and physically flipping through the pages of a book. Most online book sellers will only let you see the first page or two, which doesn't tell me about a book at all. I generally go to the middle of the book to see if I like the writing style.

Secondly, I don't have the time of patience to search the Net for examples of your (or anyone else's) works. If I read a good review of a book, or a friend tells me about a book, I'll be interested. For example, I found out about the book I just finished from reading an interview with a different author who said she liked that book. So there are many ways of getting a book noticed, besides the usual routes.
 
Since there is a healthy discussion going, I'll offer my middle-ground.
I have been uniformly disappointed in the first books by new authors that I have bought in bookstores. So I would say that getting into bookstores, or onto amazon, is only the half of it, if that much.
But as John Wayne would say: "Enough of this palaver! Let's get on with it!"
Peder
 
Peder To be fair, I have to add that there is one author that I have read that her first novel was dynamite! That is Diana Gabaldon. She had not written anything but a dry professional book (maybe it was a thesis :confused: ) and then for a lark launched into what is one of the best series I have ever read! Bar None. Yes I have all of that particular series, numbering 6 (so far) :rolleyes: , she has written a couple of 'off-shoots' of the series characters, which I am not so crazy about. Her first of the series Outlander, started out as a novella, and ended up 627 pages long. And I believe that is the shortest of the lot.

Anyhow, the point of this post (and there is one...) is that first time authors can be marvelous. ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top