Bad Reads

brainstorm77 · Mar 19, 2009

Recently I've read some pretty bad books. It wasn't their writing style but the story lines! Honestly two books in particular I really wonder how they got published! Probably due to one author being well known the other well I don't know. The story lines were boring. The first had no conflict in the love story whatsoever and you could guess what was going to happen as you turned each page. The other was an historical that was so boring that half way through I realized I couldn't read anymore without falling asleep. :tongue

Gillhoughly · Mar 19, 2009

That's why it's so cool to have...

Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Books.

They've even come up with warning labels!

dnic · Mar 19, 2009

I LOVE that site. =] It's an awesome read.

ellisnation · Mar 19, 2009

Ugh. Grrr. Tell me about it. I am in the middle of a horrible one by a "well known" and I want to throw it against the wall. I want my $7.99 back hehe.

brainstorm77 · Mar 20, 2009

ellisnation said:
Ugh. Grrr. Tell me about it. I am in the middle of a horrible one by a "well known" and I want to throw it against the wall. I want my $7.99 back hehe.

Well I picked one title because I heard the author wrote really great romance ...... Maybe it's that one book cause I didn't see it. :tongue

Robin Bayne · Mar 20, 2009

And I really hate when I buy an author I've previously loved, and now she's doing suspense or something icky.

Hildegarde · Mar 20, 2009

Inspiewriter said:
And I really hate when I buy an author I've previously loved, and now she's doing suspense or something icky.

I would think this would be a good time for the writer to utilize different pen names. I understand wanting to build your brand, but if you're going to write in genres that have little cross-over, you risk pissing off your fan base in one while trying to establish the other.

brainstorm77 · Mar 20, 2009

Inspiewriter said:
And I really hate when I buy an author I've previously loved, and now she's doing suspense or something icky.

What would be considered icky?

Lainey Bancroft · Mar 20, 2009

brainstorm77 said:
Recently I've read some pretty bad books. It wasn't their writing style but the story lines! Honestly two books in particular I really wonder how they got published! Probably due to one author being well known the other well I don't know. The story lines were boring. The first had no conflict in the love story whatsoever and you could guess what was going to happen as you turned each page. The other was an historical that was so boring that half way through I realized I couldn't read anymore without falling asleep.

Ah, it is tempting to think, This got published? WTF? I could do this with my keyboard tied behind my back! But it is also important to remember that what you consider 'bad' may be exactly what someone else is in the market for. Many people just want a clear cut boy-meets-girl that requires no guessing or thought process on their part.

And, hey, they got into the market and you bought the books. Better to expend your energy wondering about why they got there (someone saw something) than waste your time thinking about all the reasons you think they shouldn't be there.

But I do agree with you. As Cathy said in her 'what makes a good romance thread' there are a couple 'names' with mega releases, and try though I may, I just can't see the appeal to their phony, saccharine TSTL heroines and Alpha 'man knows best' heroes. :Shrug:

sunandshadow · Mar 20, 2009

Lainey Bancroft said:
But it is also important to remember that what you consider 'bad' may be exactly what someone else is in the market for.

This is true, and disturbing. I think in the novel forum here on AW there was a thread about books people threw across the room, or worst books people had read, and in several cases one person's complaints made another person want to read the book.

I guess variety is the spice of life and diversity is great and all that, but sometimes it really makes me feel ill to realize that other people are so alien and don't appreciate what I love and probably love things that I hate.

Sakamonda · Mar 20, 2009

What one type of reader hates may be exactly what another type of reader loves. Anybody who's managed to have multiple books published over a period of years has done so because they've built a reliable fan base who flock to their books. Publishers don't keep investing $$ in authors whose books don't sell.

I personally can't stand the writing of Danielle Steele, Tom Clancy, John Grisham, or Barbara Delinsky. But obviously those writers still have plenty of loyal fans who love every word they write. A lot of what makes a writer successful is just a matter of taste. If there are enough people out there who like what they write and will pay good money for it, they will be successful regardless of what anyone else does or says.

I recently had one of my erotica novels absolutely skewered on a major romance review site. The reviewer obviously was not a regular reader of erotic writing and trashed my book, probably because she just isn't someone who likes that kind of writing in the first place. But her snarky review just helped me sell a ton of books. What sucks to one reader can be another reader's favorite book.

Fortunately, if you're a writer with real talent, your work will eventually find an audience. And there are plenty of readers to go around. Don't worry about trying to please readers who wouldn't read anything in your genre or subgenre in the first place; they aren't the readers who matter to you or your career.

And furthermore, if you're unpublished, don't rage and vent about "why can so-and-so get published and I can't when so-and-so sucks so much?" The answer is easy: they sell books.

brainstorm77 · Mar 21, 2009

Sakamonda said:
What one type of reader hates may be exactly what another type of reader loves. Anybody who's managed to have multiple books published over a period of years has done so because they've built a reliable fan base who flock to their books. Publishers don't keep investing $$ in authors whose books don't sell.

I personally can't stand the writing of Danielle Steele, Tom Clancy, John Grisham, or Barbara Delinsky. But obviously those writers still have plenty of loyal fans who love every word they write. A lot of what makes a writer successful is just a matter of taste. If there are enough people out there who like what they write and will pay good money for it, they will be successful regardless of what anyone else does or says.

I recently had one of my erotica novels absolutely skewered on a major romance review site. The reviewer obviously was not a regular reader of erotic writing and trashed my book, probably because she just isn't someone who likes that kind of writing in the first place. But her snarky review just helped me sell a ton of books. What sucks to one reader can be another reader's favorite book.

Fortunately, if you're a writer with real talent, your work will eventually find an audience. And there are plenty of readers to go around. Don't worry about trying to please readers who wouldn't read anything in your genre or subgenre in the first place; they aren't the readers who matter to you or your career.

And furthermore, if you're unpublished, don't rage and vent about "why can so-and-so get published and I can't when so-and-so sucks so much?" The answer is easy: they sell books.

Geez are we not aloud to have opinions or what??? And I didn't say a person sucked I said a book or books did!
Oh and just because a person is unpublished Sakomonda does't mean again they cannot voice their opinion. That comment was offensive.
Sounds like to me you cannot take a bad review. You had better get use to it. You put it out there and not every reader is going to fawn over what you write. Published or NOT!
This irks me to no end!

brainstorm77 · Mar 21, 2009

Lainey Bancroft said:
Ah, it is tempting to think, This got published? WTF? I could do this with my keyboard tied behind my back! But it is also important to remember that what you consider 'bad' may be exactly what someone else is in the market for. Many people just want a clear cut boy-meets-girl that requires no guessing or thought process on their part.

And, hey, they got into the market and you bought the books. Better to expend your energy wondering about why they got there (someone saw something) than waste your time thinking about all the reasons you think they shouldn't be there.

But I do agree with you. As Cathy said in her 'what makes a good romance thread' there are a couple 'names' with mega releases, and try though I may, I just can't see the appeal to their phony, saccharine TSTL heroines and Alpha 'man knows best' heroes.

And again I'm not saying no one would like the books.. It's my opinion. Like with the meyer books (which I've yet to read so I have no opinion on them) some love them, some hate them.

Sakamonda · Mar 21, 2009

Geez are we not aloud to have opinions or what??? And I didn't say a person sucked I said a book or books did!
Oh and just because a person is unpublished Sakomonda does't mean again they cannot voice their opinion. That comment was offensive.
Sounds like to me you cannot take a bad review. You had better get use to it. You put it out there and not every reader is going to fawn over what you write. Published or NOT!
This irks me to no end!

My post was meant to be informative, not insulting. Speaking as a published author who also reads a lot of diffierent kinds of books (and also as someone who doesn't like everything that is published), I was simply pointing out that there is room for a lot of different books and authors out there. And publishing is a business. Publishers publish books that will make them money. Sometimes what is popular isn't what literary types consider "good."

If you as an unpublished author post a topic saying "gee, I don't see how some people get published," then you should expect someone with more knowledge about publishing to explain it to you. Information is meant to inform, not to insult.

Sakamonda · Mar 21, 2009

Sounds like to me you cannot take a bad review. You had better get use to it. You put it out there and not every reader is going to fawn over what you write. Published or NOT!

----Ahem. On the contrary. The bad review on that one site actually caused a huge spike in my sales. From a business perspective, that bad review was GOOD for my career.

As someone who makes a living as a writer, I care a hell of a lot more about the size of my royalty statement than what one blogger thinks about my book. If one blogger's snarky review helps me sell a ton of books, that's good for me and my career. Being a success in this business teaches you to focus on what's important----selling your books.

The tone of your posts suggests that you have a lot to learn about how to behave when people comment on your writing in public. If you don't want honest feedback or commentary on what you post in public, then don't post.

shameless · Mar 21, 2009

Sakamondo -- I'd never noticed your cover art before until I saw this from a friend of mine. How often are covers duplicated???

brainstorm77 · Mar 21, 2009

sweetie go back and re-read that first post of yours telling anyone who is not published to not rant and vent as you so put it. It was offensive and not informative, even if you say you didn't mean it that way.
Opinions are opinions and the last time I checked people were aloud to have them, even those who are unpublished.

brainstorm77 · Mar 21, 2009

You often talk down on here and most of your informative posts come across as snarky... And if that review didn't bother you why did you post about it?
And check on your own behaviour posting on AW.. I'm not the first to notice the negative tones in your posts on here.

brainstorm77 · Mar 21, 2009

shameless said:
Sakamondo -- I'd never noticed your cover art before until I saw this from a friend of mine. How often are covers duplicated???

WOW! same cover art!

scarletpeaches · Mar 21, 2009

Anyone is allowed to crit aloud.

brainstorm77 · Mar 21, 2009

scarletpeaches said:
Anyone is allowed to crit aloud.

Thank you SP! That's all I was trying to say!

shameless · Mar 21, 2009

Inspiewriter said:
And I really hate when I buy an author I've previously loved, and now she's doing suspense or something icky.

Me too! I'll pick on Julie Garwood because she's a well-known writer. I can read her historicals over and over and over and ad nauseum... They never lose their magic. But her mainstream fiction leaves me cold.

It's one of the reasons I'm considering adopting a pen name for my urban fantasties. If readers go from my comedy in Turning Thirty-Twelve to my Amazons, they might be disappointed. On the other hand, what if they don't realize that I have other books out there? They're in the same voice, only darker. Not that anyone really knows my name anyway... :ROFL:

Such a paradox. Suggestions from the more experienced writers on this thread?? I value your opinions.

brainstorm77 · Mar 21, 2009

shameless said:
Me too! I'll pick on Julie Garwood because she's a well-known writer. I can read her historicals over and over and over and ad nauseum... They never lose their magic. But her mainstream fiction leaves me cold.

It's one of the reasons I'm considering adopting a pen name for my urban fantasties. If readers go from my comedy in Turning Thirty-Twelve to my Amazons, they might be disappointed. On the other hand, what if they don't realize that I have other books out there? They're in the same voice, only darker. Not that anyone really knows my name anyway...

Such a paradox. Suggestions from the more experienced writers on this thread?? I value your opinions.

I think pen names serve a purpose for things like this. I would prob do the same thing if changing genres.

scarletpeaches · Mar 21, 2009

Well, I'm unpublished.

But I have noticed certain authors having different pen names for different genres. Meg Hutchinson is one. (Regional sagas, a la Catherine Cookson).

Some of her book covers have in teeny writing, "Meg Hutchinson writing as..." then in big font, "MARGARET ASTBURY". These are her horror/spinechiller books.

So you could actually have your 'romance' name in small writing, then your 'genre pen name' in a bigger font, so your readers can follow you, but they know "This is a pen name book, so it's a different kind of story."

Just a suggestion.

Deb Kinnard · Mar 21, 2009

brainstorm77 said:
What would be considered icky?

"Icky" is a highly technical, esoteric term that Robin sometimes uses. Very difficult to explain, but I'll give it a go...

"Icky" happens when a totally competent, great storyteller hops from a romance subgenre that you like to one that makes you want to yerk hairballs. An example (now this is MY PERSONAL ICK [MPI], so be warned) is Eileen Wilks. I completely loved her work until she began writing paranormals. The first one wasn't even well identified as such, but it was the last one of hers I ever read. Another example (MPI) is Dee Henderson, a Christian fic author who started in romance and jumped to romantic suspense. I'm not sure, but I think her career there has tanked because of one unfortunate book...oh, never mind.

Don't get me wrong, they're still terrific writers, but if they have a following in romance, my plea is that they'd give us a clue that they're going in another direction. Otherwise, "icky."

And that is MPI. As I say, only a term for the technically minded.

Bad Reads

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Rhiannon Ellis

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A newb in the fog

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