Please accept my apologies, I certainly did not want to sound angry or "jumpy". I have been to other forums and really received no response or just didn't post in the right area maybe. We are new to this and i guess still working out the process. I also was not looking for any kind of editing for the book, I am simply trying to get a feel for whom the book will appeal to. i am trying to get some demographic data for later on and maybe build a little bit of a base for future books. If I can get some people that have read some suspens books then maybe get some feedback on our future endeavors. Thanks for the information.
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I don't necessarily know if that's the reason you've had no responses. I mean, really, it's a big forum. I'm always pretty glad when someone notices I've posted something... 
At any rate, let me go find yoru e-mail address in your first post, and you can have my name and address. I'm afraid that my phone is, in fact, my wife's cell phone and I'm not going to give that out. Bad manners, if nothing else. But you'll have my e-mail, and I reply to that consistently.
Buck up. You've got a reply.
At any rate, let me go find yoru e-mail address in your first post, and you can have my name and address. I'm afraid that my phone is, in fact, my wife's cell phone and I'm not going to give that out. Bad manners, if nothing else. But you'll have my e-mail, and I reply to that consistently.
Buck up. You've got a reply.
tompoole, the board recently lost a bunch of posts because of migration problems. It's possible you did have replies and they were lost.
It sounds as if the best forum for what you want would be the Share Your Work forum. Good luck there.
It sounds as if the best forum for what you want would be the Share Your Work forum. Good luck there.
Hello, Tom. I'm the one who responded at the Mystery thread. Although I don't read mystery, suspense, and thrillers exclusively, I've certainly read a lot of them. I like 'em.tompoole said:
I'm sorry to report that in my opinion--and it's just a single opinion, not the word of God--you're publishing too soon. At some point you may want demographic data on who's going to like this book, for marketing purposes and to determine a direction for future novels, but this book is not ready for publication.
Although you aren't seeking editing or critique, that's what this manuscript needs at this point. The excerpts posted at the website have outright grammatical and punctuation errors and other beginner's goofs like characters telling one another things they both already know as a way to provide that information to the reader.
The subject matter has the potential to be both fascinating and hilarious (or creepy, if you're heading that direction), but Mr. Brant needs to sharpen his fiction skills and do at least one rewrite before it's truly ready for publication.
I'm sure this is disappointing to you both, but if you'll send Mr. Brant our way, we'll be glad to guide him toward being a much better novelist than he is now.
I suspect that if you proceed with publication anyway, you'll sell copies to friends, family, and hardly anyone else. That's the way it usually goes with books that aren't really as good as they need to be before publication.
Maryn, sorry to deliver bad news
Didn't know there were excerpts. I shall go find them. Maryn, who is far wiser than I, is probably correct though.
(addendum: went to the Seven Hill website, read the excerpt, poked around. Maryn was right, I'm afraid. You need to hire an editor, at least. I'm not sure you're ready to go public with your business. This is my opinion.)
Maryn, who is far wiser than I, is probably correct though.(addendum: went to the Seven Hill website, read the excerpt, poked around. Maryn was right, I'm afraid. You need to hire an editor, at least. I'm not sure you're ready to go public with your business. This is my opinion.)
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tompoole, I haven't read the excerpts, but after reading Maryn's post, I surmise that you're inviting us to do the work of an acquisitions editor. If so, it would be wiser to get a real acquisitions editor. Of course, that person would expect pay for evaluating a manuscript.
Thank you for your thoughts, we do appreciate them. The book has been through several edits and corrections since the time of the posting of that particular selection. We are trying to update the site as it does give a false impression as to the progression of the project.
Just my opinion, but you may have not received any responses because your email (that is now in the Share your Work section) sounds like spam. (Mainly because of the way you are talking up your book when you are the author/one of the authors.) Also, when I hear that someone is editing their own book, I assume that it sucks. Doesn't mean that it does suck, but if it didn't, it'd probably be published by a known publisher. Again, just my opinion.
Another thing, if I'm going to take the time to read someone's book for them, I expect them to listen to ALL my opinions, (including editing ones) not just what they specifically ask for. I belong to a critique group that has been a huge help to me. Sometimes I get off the wall, totally unhelpful advice, but I still thank the reader for their time, and mean it. They didn't have to read the book/chapter, they did to be nice, and I should appreciate it.
Also, most of your emails had common spelling and punctuation errors. This site is FULL of authors, we notice those things. And if your posts contain those simple errors, your book probably does too.
One last thing, which is again not meant to be rude, but your original email sounded kind of pompous. Most of us like nice people, so the nicer you are, the more others will be likely to help you/read your work/give you advice.
All of this is meant as constructive criticism. Not as a flame, or anything along those lines.
Stacey
PS I can't spell worth a crap, so I realize that I may be a hypocrite by making the spelling comment. Spell check is my best-friend when it comes to writing.
Another thing, if I'm going to take the time to read someone's book for them, I expect them to listen to ALL my opinions, (including editing ones) not just what they specifically ask for. I belong to a critique group that has been a huge help to me. Sometimes I get off the wall, totally unhelpful advice, but I still thank the reader for their time, and mean it. They didn't have to read the book/chapter, they did to be nice, and I should appreciate it.
Also, most of your emails had common spelling and punctuation errors. This site is FULL of authors, we notice those things. And if your posts contain those simple errors, your book probably does too.
One last thing, which is again not meant to be rude, but your original email sounded kind of pompous. Most of us like nice people, so the nicer you are, the more others will be likely to help you/read your work/give you advice.
All of this is meant as constructive criticism. Not as a flame, or anything along those lines.
Stacey
PS I can't spell worth a crap, so I realize that I may be a hypocrite by making the spelling comment. Spell check is my best-friend when it comes to writing.
I looked over the site as well, and read the exerpts. A couple of comments, and please take these in the spirit in which they are intended -- no malice intended, just constructive criticism.
1. The website itself strikes me as fairly unprofessional. There are a couple of mistakes, such as "other new author's", as well as sentences that seem awkward. If your site is to market the Seven Hills books, having such errors on your site doesn't bode well (to the reader) as to the quality of the books you publish. If your site is to attract authors, they'll be turned off by the unprofessional look of your web page.
2. I read over the excerpt, and it needs work. A lot of work. Send your author over here, and he can learn a lot from the folks who post on these boards. To be blunt, this book simply is not at a publishable level yet.
3. Which brings me to another point -- is the book published or is it not? From the website, it sounds like it's available for purchase, but from your posts, it sounds like it's not released yet. I wasn't sure which was the case.
At any rate, I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting to start your own business, but with publishing, you really need to learn a lot more before you just start signing authors, otherwise you will do both writers and readers a disservice.
1. The website itself strikes me as fairly unprofessional. There are a couple of mistakes, such as "other new author's", as well as sentences that seem awkward. If your site is to market the Seven Hills books, having such errors on your site doesn't bode well (to the reader) as to the quality of the books you publish. If your site is to attract authors, they'll be turned off by the unprofessional look of your web page.
2. I read over the excerpt, and it needs work. A lot of work. Send your author over here, and he can learn a lot from the folks who post on these boards. To be blunt, this book simply is not at a publishable level yet.
3. Which brings me to another point -- is the book published or is it not? From the website, it sounds like it's available for purchase, but from your posts, it sounds like it's not released yet. I wasn't sure which was the case.
At any rate, I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting to start your own business, but with publishing, you really need to learn a lot more before you just start signing authors, otherwise you will do both writers and readers a disservice.
tompoole said:
In that case, you should probably hold off on asking for opinions until you can make time to update your website.
Again, thank you for your input. As I stated before, the website is under some construction and will be updated. The website is not whats on the block here though. I do understand that some people will assume that the book is as raw as the website. We all know what assuming does. I, of course, did not mean to sound pompous by any means in any of the other posts. I certainly was not asking for any endorsement or acceptance of this book at the forum, I simply was trying to compile a list of folks that may be interested in reading a new novel by a new author and offering opinions on it. I did feel like the first post was spam-like after I posted it. I am sorry for that and totally understand why there were no responses. And as far as the gramatical and punctuation errors in the posts, when you have snausages for fingers, sometimes the wrong key gets pressed or the shift key did not get depressed long enough to capitalize the offending letter. Please do not gauge the book by my errors of ommission, commission, typographical or grammatical errors on any of these posts. By the way, I am not the author nor co-author, I am trying to get a feel for interest in this subject. Yes the book is written but we are self-publishing it. That is why I am trying to get some opinions on the book as a whole not just on a very small excerpt on the website, before we begin printing.
tompoole said:
If you are self-publishing a novel, I recommend you check some of the AW threads on the dangers and drawbacks to self-publishing fiction. Your choice, obviously, but forewarned is forearmed.
tompoole said:
If you want people to read an entire novel, you need to tempt them with a readable, entertaining excerpt. The one you posted is bad in every possible way. It gives no one reason to want to read more. I'd suggest you pull a much better excerpt from the book to use as bait. All this one does is say "Do Not Read This Book."
And a minor readability note, but please....please format it into a larger table. The long thin column is not an enjoyable read.
We gripe and we gripe, but we wish you the best of luck at the very-same time...
We gripe and we gripe, but we wish you the best of luck at the very-same time...
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