Have You Ever Thought Have I Missed Something?

gothicangel

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Published by the Big 5? I would find that suspicious, but if it was a smaller publisher, you might have some supportive reviewing going on.

So, I've decided to pick it up again (as 'research'). But this time I decided to do a little background check on it. The weird thing is that there is no supporting marketing (apart from some bookmarks donated to libraries???), no author's website. And the marketing quotes on the jacket, as far as I can tell they could be from his editor and marketing team. I'm more than a bit surprised at Transworld/Bantam. I did find out it was bought at auction for a 'substantial six-figure sum.' I think I smell a rat.

Still, I feel sorry for the guy, published three weeks before lockdown in the UK with that kind of advance hanging over him. :flag:
 

indianroads

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A lot of books that are heralded and are best sellers I find as either uninteresting and blah, and writing has made me a stronger critic. Maybe publishers are playing it safe? I mean, same plots, same sorts of characters - are they afraid to change up their formula?

One of the reasons I write is to create the kind of books that I'd be interested in reading.
 

gothicangel

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A lot of books that are heralded and are best sellers I find as either uninteresting and blah, and writing has made me a stronger critic. Maybe publishers are playing it safe? I mean, same plots, same sorts of characters - are they afraid to change up their formula?

One of the reasons I write is to create the kind of books that I'd be interested in reading.

Definitely. I was working night-shift last night and started thinking that it doesn't bother me the way it used to. My main reaction is to use it to spur me on to write a better book.
 

Ariel.Williams

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I agree with pretty much everyone else. People have different tastes and a story can never satisfy everyone. This doesn’t just apply to books, either. I hear people raving about The Office all the time and my friend really tried to get me into it, but after a few episodes in various seasons I still just didn’t like it. I didn’t like the characters and it just wasn’t for me.

That said, there have been some novels that got a lot of praise and I just could not understand where that came from. I remember one was full of cliches, flat characters, and convenient solutions to problems. But I just decided to accept it and decide if that novel could be published and become popular, there must be hope for anything I write!