An amateur self-published book gives professional indies a bad name
by Anne R. Allen
When you’re confined to a hospital bed for several months the way I was last summer, you read a lot of books. During my 2+ months of medical incarceration, I read pretty much everything loaded onto my trusty old Kindle (over 200 titles.)
Often I didn’t remember how the books got there. I’d just start reading where Amazon plunked me down.
But it’s amazing how soon I could tell a book was an amateur effort. Sometimes I stuck around to read the rest of the book for story, but often I just clicked away.
Do note: I think it’s important to make a distinction between an amateur self-published book and one from a professional indie author. Few people can tell the difference between a book self-published by a pro and one from a traditional publishing house.
But amateurs tend to fly some red flags early on to let the reader know they’re kind of winging the whole publishing thing.
1) Titles: Generic Titles Can Scream “Amateur Self-Published Book.”
An author who chooses a generic title like Finding Myself, or Love and Marriage, or one all-encompassing word like Change, Grief, or Hope is signaling a lack of focus. (As well as a lousy imagination.)
Generic titles also don’t give the reader enough information as to what the book is about.
Yes, I know there’s a novel called War and Peace that hasn’t done too badly in the sales department. And there is a spectacular comic novel called Life, the Universe and Everything. But if you’re not Leo Tolstoy or Douglas Adams, don’t attempt such a huge undertaking.
Look at the current bestsellers. Their titles tend to be very specific and intriguing. Titles like Where the Crawdads Sing, My Dark Vanessa, or Mexican Gothic spark an emotional response as well as curiosity in the reader. For more on titles, see my post “10 Tips for Choosing the Right Title for Your Book.”
2) Clunky Storytelling (Although it Shows up in Trad-Pubbed Books Too.)
I used to say I could always tell an amateur book by the saggy middle or lack of focus, but after reading those 200 books on my Kindle, I realized clunky storytelling happens everywhere.
However, I did see it more often in amateur books. Constant flashbacks and relentless exposition were the two most common problems that kept me from reading on.
But the worst cause of clunky storytelling I found was the protagonist who didn’t have specific goals and sort of floated through the story rather than driving it forward. Books with goal-less protagonists often can read like a series of vignettes rather than a coherent story.
I’ll be writing a post next year that offers some fixes for clunky storytelling that will help whether you’re planning to trad-pub or self-pub.
3) Spelling and Grammar Issues
This isn’t true for everybody, but for me, grammar lapses say “amateur self-published book.” These are my top nit-picks:
- Apostrophes. Any writer who doesn’t know when to use “Its” vs. “It’s” or “Your” vs. “You’re” needs an eagle-eyed editor.
- “Lie” vs. “Lay.” Hens lay eggs. People lie down. The use of these words can be regional, but unless you’re writing dialogue from that region, learn to use them correctly.
- “Was” vs. “Were.” This is a hard one. Most of your characters probably don’t use the subjunctive in dialogue. But if your narrator is supposed to be an educated person, and you’re writing something counter to fact, you need to be able to write “If Henrietta were a chicken, she would lay purple eggs,” not “If Henrietta was a chicken…” Tip: Substitute “I” for the subject. It’s easy to say “If I were a chicken” instead of “If I was a chicken.” Yes, I know some writing teachers say you should never use “was” or “were” in any case. But I think they’re full of guano. Here’s my post on the “Was” Police, and one on Stupid Writing Rules.
- “Alright” isn’t a word. Sorry. It’s fine for colloquial dialogue, but not for serious prose.
- “Advice” is a noun. “Advise” is a verb. They’re not interchangeable. If you’re asked to advise someone, you give them advice. Yes, English is a weird language.
- “Me” and “I” issues. Many writers are afraid to use the word “me” for fear of sounding illiterate. So they substitute the awkward and pretentious “myself.” You don’t have to say, “She offered eggs to Henrietta and myself.” “Me” is the correct pronoun to use as the object of a verb or a preposition. You wouldn’t write “He gave the egg to I,” so don’t write “He gave the egg to Henrietta and I.”
- “Try and.” It’s perfectly fine to have your characters say they’re going to “try and find purple eggs” in dialogue, because “try and” is common in colloquial speech. But your narrative voice shouldn’t say it if she’s supposed to be educated. She will say she “tried to find purple eggs.”
4) Continuity Glitches and Bad Dialogue/Description Ratio
These problems are why we need professional editors:
- Name changes. There’s the audiobook a narrator friend auditioned for where the protagonist’s name changed in the middle of the excerpt. (I admit I once sent a full ms. to an agent with the protagonist’s name changed half-way through. ☹ )
- And I read one where a character’s name was spelled three different ways. I read most of the book thinking they were three different people. (I pictured some interesting threesomes in those love scenes.)
- An old favorite is leaving a minor character hanging off a cliff because the author forgot to continue his story arc.
- Some amateur self-published books read like screenplays, with nothing but dialogue. Others consist of huge, indigestible hunks of description. Get thee to an editor!
- The heroine is wearing stiletto heels at the beginning of a scene, but somehow runs after the bad guy in her trusty Nikes even though she hasn’t had a minute to change shoes. Or a minor character is a dentist in one scene and an accountant in another. Or a character is described as an orphan, but complains about living with her parents.
5) Covers: DIY Cover Design Can Look Professional These Days, But…
Some people say you can always tell a self-published book by its cover, but that simply isn’t true anymore. Most indies hire professional cover designers these days, and as Ruth told us in November, DIY covers have come a long way and can look as professional as a cover from a traditional publishing house.
On a Kindle, you often don’t see the cover of a book anyway. You have to scroll back from where the Kindle puts you, and on my old version, everything is in black and white anyway.
That isn’t to say that some covers don’t wave the amateur flag. The most obvious newbie covers are a muddle of too many elements. The author has tried to get every character and theme into that cover art with a multitude of fonts and it’s a hot mess.
Or the cover may be wrong for the genre. If gruesome buckets of blood grace the cover of a cozy mystery, or there’s a naked couple in an erotic clench on the cover of a literary novel, the reader can be pretty sure this is an amateur self-published book.
How to Keep Your Indie Project from Looking Like an Amateur Self-Published Book
Hire a professional editor. If your editor is as amateur as you are, you’re wasting your money. Even if their knowledge of grammar is pretty good, they’re not always going to give you a polished book. The average English major has no idea how to structure a story, create a character arc, or write convincing dialogue.
Get lots of feedback. If you don’t have good beta readers, think of joining a critique group, either online or in person. (Although you shouldn’t take everything they say as gospel.) Or you might take a creative writing class where people share work. Yes, you’ll be getting some painful feedback, but you can learn not to take it personally.
Getting feedback is essential, even though much of it can be less than helpful. It will help you avoid wasting your money and a professional editor’s time.
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By Anne R. Allen (@annerallen) December 20, 2020
What about you, scriveners? What signs of amateurism make you stop reading a book? Or decide not to buy it? Have you self-published a book and later realized it was full of signs of amateurism?
BOOK OF THE WEEK
SHERWOOD, LTD: Camilla Mystery #2
Suddenly-homeless American manners expert Camilla Randall becomes a 21st century Maid Marian—living rough near the real Sherwood Forest with a band of outlaw English erotica publishers—led by a charming, self-styled Robin Hood who unfortunately may intend to kill her.
When Camilla is invited to publish a book of her columns with UK publisher Peter Sherwood, she lands in a gritty criminal world—far from the Merrie Olde England she envisions. The staff are ex-cons and the erotica is kinky. Hungry and penniless, she camps in a Wendy House built from pallets of porn while battling an epic flood, a mendacious American Renfaire wench, and the mysterious killer who may be Peter himself.
Here’s a great write up of Sherwood, Ltd from Debra Eve at the Later Bloomer
Available in ebook from:
All Amazons GooglePlay Scribd Kobo Nook Smashwords
Available in paper from:
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If any writers are feeling in need of some spiritual solace in these painful times, there’s a new (free) website just for authors that offers a short guided meditation for relaxation and inspiration. Check out “Monday Meditations for the Writer’s Soul.“
Anne—LOL and aargh! Thanks for a great post.
There’s a cure for Continuity Glitches: It’s called a style sheet. Every writer — pro, amateur, or in between — needs one. Here’s how to build one: https://selfpublishingsites.com/writing-bloggers/
Ruth–Oh, yes! Style sheets help so much. Thanks for including that link.
Please correct link. Thanks!
Sorry about that! 🙂 Here’s the style sheet link: https://selfpublishingsites.com/2015/09/style-that-doesnt-go-out-of-fashion/
Here’s a comment from the wonderful social media expert, Frances Caballo, who couldn’t get past the cranky WordPress elves:
Anne, it’s great to see that you are writing blog posts again. I’ve missed you. And I love this post. When I wrote my first book (Social Media Just for Writers), I searched Amazon for social media titles and thought about what words my audience would use to find a book like mine. So I selected keywords that would help a reader’s search results on Amazon. I ended up loving that title so much that I called my blog Social Media Just for Writers. And as for the cover, I highly recommend that people hire a professional. Sure, you can use Canva to create a book cover. But covers do sell books and covers that are professionally created are more likely to move books off virtual shelves.
Frances–I used to think absolutely every book needed a professionally designed cover, but Ruth got me to rethink with her post on covers last month. https://selfpublishingsites.com/2020/11/diy-book-covers-have-come-a-long-way/
So great to see you back in the chair, Anne! That was a long haul of convalescence you endured, my dear. Amateur self-pub mistakes? I’ve made ’em all, for sure. This indie author thing is a continual journey of hopeful self improvement, and I one-hundred percent agree with professional editing/proofreading and well-done covers.
I’ll add one thing (from my experience) and that’s eBook formatting. There’s an art to this. Fortunately, it’s an art that can easily be learned. The big thing I see is loading front matter with irrelevant stuff for the story’s opening – quotes, acknowledgements, table of contents, and unnecessary links to other products. An eBook has to get right into the flow. There’s all kinds of room in back matter for the fluff, and that includes an immediate request for reviews as well as signing the mailing list.
There’s a good reason for keeping the front clean. That’s because of the “Look Inside” feature on the Amazon sales page and the “Preview” on Kobo and Nook. What happens when a perspective reader gets a hint of your book and clicks on the cover, is they go to the sales page. From there, if the product description is enticing and it otherwise looks good, they’ll click to the sample. Who wants to scroll through four to six pages of irrelevant crap like chapter numbers, a dedication to your late and great aunt Mel, or a poem tribute to long lost Labradors?
No. Put that s#$t in the back. The indie’s job is to get the reader right into the story. And, many TPs who format eBooks are as guilty of front clutter as amateur DIYs. Sorry for the rant, but I hope this tidbit helps others to bring up their game and sell more books 🙂
Garry–You know the biggest culprits who clog their ebooks with useless front matter? The Big Five! I’ve tried to “look inside” a number of bestsellers and found nothing but pointless tables of contents (the kind with no chapter titles) and endless blurbitude that belongs on the buy page, not inside the book. Indies need to NOT copy the pros on this one. The Big Five still haven’t got the hang of ebooks.
The “try and…” makes me nuts! LOL
One of my pet peeves.
I have seen “try and” in the dialogue cards for silent movies. I find it especially irritating when used by professional journalists on television. Thanks for a great post!
A J –My sister, a former editor, says I should give up my battle against “try and” because it is everywhere. I think it’s fine in dialogue and everyday speech, but I don’t think it belongs in serious prose.
Actually, Merrian Webster says alright is a word that has its defenders and critics. It appeared later than all right, but is a word. My pet peeves are “more importantly” and “interestingly. What are these apparent adverbs actually modifying. Hopefully is firmly entrenched and actually makes some sense because “it is to be hoped” is awkward. There’s nothing awkward about saying “more important,”
Ima–I guess I wasn’t entirely accurate there. “Alright” is a colloquialism. So it’s a word in that sense. I agree about “more importantly”.
Great tips in this article, Anne! But also, the Macquarie dictionary (Australian standard) now allows “alright”, so I’m afraid that battle would appear to be lost. (As an editor, I now allow it to stand. Because I must bow to the dictionary governing the style of the book.) But oh please, may they not affirm the misuse of lay/lie. I seem to be able to stay quite calm about so many grammar clangers, but for some reason a “lay” that should be “lie” makes me twitch in a strange way — not in general conversation, but when committed by a professional journalist etc. 😀
Great stuff Anne. Normally I believe I would have found these points much more painful, but perhaps having Covid carries benefits of a sort! The two saddest stereotypes of indy authors are the one who’s polishing, polishing the draft forever, and the one who pushes it out before they can think of the kind of flaws you’re listing here.
Will–You’re right about the author who’s *planning* to self-publish, but never does because they keep giving a book “one more polish.” They need an editor to tell them the book is good to go. And the ones who throw a book out there without an edit are kind of tragic, because a great story can be lost because of a lack of polish.
Great post, Anne,
As an audiobook narrator who doesn’t have a name like Morgan Freeman, most of the titles available to me belong in the category you so beautifully describe in this post. Promising, but unedited or poorly edited. It’s astounding to me how many stunningly promising books are out there in the world, yet never got the editorial care & feeding they deserve.
And I think I may have to appropriate your term “relentless exposition”. Exactly!
CS–I like the phrase “editorial care and feeding” because that’s just what it is. Most books need nurturing by a pro. Otherwise, as you say a stunningly promising book can be buried in errors and unresolved storytelling problems.
As a fellow audiobook narrator I concur. So often I read the book description, like the story idea, decide the required narration skills fit me perfectly, download the audition piece full of anticipation , and then read a couple of paragraphs and notice all the mistakes you mention. Such a shame as some of the stories really deserve to be heard.
Only once did I come across a ‘amateurish” book (in my opinion at least). I had struck up a conversation with someone at the eye-doctors, and he happen to mention that he self-pubbed a book of prose/poetry and would I be interested in buying a copy. I said, “Sure, and I’ll pop a review on my blog as well”.
Unfortunately, whether it was due to the fact that it was poorly written {possibly}; I didn’t understand the prose/poetry {probably}; couldn’t figure out the basic overall theme {also probably} or a combination of all three, I simply couldn’t get it/finish it. I also couldn’t review this as I would probably cut it down to a pencil nub, and I just couldn’t do that to this person (this was during the period where I was getting massacred over my writing). So I just wrote him a nice polite letter and told him i couldn’t offer a review because I simply didn’t get it.
But lord, was this chapbook ever bad.
GB–I hear you about poetry. It’s so subjective. I’ve read “great” poems that left me scratching my head and/or turned off. (Lots of those in The New Yorker.) In fact, my critique group limits members to prose writers because members don’t feel equipped to critique poetry. I think chapbooks are mostly for other poets. You were very kind to buy the book in the first place and then to let the poet know you didn’t feel qualified to review.
I agree the line is getting very blurry between trad pub and professional indies. I just finished a book that was one of Amazon Prime’s free offerings for November. It had the cliche character-looking-at-themselves-in-the-mirror description scene. I was dumbfounded. Anyway – #2 is my nemesis; specifically your comments about the protagonist and their goals.
Lissa–I think many indie books are better edited than Big 5 books these days. I fear they sometimes don’t edit at all. I haven’t run into the mirror cliche, but my goodness, how did that get past the first agent’s reader? My personal writing problem was always the goal-less protagonist, so I hear you.
Hi Lissa,
not that I know very much, LOL, but sometimes it can help to write a blurb (or a query letter) before or WHILE writing your book, so you get your protagonists goals clear in front of you. Also, the antagonist really must have goals too.
The goals are important and the stakes (like what is at risk if the goals aren’t achieved).
I’m not an expert, just thought maybe it’s okay to reply to you. 🙂
Anne, lovely to read your words again ???? Hope your recovery is progressing well.
Must admit I blushed reading those tell-tale signs, been guilty of a few!
I agree completely – professional editor is a Must! My latest MS is languishing at home as I can’t afford to send it to my editor yet, but I refuse to go any further until she’s gone through it.
Joy–It’s tough to wait, but I think you’ve made the right decision about editing. The edit will pay for itself in the end.
Welcome back, Anne, and good health to you in 2021. I’m a late-blooming indie after decades with major houses, and loving the process. My first indie is a part memoir, part how-to, 34 Million Books. It may never have happened but for Covid. Quickly (insanely?) followed by a Christmas novella begun and released in November. One small suggestion mostly marking amateur blurbs is when the author asks a question such as, “Will she ever overcome her hiccups and snare the man of her dreams?” The answer is almost always yes. Better recast as, “How will she…?”
Valerie–Thanks for that addition! The rhetorical question in the blurb is one of the more annoying cliches readers have to deal with. I see them everywhere. Bookbub, Netflix, Amazon–they’re all riddled with them, so it’s not just an indie problem. Let’s see…will the author hire an editor and save her career before it vanishes into a black hole of cliches? Haha! Congrats on the Christmas novella. You and Charles Dickens!
Oh wow, linked with Charles Dickens! I also read your past blog about titles – fabulous. May I sneak in a mention of my subtitle? 34 Million Books, Australia’s Queen of Romance shares her life and writing tips.
That’s an intriguing title! I have a feeling you’ll do very well self-publishing. With a fan base like that, you’ll have great sales. And you get to keep most of the profits. 🙂
So glad you are back in the saddle! Wow, thanks for another educational blog. I did not use a professional editor for my first book and I’m not going to make the same mistake for the second book. Happy Holidays to you and Ruth!!!
Ken–Happy Holidays to you too. With hopes for a much better New Year for us all. Sounds like you’re learning fast and your second book will be a real winner.
Great tips, thanks for sharing and caring. ????????????
D. J. Thanks for stopping by. Have a great holiday season!
Alright, I only disagree with you on one little issue, but that’s because I’m also a songwriter. Alright a ridiculously commonplace word whose prohibition is as arbitrary as it is antiquated. Frankly, I don’t even pronounce alright and all right the same way. Saying that there’s only one way to write it in edited works is purest snobbery. Granted, I only use alright in dialogue or lyrics. I’m sure you have strong feelings about a’ight as well ;]
Tony “Alright,” like so many other colloquialisms, is common in popular songwriting. As it is in dialogue. But you don’t want to use a substandard spelling in serious prose.
“(I pictured some interesting threesomes in those love scenes.)”
Anne, thank you for a lol moment to close out my weekend. So good!
Christine–Thanks! It was pretty hilarious when I realized these guys were all the same person. 🙂
Glad to have you back, Anne! Happy holidays!
First things first, I will defend “alright” to the bitter end as a perfectly fine word, and one distinct from “all right.”
But to the question at hand: I find that the biggest tell-tale sign of amateur self-pubbing is the formatting of the text. It’s really quite shocking sometimes, as I think, “Surely these authors have at least SEEN many books in their lifetime? Even if they haven’t read them?” There’s the ones where the text isn’t justified, the ones in bizarre fonts, or the ones in Size 8 font that need to be read with microscope in hand. It’s also such an easy thing to see – one just has to open the book and take a glance – it’s perhaps the easiest red flag to spot.
I still makes mistakes as an indie author, the reason why I don’t have an editor, the fear of once I do, it will stop or slow my journey to greatness…and become to reliable on editors. The question is when is a good time to work with an editor?
Max–You do want to write your first draft without editorial interference. I’m a big believer in letting your muse lead you when you’re creating. But once you’ve written your rough draft and self-edited to the best of your ability, then you want to run it by a few beta readers or a critique group. Only after that do you want to hire an editor. Editors are for polishing, not writing your book.
Irvin–Great point! That is so true about formatting. And unfortunately, the Big Five can be some of the worst offenders. Or they were. I think they’re getting better now. But I once bought an ebook written in a flyspeck font like that and had to adjust my Kindle to Zoom so far, nothing else was readable. Like one word per page.
Great post. So good to see you back!!
Thanks Beth!
Great post. My peeves are the overuse of the words ‘that’ and ‘got’. I find myself rearranging the sentences to remove them.
Closet–A number of people have brought up the “that” vs. ‘Who” problem. I agree. “Got” can be overused or misused too.
It’s time ‘alright’ was alright to use, and used with confidence that the user won’t be judged as ignorant. Other words have made the change. We have already, and altogether, to distinguish from ‘all ready’ and ‘all together’. Why can’t we accept ‘alright’ as a real word? It’s only snobbery that’s stopping it from happening. Doesn’t this writer know that the English language evolves over time. The ‘rules’ of English are merely a description of the standard way our language is used. If people change the language, then the ‘rules’ must change too. Isn’t the purpose of language to communicate thoughts and feelings etc. and that purpose can be achieved even if non-standard English is used. And to add to that, why should only a select few people share their writing. Everyone has a story to tell, not just a special few. Open your mind (and your heart) and you might discover a gem somewhere. You are clearly not perfect yourself, so don’t be so judgemental of others.
Wow I said the same thing below with more grammatical errors.
It’s art.
She wants to label and class written art. It’s all about the mistakes and not that person’s masterpiece. Most of the commenters are losing “there” message so worried about “their”. There I said it!
Katherine–I’m just the messenger, so don’t shoot me. 🙂 Some words are fine in dialogue but considered “colloquial” so we don’t use them in serious prose. But they’re okey-dokey to use in dialogue. (Okey-dokey is considered substandard, too, but I think it’s great fun for a character’s speech.)
Oooh, I have just come across this blog for the first time. Hello there! ????
I find this post fantastic, and I am SO pleased to read about all the things I seem to have done ALL RIGHT (yes, that’s how I spelled it ????) in/with my first book, phew!
(Its title is One Of Us Has To Go – not too generic??)
And I will keep the great information in mind as I’m writing my second novel at the moment.
Thank you so much for this post, Anne! ????
Katja–Great title! I’d read it. 🙂 Best of luck with your next book!
????????????????
Of course this makes my day, yay!!
I’m actually German, and English isn’t my first language, but I hired an editor so there are no mistakes. ????
I’d be totally honoured if you ever checked it out… It’s not on Kindle Unlimited, though (just Kindle and paperback and hardback), but I’d offer a free e-copy in case you’d ever had the time to read my book.
My second book’s title will be Living Lies, and now I’m thinking about whether it has too many flashbacks or not, ha ha.
I’ll keep an eye on this matter. Thanks again for this post. ????
Great post! I’d love feedback on my book which is available on Amazon Kindle-The Starlit Village. It’s my first time writing anything so I’m sure you’ll be able to have some great feedback.
Bridget–Ruth and I don’t provide editing or critiquing, but I highly recommend Critique Circle.com for excellent feedback. Best of luck!
Thanks for that too! I’ll look into it.
I’m over thirty novels in, and still learning from my editor – it’s a delightful part of the process. I can then decide whether her “correction” of alright gets applied or not. In my case, not 🙂 But I agree with your observations. My job as an author is to make sure the reader never notices I’m not traditionally published.
Kev–I like your description of your job. Our job as writers–self or trad pubbed–is to make our story clear to the reader. Using accepted grammar and spelling rules is one way to make the readers’ experience a good one. Congrats on all those titles!
Now that I’ve self-published for the first time (my sixth book) I know how much help is needed to pull it off. It’s an intense road that I can’t imagine doing alone. The learning curve is amazingly steep but with the right people by my side, it made the journey much less daunting.
Great suggestions, Anne.
Patricia–So true! As you know from your traditionally published career, publishing is a team effort. Best of luck with your new book!
Wonderful to “see” you back in action, Anne!
My very first editor at a small house was a stickler for “alright” and “lie/lay/laid” and many other bad habits you mentioned. Worked out perfect for me, as she edited my debut. No one told me not to use a one word title back then, and I’ve been regretting that decision ever since. Worse yet, each of the one word titles in that series has a double meaning, which I thought was cool at the time. Now? It’s a PITA. 🙂
Sue–I love clever titles, too. I had one that my editor vehemently vetoed. Now I know how right he was, but I was furious with him at the time. One word titles can be fine, as I said in my post on choosing the right title, but they’re hard to pull off.
Anne:
I find it hard to understand why people like you are out here to crush other people. If your sole purpose in reading a book is to dismantle it by fault finding then you missed the point. You are afraid of your own insecurities so you find imperfections in other people? I take this article personal because I’m sorry that it took 15 years after someone said my book wasn’t good enough (aka self published) and my own stupid reasoning of needing to be perfect to get publish is the biggest lie you can tell yourself or anyone.
It’s Art Anne. YOU FORGOT. Its Art. To make you satisfied find all the errors you want in my rebuke.
How to tell the difference between self pub and independence pub? Are you better because you got blessed with a publishing deal? You thank the universe for a gift by insulting the universe’s gift to other people. No compassion what so ever. Snobby.
Your ability to decipher us from them
has robbed you to see the beauty in art.
To anyone who reads this. If your dream took you down the path of self pub, hold your head high. Be proud. Some people wish they could finish a book. This article ain’t worth the independent pages she writes on. Keep dreaming.
How do you look at work by Dali? Escher? Oh my god, his clocks aren’t perfect circles. How many mistakes did you find in their works? Oh they self pub their art so kick them out the Louvre?
Bass player miss a note so they must not be a professional musician?
So what happens when you find out it’s self published book? Ask for a refund? OH, THEY DONT BELONG NEXT TO YOU ON THE BOOKSHELF?
Oh, they belong with the self pub losers. Down by the coloring books? What a lesson Covid has taught you instantly judging someone telling their truth albeit not perfect enough for you to consider. I’ve read so many mistakes in Matthew Sparks, Stephen King, Carla Power but I don’t see anyone chucking their books out. It’s a story. Read it, get the message, and move on.
Now you come along and decide the to be judge. Please don’t forget you are reading someone’s dream. Someone’s masterpiece. It’s art. They decided to do the best with the tools they had. It’s their best. They overcame whatever obstacles they had to leave a work of Art. I’ll read a self-pub in a heartbeat. This mindset needs to stop of us and them.
So a business is not a franchise but a small business(self pub analogy) you don’t support that business?
How many bad movies did you sit through? How many errors can you find. So movies are bad because they have errors. Brad Pitt has on a Rolex in Troy so you walk out? Did you get the message or were you worried about being the movie perfect?
Art Anne. At the end of the day it’s their self published masterpiece and it deserves the same respect as a Hemmingway. Art. That’s your new word for the day.
I’ll correct my own reply and apologize for the tone. In a more polite way I think we should honor all work regardless of how it came to be. Waiting for a publisher to say I’m good enough became my bottleneck to my own creative expansion. I wasn’t blessed with the callback saying they liked my work. I had to believe in my work even if I spelled to, two, or too incorrectly. Misspells are not the sign of amateur vs independent professional. We do the best with the tools we have and we play our hands. If I offended the creators of this then I apologize.
Fred–I’m just the messenger, so don’t shoot me. There’s nothing wrong with being a happy amateur. I wrote this post for indies who want to compete with the Big Five pros. Nobody says you have to do that.
And the message comes from the consumer of your product = your readership. It’s all about them! Not even a traditional publisher is behind the message, because they’ve taken it from the reader.
So, so great to have you back, Anne. And this post flew to all my first-time authors the moment it hit my inbox!
You and Ruth have offered a wealth of support to authors who self-publish and this post furthers those efforts. I was glad to see the added tips by a commenter on blurbs and interior typefaces. A book is a whole package, so efforts must be made to create a ‘thing’ that is a clear representation of the creative innards.
I confess to nagging my authors about how readers aren’t faceless entities with low expectations, so we must do our best to delight and surprise them with our tales. Plus, a crappy cover design is a real impulse-buy killer.
But I thought your tip about front material was especially fantastic. As you say, ebooks demand a more direct presentation. Perhaps this has to do with attempting to replicate a trad pub, hard copy book?
I also nag about writing back cover and Amazon (etc.) book page blurbs that sizzle and hook, a ‘sales’ pitch not everyone is comfortable with writing.
Again, so happy you’re back and better, and hope 2021 brings you all the best of every thing…
Maria–It’s good to be back. I’m finally able to stand and walk a bit with my walker. I’m getting my “self” back. 🙂
Glad you liked the post. I know that you–like all good editors–want the best for your clients AND their readers. That’s the most important thing: keep our readers in mind. All this is for them.
Yes, ebook front matter that imitates pbooks simply doesn’t work. And we need sizzling copy for the back cover.
:Alright’ has been in common use for well over one hundred years. The Cambridge Australian English Style Guide says, ‘…it is high time we used it without any second thoughts.’ (1998 edition). I think it’s time for the self proclaimed messenger to change her message. ‘All right’ (unless you mean ‘all correct’) looks silly and old fashioned.
Katherine–I didn’t know that “alright” is an acceptable spelling in Oz. But there are many differences in regions of the English speaking world. I wrote for a Canadian magazine and have had two UK publishers, so I learned a lot of alternate spelling. In the UK, they put a “u” in colour and spell center with the last two letters reversed. And in Canada, they spell “fries with gravy” as “poutine.” 🙂
I think we didn’t put a ‘u’ in colour, but rather the Americans (or Canadians) took it out.????
About thirty or forty years ago, Australians preferred all the UK spelling: colour, centre, realise, (and alright was all wrong) etc. Now it is perfectly acceptable to choose UK or US spelling here, as long you remain consistent throughout the text.
If an author is writing historical fiction based in England, they may well have purposely used UK spellings.
Great post, Anne! One thing I will add: Do NOT put your photo on the back cover of your book, or on your bookmark. That is a dead giveaway of self-published and screams of a need for attention. Most trad publishers do not do that, and if there is a photo, it is with the bio INSIDE the book, usually at the end. I am always sad when I see someone put a photo on there, because they are telling the world something I expect they didn’t realize, and perhaps sabotaging a sale.
Melodie–I didn’t know that! My first publisher put my silly mug on the back cover of my first two books, but that was back in the early 2000’s. Obviously things have changed. Thanks for the tip!
I’ve always had problems with lie and lay. Thanks for the tips on pitfalls to avoid like covid. I’m still querying and looking at indi publishers as well as “self” and wonder if you have an opinion of Bookbaby. I have never found a monthly freebie from Amazon I liked.
Yvonne–“Avoid like Covid” is the new expression isn’t it? 🙂 “Indie” publishers can be the best of both worlds. And you’re much more likely to get real editorial help.
You missed the formatting of an amateur: chapters that start mid-page!
A very neat and helpful article for those who intend to write professionally. I very much agree with your case in #3 and 4. I do believe, however, that the remaining items have more to do with art than the broad (and often ambiguous) word known as “professionalism”. For example, “clunky storytelling”, is one of the foundations to the Modern novel; Samuel Beckett, Thomas Wolfe and James Joyce have written about characters who lacked motivation or a clearly stated goal, and wandering amid the plot structure is a common tenet in their work. Even Vonnegut fancied this style. I agree that professional writing must involve coherent syntax (and even precise diction), yet plot structure, choice of title and cover design do not determine whether a piece of literature is “professional”, at least from an artistic standpoint. These items determine professionalism from a marketing standpoint. If a writer tends to sell their work (designed to solely appease/impress readers), the work should appear “marketable”. If a writer chooses to express an idea or convey a thought/principle/lesson (unhindered by the potentially damaging influence of marketing), a professional work should be more focused with the writer’s artistic expression; whatever message the artist intends to convey is more important than whatever readers, publishers or critics may want. The work, itself, is of a specific value, and it should not be altered simply because others fail to see or appreciate its value. One would have to look past an author’s choice of title and cover design in order to intelligently (and impartially) determine a written work’s professionalism. Shallowness is not a good trait to possess when determining the value of a written work, despite its gross usage in society.
Francesco–Wolfe, Joyce, and Beckett were all traditionally published 100 years ago. That meant they were thoroughly edited by professional editors. A professional writer writes the final draft with the reader in mind. I always say the first draft of a book is for the author and the final draft is for the reader. If you don’t have your reader in mind, and you’re just creating for your own muse, that’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with being a happy amateur. Just don’t expect to compete with the pros.
Graham–The introduction of the Kindle and Amazon’s self-publishing program revolutionized publishing a decade ago. Now, as you say, anybody can publish anything and put it on Amazon, B & N, Kobo, GooglePlay, Applebooks, etc. But just because you CAN do something doesn’t mean you SHOULD. If you want your work to compete with traditionally published books, you need to do what the traditional publishers do: put together a team of professionals to publish your books. That means hiring an editor, proofreader, (usually) cover designer and maybe someone to help you with marketing. While you’re learning to write a polished novel, it’s wise to save your money so you can afford to publish a professional-quality book.
Thank you for this interesting and amusing post. I agree with much of what is said. However, some words are, I believe perfectly acceptable when used in a particular context (but not if utilised in a different one). For example, “alright” is not, as you rightly point out, a word. However where one writing a novel about gangsters “alright” would be perfectly acceptable, (still not good English, but acceptable and correct given the novel’s plot and characters). Also, if writing about teenagers, text speech would be fine to use (indeed it has spread much wider than the teen community, sadly so in my view). Best. Kevin
K Morris–Absolutely! In dialogue, anything goes. In fact, you want to use slang and non-grammatical construction in your dialogue, or all your characters will sound like pedantic PhD candidates.
I am so glad to see someone else has a problem with the “Me” and “I” issues. It totally throws me off when that particular rule is not adhered to. I’ve even noticed it in movies and TV shows and I cringe every time. Too often, people tend to use “I” so they look ‘sophisticated’ when, in fact, it has the opposite effect.
Thanks for this post!
John–In one of Marilyn Monroe’s classic “dumb blonde” roles, her character tried to sound not-so-dumb by referring to herself as “a girl like I.” It was hilarious. But that was in the 1950s. Now it probably isn’t even funny to most people. Alas.
Great post. 🙂 My all time teeth grinder is the use of ‘may’ where the correct word should be ‘might’. That stops me in my tracks every. single. time. 🙁
AC–Alas, that battle may already be lost. So you might want to give your poor teeth a rest 🙂 But I empathize.
This is a great list … and also a scary one :O Because I know I’m guilty in all categories. Just hopefully less so than in the past. Thanks for the reminder, and happy new year!
Mason–We all make these mistakes. The difference between an amateur and a pro is that a pro hires an editor to fix them. 🙂 Happy New Year to you, too.
One of my books is called Hope. It refers to the communal housing in which the homeless live in my dystopian future: Hope Villages. So there! It’s done rather well for itself, actually. Double so there! (I say this in friendly jest). But perhaps I won’t share this article after all!
Terry–Obviously you’ve used the one-word title in an ironic way so it isn’t the cliché it might seem. For women’s fiction or self-help, the title “Hope” would be meh, but for dystopian–combined with suitable cover art–I can see how it would intrigue.