My Book Rating System

My book rating system is based on 5 stars. The book must be rated at least 3 stars for a review.

3 Stars: Good story, good plot, good writing.

4 Stars: I was wowed, but something about the story fell short of perfection.

5 Stars: I was either drooling, on the edge of my seat, or falling in love.

If you would like me to review your book, please contact me at 00ibitz@charter.net.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

To Indie or Not To Indie?

That seems to be the question of the year. There has been a lot of back and forth regarding indie authors vs. traditional.

Indie authors can't write, otherwise they'd be published. Is that true? Maybe, maybe not. I've read some outstanding books published traditionally...I've also read outstanding books from indie authors. I've read lemons written by tradionally published authors, and I've read lemons from indie authors. Are there more lemons among the indies? Maybe, and maybe some of the books aren't as polished, but you can't label *all* indie authors as "sub-par" because of that. And yes, I've read books that have been published the traditional route with formatting and spelling errors. It happens. We're human.

The most glaring issue lately, for readers, is the over-zealous self-promotion of indie authors on social media.

Yeah, I can see their point. You don't want to be inundated with hundreds of "read me! read me!" messages when you're trying to have a discussion. The indie authors just want to get the word out--they don't have the backing and promotional ammunition of the big publishing houses--but they have to be smart about it, otherwise they will alienate the very people they want to see their work...the reader. There are many books and advice on forums on how to market your book that do not entail pissing people off...I'm learning the ropes myself in this regard.

So, I say, give indies a shot! Read the reviews of specific books and heed word-of-mouth recommendations, and then base your decision to buy a book based on merit. Not all indies are bad.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hi Dale. Just leaving a comment here to answer your question about steampunk. It is a mixture of the old and the new. Most of the time the novels take place during the Victorian period and has advanced technology with brass components. They are often a combination of sci-fi and fantasy (many novels feature vampires, werewolves, etc). Just Google it sometime and see all their creation. It's very mad scientist meets fly girl. Airships galore. Movies like Stardust and Leave of Extraordinary are also Steampunk.