In a message dated 5/16/2007 4:30:11 P.M. Eastern
Daylight Time,
kvnsmith@thrillingdetective.com writes:
They're not very good.
They may be preposterous or inept, hackneyed or
incomprehensible gibberish, clumsy or poorly structured or
any of a multitude of other sins, but most rejected works
share one thing in common. They're not what the publisher is
looking for, or not good enough to put in the editorial time
to make better.
There's no big conspiracy.
The clarion call of "unfairness" is just a balm to soothe
untalented, frustrated writers looking to blame someone --
anyone -- for their lack of literary of success. Anyone but
themselves.
Talk about pathetic. Boo hoo hoo.
If you think the literary marketplace is unfair, put your own
money where your mouth is. Publish your own damn novel.
There's no law against it. The vanity presses are waiting for
you, licking their chops.
But the literary marketplace is unfair?
To who?
When was the last time you went out to buy -- with your own
money -- a book you knew would be poorly written? Is it
"fair" that you only buy books you think you will like?
One final point: the rise of relatively cheap POD vanity
presses has, for the first time in history, given us a clear
look at what traditional publishers have rejected. As a
reviewer, I've probably read at least a hundred of these
things over the years. The picture is not pretty. There are a
lot of people out there who think they're writers.
They're not. They're typists.
And often not even very good ones.
Grrrrrr....
Kevin
I don't think anyone would say it's a conspiracy, but we all
certainly know of unpublished or poorly distributed novels
that are wonderful, and we see mountains of best seller crap
by the cash registers. Popular taste is on a superficial
level, whether you're talking about music, art, or lit, but
there's not a lot to be done about it. Vicki
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