Comments on: Operation F.E.C.A.L: New Publishing & The High Cost of FREE

By: robintvale (Jessica)

robintvale (Jessica) — Mon, 29 Apr 2019 19:02:16 +0000

Totally! I don’t care how long it takes I want to grow and get better at this. There is the easy way (slop) or the hard way (gold.) Let’s give readers gold!

By: Robynn Gabel

Robynn Gabel — Tue, 02 Apr 2019 18:00:09 +0000

I knew back when all my High School teachers urged me to take up a writing career, that if I wanted to succeed in the traditional writing world, it would take time, learning, polish and being exceptional. I chose to write notes on scraps of paper, get a 9 to 5 job and raise kids. When I retired I took up college courses, hung out in chat sites and though my dream of becoming a good, published author was coming true. Your article hit the nail on the head.
Though I never cut corners, hired quality editors, formatters and cover artists, I found I’m in the same place I was 40 years ago and it still is going to take time no matter the process. I grew up on the classics and good writing and I still see it as an art. I don’t regret the journey, don’t regret not being a best selling author, because I feel I have produced the best book I could. So, my dream of publishing came true, being rich did not. LOL I’m okay with that. Thank you for validating how I have been seeing it play out and that producing a good story is still the only way to do it.

By: Susan Lower

Susan Lower — Fri, 29 Jun 2018 19:23:27 +0000

Well said. While I’ve read some great freebie books, over half of them are usually someone’s first draft. I will usually leave a review for a book, whether it is free or I paid for it and it is terrible. I feel other readers should know before downloading it and making the same mistake. Thanks for always being real and making this valid points known in our industry today.

By: Operation F.E.C.A.L: New Publishing & The High Cost of FREE – Written By Kristen Lamb – Writer's Treasure Chest

Mon, 25 Jun 2018 21:47:28 +0000

[…] https://authorkristenlamb.com/2018/06/free-publishing-bad-books/ […]

By: Kathryn Bain

Kathryn Bain — Sun, 24 Jun 2018 13:23:42 +0000

Yes! Yes! Yes! As usual, you are right on point. Most free books are terrible. And the Big 5 have grown lazy with editing. So many errors in NYTBS these days.

That being said, if the Big-5 and other mid-range publishers were smart, they’d sell e-books of their bestsellers off their websites one week before handing them over to Amazon. Only members can order ahead of time. People would flock to get the newest Stephen King, Lee Child, etc. before everyone else did. I see authors with a decent following heading in this direction. I think it would also keep some of the lowlifes from being able to copy real author’s books so quickly.

Thanks for all your great info.

By: LindaB

LindaB — Sun, 24 Jun 2018 12:37:35 +0000

People talk out of both sides of their mouths. They bemoan the lack of quality in free books, and at the same time they scream to high heaven when a well-written book costs $4.99.

Quality costs. It always will. If people want quality they have to stop having conniptions about forking over a lousy few dollars. And I’m talking a lousy few dollars because most ebooks cost less than $5.

You get what you pay for.

By: Emily Cotton

Emily Cotton — Sun, 24 Jun 2018 03:11:45 +0000

I’m an optimist. I trust that the consumer is getting more savvy at spreading word-of-keyboard on the good stuff. Or at least the stuff that others with like tastes will enjoy. More fine tuning of reading choices. Amazon’s sample and ‘look inside’ system are usually enough to give me a pretty good hint about whether I’ll like the rest.
But readers (and writers) have to break through the idea that a book ‘deserves’ their time. I’m now reading any first page the way an agent reads through the slush pile. And I don’t care if it’s trad pubbed or indie-pubbed, ‘Sturgeon’s Law’ applies. (Sturgeon’s Law originated when the late Theodore Sturgeon was accosted at a Sci-Fi convention by a reporter who told him, “Ninety percent of science fiction is crap!” To which Sturgeon replies, “Of course it is. Ninety percent of EVERYTHING is crap.”)
Of course indie-pubbed work has no gatekeeper. But three or four of my now-favorite novels are indie. I found them by word of keyboard. And I expect to find more gems in the same way.
I, for one, don’t mind sorting through the crap for these gems, because I know that, under the trad-pub system, they never would have seen the light of day. Or my kindle, as the case may be.

By: Kristen Lamb

Kristen Lamb — Sat, 23 Jun 2018 21:02:13 +0000

In reply to Erec Lindberg. I've had 5K FB friends for ages. The problem with relying on any outside social media is one change in ToS and POOF---GONE. Also they juke algorithms and it can become a real pain to keep up with. Any platform done well can yield benefits but a good book is central.

By: Beth Brubaker

Beth Brubaker — Sat, 23 Jun 2018 20:15:56 +0000

I’ve been on my own concerning writing and publishing, finding my way around (and improving) by simply reading my work again months later and making some changes. I have two books ready to go (they have been edited by me a bazillion times, and by other editors several times..lol) and yet, each editor had her own strengths. One did well organizing paragraphs, another was a grammar guru, and yet another was a past/present/future tense expert. I found my biggest Achilles heel was I keeping in the right tense not only in the chapters, but in the paragraphs as well!

That being said, your article makes me question whether my one book is publisher worthy. People like my work- they just don’t want to publish it. Maybe because my book is more of a crossover because the editors and publishers are all Christian? The book is women’s humor and does talk about God, but He is only sparsely sprinkled throughout the text. Apparently I am neither fish nor fowl because my book is too tame for the secular world, but too suggestive for the Christian world.

I done been spit out for being tepid!

So I went the self publishing route.

Oh, by the way, self publishing AIN’T FREE. Not if you want cover work done and have to pay an artist to create one for you. Egad.

The book isn’t out yet. YET. Frankly, I’d like one more pair of eyes to look at it one more time. A pair of eyes that isn’t afraid to tell me if it’s wet-myself hilarious or moose-drool awful.

Ahem…hint hint.

It’s okay if you decide not to pick me this round…though, do you really want to take the risk of more moose-drool hitting the marketplace?

Seriously though, One thing I don’t see at these Christian writer’s conferences are classes on things like your article. Grammar, punctuation, and verbiage are NOT common sense anymore! I’m going to suggest this to the conference director and see if she can find someone to nip this in the bud. 🙂

By: Erec Lindberg

Erec Lindberg — Sat, 23 Jun 2018 17:35:42 +0000

Hi Kristen! Have you been following the rise of Rachel Hollis? Several months ago she had a New York Times best seller. I would recommend the GoalDiggerpodcast interview with her on April 23rd. She shared her journey of being signed with three publishers. I felt she had some great advice for writers. The biggest takeaway for me, was the importance of having 5,000 Facebook friends. Best Wishes to you!