I like skin over oil, because like a chameleon their colors change to suit the most profitable market.

Oh trust me I have a LOT to say on this. Snake oil ABOUNDS.

What about the self publishers (opening a trash bag on a hot day with this) who are trying to study and learn how to be their own gatekeepers (including the sources, such as yourself who help us identify reliable sources and point out common areas we fail to notice)? Granted, most of the producers of the books you are talking about probably won’t/don’t trouble themselves to seek out self improvement, but that group might be a large enough one for both snakeskin sellers and genuine educators to market to.

I don’t know if I claimed they were guardians of good writing. But there is a market now flooded with ‘novels’ that aren’t even readable. Most of the time, books like that never made it onto a bookstore’s shelf unless the ‘author’ paid a vanity press to get them in. Books in bookstores at least had some sort of vetting unlike self-publishing which is a total Charlie Foxtrot.

I will post more on gatekeepers of the future soon. It’s a topic we really need to address.

Not to split hairs, but synonyms of comprised: consist of, be made up of, be composed of, contain, take in, embrace, encompass, incorporate. I searched the blog for where I used it and it seems to me to be the appropriate word choice. I also looked up ‘composed’ and it directly references feelings, so I’m unsure how that is the superior word choice. I am ALWAYS open to learning (which is why I looked it up) but I am missing why ‘composed’ is the preferable choice for ‘comprised.’ Especially, since I had to go about three definitions in and got these as synonyms for composed: make up, constitute, form, comprise.

Thanks for the thought though! Grammar challenge 😀 .

Kristen, I’ve read your articles over the course of many years. You’re an insightful author. Still, please learn the difference between the words composed and comprised. Comprised is an umbrella word.