Bob Maxey <written_by@xxxxxxx> writes: > >>>(And since you jumped directly from my mentioning I had author friends > to talking about vanity press publication, I should mention that I > know only two people who admit to having ever used such, and one of > the uses was a counter-scam to see how bad a book Publish America > could be tricked into accepting and how fulsome their letters of > praise would be. With the exception of the *other* friend who did > vanity-publish a book, the authors I'm thinking of are published by > "real" publihsers. Most of these people make their living from their > writing.)>>> > > I am using a service called Lulu Press. I will use it far more, as > my need to distribute materials of a specialized nature grows. I am > well aware that Lulu Press is not a publisher. I know the > differences between self/vanity publishers and traditional > publisher. Unfortunately, many new writers do not know the > differences. > PA was recently tested and it has proven to be quite > interesting. And quite embarrassing for a few. Google "Travis Tea" > and read the story. Also take note of the name Travis Tea. I've already read the story -- this book is the one I mentioned that was written by a friend (in fact it's "friends", plural) as a counter-scam on PA. Which they're now publishing on Lulu as part of the fun and to help get the message out. (Self-publishing can sometimes be the perfect answer for some real business problems, definitely. Almost never for *fiction*, though.) > > I am not sure most editors give the writer a free pass on > > anything. Then again, some might because writing is subjective and > > it is sometimes difficult to tell what is good, bad, or terrible > > dialog. I will admit that I read the "Mac Bolan" and "Overload" > > series. The dialog is often silly, but these books represent a very > > large series of silly books, all traditionally published. > > >>>Either you misread me, or this discussion is getting too intense. I > didn't say *editors* gave anybody a pass on anything; I said, in the > context of a discussion of talent, that some authors *got* a free pass > on some things. I meant that when they started out trying to write > they *already* had decent abilities in one or (maybe) two of the > necessary skill sets required to be a successful author.>>> > > If I misunderstood, I apologize. I agree that in some cases, editors > will spot talent and they might forgive am iffy plot twist because > the rest is outstanding. Very few books are entirely pefect, even after editorial revision, but luckily most of us can enjoy books that aren't entirely perfect quite a lot still. > In most cases, all most editors see are > poorly written manuscripts. Thousands of them, over the transom. No, those are mostly handled by a separate level of person -- "first-reader" or "slushpile reader". The ones that make it past them go to the actual editors. Well, and also the ones that manage to be notably and amusingly bad, but it's a tough crowd, so there aren't many new ones of those each year. Although John W. Campbell, when he was editing Astounding Science Fiction in it (and his) heyday, did describe himself as the world's greatest expert on bad science fiction. (In the magazine market and that long ago, he read most of the submissions himself; not what happens at book publishers these days though.) > So list folks, have any of you seen similar scams directed > specifically at photographers? There must be a few. Most contests? -- David Dyer-Bennet, <mailto:dd-b@xxxxxxxx>, <http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/> RKBA: <http://noguns-nomoney.com/> <http://www.dd-b.net/carry/> Pics: <http://dd-b.lighthunters.net/> <http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/> Dragaera/Steven Brust: <http://dragaera.info/>
