| Author |
Message |
    
Deejay (Unregistered Guest)
Work-in-progress guest
Posted From: 24.0.45.234
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, March 04, 2004 - 03:09 pm: |   |
Anyone know anything about this publisher? I didn't find a listing on P&E so am curious.
Deejay |
Claudia Turner VanLydegraf
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
891
Registered: 06-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, March 04, 2004 - 03:18 pm: | |
DeeJay,
Never heard of them, but did a google and found a place where some blue collar ebooks are listed. DIdn't seem to be a publisher though.
Sorry.
Claudia |
Deejay (Unregistered Guest)
Work-in-progress guest
Posted From: 24.0.45.234
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, March 04, 2004 - 04:09 pm: | |
Thanks, Claudia -
Here is a link to their site, but I'm interested in opinions about them and want to know if anyone has dealt with them before (do they pay an advance, etc.)? The site doesn't tell me much.
Deejay
www.bluecollarbooks.com
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LaurieAnne
Unity Member
Post Number:
1224
Registered: 12-2001
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, March 04, 2004 - 04:15 pm: | |
Deej--
From a glance at the site, this company is currently in the same boat as myself. Fresh out of the door, taking time to produce a quality product, and facing the demands of a current day job while trying to get off the floor.
I doubt you will be able to find anyone yet who has worked with them until "Twenty-Six" is produced and the name of the author is noted.
LA
www.authorsinkbooks.com
LaurieAnne
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Dennis Collins
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
610
Registered: 06-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, March 04, 2004 - 04:35 pm: | |
LA...
If you're using POD technology or even a printing source that offers that service, you might want to read the posting that I put over on the registered members board.
Costs will be going up... Somebody's gotta pay them lawyers!!! |
Deejay (Unregistered Guest)
Work-in-progress guest
Posted From: 24.0.45.234
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, March 04, 2004 - 05:50 pm: | |
Thanks all for your responses - I appreciate the input as always.
Deejay |
Laurel Johnson
Unity Member
Post Number:
2663
Registered: 01-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 09, 2004 - 05:30 am: | |
Since the publishing forum is closed to new threads, I'm hijacking this one. My topic has nothing to do with Glroia's question or the publisher she mentioned.
Four separate authors have either copied and pasted or sent emails about postings on AbsoluteWrite.com concerning Midwest Book Review.
Shocking revelations were made, the foremost of which was:
MBR reviews do not carry the same weight as the New York Times. Well no kidding.
Another point made was that anyone from Aunt Mabel to Joe the Ragman is accepted as a reviewer. "Amateur reviews for amateur books." is a direct quote. I'm hoping and praying that writers like Hugo Award winning, international best seller Robert Sawyer do not see that "amateur" statement or he'll laugh himself to death, maybe even post it on his website and quote the source.
And I doubt that it will matter to Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and best selling author Rick Bragg that some person called him an amateur, but you never know. He's a southern guy so it might just piss him off.
And please, John Laurence Robinson, for God's sake don't use that MBR blurb on the back cover of your highly touted, mainline published book. Someone might say it was done by an amateur reviewer for an amateur review group. 
Finally the statement was made that MBR reviewers sell the books they review on amazon to make a little money on the side. I've made this point before but it bears repeating. This is one amateur who never sells the books she reviews. They go to a wide selection of libraries. They are always grateful to receive them.
This has been a public service announcement. I'm speaking strictly for myself and no one else. It's only fair that those reading this board hear it from me. I don't consider any book I review to be amateurish. And when the reviews are written, review copies are not hawked for my own personal enrichment.
We will now return to our regular programming. |
Laurel Johnson
Unity Member
Post Number:
2664
Registered: 01-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 09, 2004 - 06:11 am: | |
Sorry. I said Gloria when it was Deejay who started the thread. |
Violet Towe
Wandering Member
Post Number:
243
Registered: 03-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 09, 2004 - 06:41 am: | |
Laurel, I read what that person said about MBR on that board and I had to read his remarks twice. I do have a few questions for him, would post it over there but since what he said is directed at you, as one of MBR's reviewers, I'll post it here.
Who is this man who tosses out his judgements for freely?
How does he know so much about MBR anyway?
Has this man written a NYT best seller?
Did one of the reviewers at MBR read one of his books and didn't give him a raving review?
How, pray tell, does he know so much about Midwest Book Review? He's not stated how he KNOWS so much about them, so I thought I'd just ask you, Laurel, and see if you know.
Many authors are so taken with themselves and their books, they feel they must slam anyone outside his little ring of followers. I don't know him, never heard of him, then again, I haven't heard of a lot of people. |
Gloria Marlow
Wisdom Member
Post Number:
611
Registered: 04-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 09, 2004 - 07:36 am: | |
Laurel, I had to go back and make sure I didn't start this thread...shows how involved with what I'm doing I am.
I saw one person over there a few months ago slamming MBR. He comes here at times. He is actually visiting right now I believe. I don't know if it's the same person, but it sounds like the same rhetoric as before.
What in the world makes someone a professional book reviewer? Do you have to go to college for such a thing? Writers, editors, readers...all of them are capable of reviewing a book, and if they do it often enough and with enough "professionalism" doesn't that make them a professional? Obviously, there aren't many reviewers who charge to review, so it couldn't be a matter of how much money one makes which turns you into a professional.
We had the Much Ado About Books thing here the other day that they do every year. I looked at the schedule of authors, Rick Bragg was one of them who was doing seminars, etc. I recognized his name but no one else's so I looked online for everyone else. It seems MBR is something authors are proud of because several of them had reviews from MBR that they listed on their sites. Maybe, someone should tell them, that it's a bogus review.
Some people will never learn to think outside of the box, therefore, they will be trapped in the box forever. There is a box in the publishing industry...I believe it's centered in New York City. However, just as NYC isn't all there is to America, it isn't all there is to the publishing industry.
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Laurel Johnson
Unity Member
Post Number:
2665
Registered: 01-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 09, 2004 - 08:11 am: | |
Violet - I don't know anything about other message boards, and have never heard of the author making statements about MBR, Aunt Mable and Joe the ragman. This is the only message board I frequent.
I did not intend for the post above to sound angry or defensive. But I am one of the reviewers tarred with a wide brush and wanted be make my position clear on several fronts.
Reviewing is as serious as death and taxes to me. Joe Blow from Kokomo who wrote a book that sold fifty copies total deserves to have his book reviewed every bit as much as Rick Bragg, Rob Sawyer, or other NYT best selling authors.
Whether that review is printed on MBR, in the local newspaper, or posted to the author's personal website, it's still a review. No, not a NYT review but still better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.
My personal rule #1 is to NEVER post a scathing review of anyone's work. As an obscure author myself, I empathize with lesser known authors. The NYT and Library Journal have not reviewed my work, nor have I asked them to. My second personal rule is that any book I cannot give at least four stars on amazon does not get reviewed. Have I turned down books? You bet I have. No one ever knows that but me and the author whose book I decline to review.
I receive best sellers from publicists and publishers. I review them with the same philosophy I apply to small press authors. Do I see myself as someone who is outstanding in her field? No. I'm just someone who lives by certain rules and tries to be honest about it. I won't be saying this on any other board. I simply want the people who pass through this board to understand my way of doing things. |
Dennis Collins
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
626
Registered: 06-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 09, 2004 - 09:16 am: | |
Lolly...
I'm also an "amateur" (unpaid) reviewer for myshelf.com. It's funny though that now a few major New York publishing houses are soliciting reviews from us. Has anybody asked Harper-Collins what our status is? |
Sheryl Nantus
Awareness Member
Post Number:
14
Registered: 02-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 09, 2004 - 09:34 am: | |
*puts up hand*
for the record, I got a good review for my own book by sending a PDF to the reviewer at MBR, not a hard copy. So anything about eBay is just blowing smoke, imo.
I think there's possibly a bit of a misunderstanding generated by the flurry of PA authors reviewing each others books and awarding five stars almost automatically - it tends to taint the pool for those honest reviewers who are giving their opinions; not just because they're from PublishAmerica. Or in spite of; whichever way you want to look at it. And with a lot of PA authors going to MBR for reviews, it's possibly sloshing over into their well and making them seem less than honest about their reviews. I've never seen a PA author say anything less than the most glowing things about another PA author, even if the book is right out of their genre and field. Sure, no one wants to be critical publically, but I'd rather have an honest review that called me on my faults and encouraged me to work harder than a glowing stroke job over and over and over again...
perhaps MBR should post exactly what you said above on the main page; detailing that while they may get "bad" books to review, they will never post same - that might go a long way to distinguishing it from the plethora of five star reviews that are being handed out by one PA author to another; irregardless of the actual content of the book.
of course, I could be wrong...
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Laurel Johnson
Unity Member
Post Number:
2666
Registered: 01-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 09, 2004 - 09:36 am: | |
A well-crafted review is a well-crafted review, Dennis. Some of the ones at My-Shelf are just as good or better than any NYT or AP review I ever read.
I have no grand aspirations and doubt if more than a tiny handful of best selling authors and A-list publishers ever contact me. So be it. But I applaud with enthusiasm any reviewer who DOES make what most people see as reviewing nirvana.
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Dennis Collins
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
629
Registered: 06-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 09, 2004 - 10:51 am: | |
BTW, I do recall at least one less than enthusiastic review posted at Myshelf. But then, it was Michael Moore's book. |
Claudia Turner VanLydegraf
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
903
Registered: 06-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 09, 2004 - 11:09 am: | |
Laurel,
As one who reviewed my book, I am more than proud and happy that you did such a wonderful and unbiased review of it. You put a lot of thought and intuitive images into that review and got what I meant. I am so proud of that particular review because, as far as I am concerned, you are a professional reviewer. At least in my eyes you are.
I went over to the absolute board to find that thread and couldn't, could you please put a link, or point a reference to it, so that I may voice my opinion over there..... I feel that there is nothing so sad as a person who cannot see the light for the clouds in his own mind. And I will gladly state what I just did here about you and all the other reivewers at MBR and MyShelf, if they are being attacked.
Claudia
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Violet Towe
Wandering Member
Post Number:
245
Registered: 03-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 09, 2004 - 11:35 am: | |
Laurel, MBR, and Nancy, MyShelf, both read and reviewed my last book (and i do mean LAST book) that was published with PA, which was Death by Bad Magic. Yes, they both loved it and said so in thier review, and both gave it 5 stars, so what?
So, does this mean simply because that book was published by PA that it is a badly written book? Also, does this mean that simply because it was published by PA and they both have or had a book published by PA that they are to give my book a bad review simply because of theirs and my relations with PA? What sense does that make?
Unlike my first book that was published with PA, I had Death by Bad Magic professionally edited and told PA as much and that they were not to touch a word in the book. Have I sold enough of Death to make anyone stand up and take notice? Well, according to my royalty statements, not even close. But, the ones who has read it really loves it, and I might add, despite me not even doing any promotions on that book, it is now the favorite reading material of several high schools around the area.
So, poo on that man (I would put his name here, but don't think that would be nice of me) who bad mouths MBR and/or MyShelf, what does he know anyway. |
Gloria Marlow
Wisdom Member
Post Number:
614
Registered: 04-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 09, 2004 - 12:11 pm: | |
Claudia, There is one on the thread about publishamerica...the one with the most posts... and it is on page 17 or 18.
I just don't understand the reasoning of these people who need to degrade everything. I understand if a company screwed you, being upset at the company. I don't understand these people's need to continually widen the sphere of their contempt. Does it make them feel like more of a professional writer if they look down on everything and everyone who isn't up to their definition of par?
On romance novels and other mass market paperbacks, I see quotes from other authors all the time. Who better to critique a book than someone who writes? Or someone who reads?
I get the impression from many of these people who post so negatively about everything that they are striving to be more than an entertainer or artist. They want to write the next literary masterpiece, to be the next literary giant. I simply want to entertain. Maybe I am a cheap floozy of a writer, but my goal is to curl up in bed or on the couch with as many people as I can...I want their experience to be good enough that when they're looking for company again, they look for me.
Now, seeing that I am apparently going nowhere but downhill with this thread, I'm getting back to work...
Gloria |
Laurel Johnson
Unity Member
Post Number:
2668
Registered: 01-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 09, 2004 - 12:19 pm: | |
Sheryl -
What I posted here about reviewing does not reflect MBR rules. They are my rules. MBR reviewers are free to say what they think, within reason, about the books they review and have posted negative reviews, I am just not one who posts negative thoughts about books or writers.
For MBR I do not rate my books with stars or numbers. I simply review the book's content and let other readers draw their own conclusions. Occasionally I do recommend a book, but not always.
On amazon and Barnes and Noble, I give them all either four or five stars because - in my opinion - such rating systems are a "political" game that I do not embrace. Any book I cannot honestly give four or five stars on amazon does not get reviewed.
Since I don't read the AlwaysWrite message board, I am not sure where to find that thread, Claudia. I can't post a link. One of the authors who emailed me said it was on page 17, whatever that means. But I am uncomfortable with anyone defending me. It's sweet that you want to do that, but I don't feel it's necessary. Review wise, I say what I think and do as I please whether anyone agrees with me or not. I'm kind of a creep that way. |
Tony (Unregistered Guest)
Work-in-progress guest
Posted From: 24.31.215.202
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 09, 2004 - 12:31 pm: | |
The MBR discussion - short as it was - can be located here:
http://pub43.ezboard.com/fabsolutewritefrm11.showMessageRange?topicID=209.topic&start=321&stop=340
I am the one who asked the question about MBR in the first place... |
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