Day 80 of the 365 Days of Blogging

The author, Dane F. Baylis

The Programmed Topic/Prompt Just Wasn't Somewhere I Wanted To Go

Lets Say I Feel Like Offering Something That May Be Helpful For The Self-Publishers.

Sort of Tuning Up My Competition

 

 

This feels like sparring with a fighter I'll be meeting in a purse bout eventually. When you first start out as a boxer, it's not unusual to fight opponents you train with. Everybody learns from each other and it's not as demoralizing to get beaten by a gym mate. So let's look at this as a tune-up between friendly rivals.

 

I've been reading a good bit of, let's call it, alternatively published work lately. What has become apparent is an abundance of typo's, homonym confusion, and misspellings. All of this, combined with grammatical and structural errors, is terminally distracting. It would be something I might ignore if it were one writer's work, but this is far too frequent for a blind eye. Now, I could just shrug, thinking it's better for me if this is out there, but it really isn't.

 

I'm pretty sure everyone writing has hopes of becoming a discovered talent, climbing above your peers to gain notice and accolades on a bigger stage. Why, then, would you release a work you hadn't edited to the point where you were certain it was free of every flaw you could find? Basic artistic pride should drive you to not want the public to view you in anything other than a complimentary light! If proofreading isn't your strong point, you need to enlist someones help. I realize that profit margin is, for some, their foremost consideration. I would just offer, if your presentation is lacking skill and polish, you may never be a contender and will probably die poor.

 

Here's the selfish part. If your work is substandard and others, less experienced than you, follow YOUR example, then, before you know it, self-publishing as a whole is viewed as a refuge for hacks. This means that it makes it harder for all of us who are putting in real time and effort to be recognized for our finished work.

 

Straight up...Any putz can write! The real artists are those who rewrite until they polish a diamond from a lump of coal.   

 

 

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In the meantime...live, love, write.

Dane F. Baylis