The plight of the picky reader

Good morning!

Ah! I see you've had your breakfast and are working on your coffee now. Good. It's time to discuss the subject I've chosen for today's post.

Everyone has a definite taste in reading matter, and I am no different. Given a choice, I will opt for adventure stories with a sci-fi, horror or fantasy theme in which the hero/heroine, or combination of both, is pitted against an overwhelming antagonist. The situation must be dire and the pitfalls fraught with danger. I've even been known to read such a novel when the printed copy is filled with typos, incorrect word usage and awkward phrasing. I just mentally edit the copy and go from there.

That brings me to the meat of today's subject. How many people will pick up the latest, highly acclaimed thriller and open its pages only to find that the work seems to have received only a cursory edit? Do they toss the book to the side, vowing never to open it again? Or, do they muddle on through it because the publishing establishment has decreed this author's latest work to be the best that they have done to date? You see, this is why I rarely let critics sway me in the choice of my reading material. A great many of them seem to be shills for the big publishers. They have a vested interest in a work doing well because if it does and their review is seen to have moved readers to purchase the novel, they can count on more work from publishers and agents. To put it baldly, I see this as prostitution of their talents. I agree that everybody owes themselves the effort to make a living before all things, but let's at least be honest in our efforts.

Now, I know what you're going to say. "Indie writers and publishers are much worse about not editing their work." You're right, for the most part. Many of them don't know how to edit and many more can't be objective about their own work. But look at your choices. A poorly edited work by a writer with a fresh outlook on an old theme, or a poorly edited work by a writer who has become little more than a publisher's hack, milking a cash cow at your expense? That is a question only you, the reader can answer. It's your money you're spending, and your time you are investing on the work.

Having stirred the pot of dissension, I will end this post now.

Thank you,
Derek A. Murphy
Author of Behind the Stone, Questionable Interests and others.
Available on Kindle