I received the following email from a contributor to TeleRead who would like to remain anonymous, at least for the time being. I can assure you, though, that the author is qualified to do what he is proposing:
I have (anonymously) started a site which may or may not turn out to be interesting or useful:
http://the-great-white-ebook-shark.blogspot.com
The idea is firstly to hunt out worthwhile ebooks, especially from independents, and also, usually, to analyze a sample of text showing why it is good or how it might be made even better. This will help to inform readers about the techniques, etc., of composing prose — and with luck will make them more discerning. So far I have only had one author turn me down — his was a good story, but there was a lot wrong with the text and I think he didn’t want to upset his “editor”. The others have been sporting and humorous.
When there are enough books listed on the site, it could prove a handy resource for like-minded readers.
Anyhow, I hope you’d like to post about this. I’d appreciate the hits, for their own sake of course, but also because I’m hoping for readers’ suggestions to follow up. It’s tough finding quality out there! …
Thanks for the link, Paul. I just checked it out and think this is a site with great possibilities.
By whose definition of “worthy?”
Every genre, for example, has different stylist methods, and what is great writing in romance would be too florid for an sf reader, and some sf novels lack the language depth of a romance novel.
A novel is also far more than its stylistic content. Some of the most popular authors in the world have third-rate style, but they make up for that with plots and characters that drive the reader forward so most don’t even care.
Speaking as an author, I see little value in such a service because once my books are out, they are out, and I can’t go back and change anything. Of course, my books are vetted by a real publisher and editors.
As a writing teacher, I see a little bit of value in the service, but that’s only if the service actually knows what it is talking about.
As a writing teacher, I am also aware that most newer writers can often spot a problem in someone else’s writing, but are blind to the same problem in their own writing. They need a good critique partner or writing teacher instead of more examples of bad writing.
Right now, reviews are perfectly adequate to point out worthy and unworthy books, if those reviews are from a trusted source. This new website would have a long way to go to be proved trust worthy for most of us.
Thank you very much for the plug, Paul!
Marilynn, my choices and analyses are idiosyncratic and do not pretend to be definitive. I do take genre into account, and I try to point out what is good as well as what is bad.
I fully accept that there is no reason, at present, why anyone should take any notice of anything I say. Such trust has to be earned and, once earned, maintained. The vast majority of submissions to agents are judged on their first few hundred words: that is as efficient (and perhaps as ruthless) as any other means of sorting the wheat from the chaff.
Marilynn, do you have a list of online review sites that you consider trustworthy? I admit that this is one of my big problems with the decline of print reviews. I am a long time subscriber to the New York Review of Books and the New York Times Book Review, and an occasional subscriber to the London Review of Books, Book Forum, and a couple of other print review magazines/newspapers. But I have yet to find an online source (other than the online versions of the ones to which I subscribe in print) that I would deem trustworthy enough to read more than once or twice. I am interested in suggestions, especially for nonfiction, fantasy, and science fiction (I very rarely read any other type of fiction than scifi/fantasy and mystery; I am mainly a nonfiction reader).
My tastes are very different from yours so I doubt my trusted sites would be of much use to you.
Ways to find good review sites for books you like includes looking at the review blurbs quoted in book promotions, asking around, etc. Once you find a site, look at the reviews of books you’ve read. Do you agree with it? Disagree strongly?
After a bit, you’ll discover the sites and reviewers you trust.
For those who like paranormal romance, sf romance, urban fantasy, and mystery, which are my fun reads, I suggest
http://www.romantictimes.com/
http://www.affairedecoeur.com/
http://www.romrevtoday.com/
On the subject of online edits, here’s an article on a site set up toward training editors rather than writers.
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/twitter/the_best_book_editors_on_twitter_154136.asp