Re: Re: What is a good book

Emily wrote:

> --- In [email protected], "joseph harris" <smilepoet@...> 
> wrote:
> 
>> And then what is a 'good book'?   And who says so?

[snip]

> Ultimately the public know what they want and if presented with it, 
> will buy it.

A 'good book' is one that returns enough to the author (financially or 
emotionally) to make him/her want to write another. As Emily points out, 
that portion of the public which provides the return determines the 
quantity and the author (and his/her partners) determine whether the 
return is sufficient.

If the desired return is consistent with the desires of the majority of 
authors who work with the Big New York Publishers, then the BNYPs are in 
the best position to have a valid opinion as to the likelihood that a 
particular manuscript will satisfy those desires.

If the desired return is consistent with the desires of the majority of 
authors who work with small or niche publishers, then one or more of 
those small or niche publishers are in the best position to have a valid 
opinion as to the likelihood that a particular manuscript will satisfy 
/those/ desires.

If the desired returns are /inconsistent/ with the desires of the 
majority of authors working with an existing publisher (e.g. you would 
be satisfied with less return than a publisher is willing to accept, or 
you feel you would make more money on fewer sales if you didn't have to 
"share the wealth") a different predictor of success will have to be 
discovered; perhaps the "spaghetti" test is most appropriate here (throw 
it against the wall and see if it sticks).

A good literary agent (a description some people see as an oxymoron) 
should be in the best position to steer an author towards the 
appropriate venue, although most agents have little experience with ad 
hoc publishing. At its core, the whole question of "good" vs. "bad" is 
mostly one of managing expectations.

If an author (and his/her partners) are satisfied with the return on 
investment it seems to me that it is a 'good book' no matter how 
sloppily written or produced. It's up to me as a consumer to learn how 
to avoid such 'dreck' (and like Mr. Noring, I think there's a buck to 
made in helping consumers find the diamonds among the stones, other than 
just falling back to the old publishing model).

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