I'm proud of you for putting yourself first, I don't think it's cruel to want and expect better from those who want to do the craft. If their dreams were easy to crush from a book review, then they are going to really struggle as an author because not all criticism is about helping the author. I love storytelling, I love what I can do right, what I do wrong, how I'm always learning new things, exploring different ideas, I love that storytelling makes me believe that I can do something, not perfectly but to create something special to me with all its flaws and that I can try again to do better. Maturity to handle criticism is important, knowing what hurts you but didn't kill you is also an important lesson, nothing starts out great the first time, but the journey has only begun and the path is always changing.
it's great that you're standing up for yourself, and as a newer subscriber this also gave me insight into your review process and the amount of work you do. newfound appreciation for the amazing content you put out
Oh gosh- as someone who was waiting for, read, and thoroughly enjoyed Amygdala, I'm disappointed but not too surprised to hear how people (and the author) reacted. It's difficult to have something you worked so hard and long on be criticized and not liked, but it's also not ideal to take yourself 110% seriously at all times. I watched your video duology on it the other day, literally while I was working on something related to the universe, and I absolutely loved them both! (In particular, I really love a 'Freydian slip' as a concept- that cracked me up). Hearing outsider opinions about the universe and figuring out ways to make it more palatable to a general audience/ease people into it is one of my favorite things to do with franchises I enjoy. I'm struggling not to bring up things you mentioned in the videos exactly because I never saw them through that lense, and I was excited to see another interpretation!! Extatic, even! I don't though, as I'm sure you've had enough hyper-political furries that cum when they die to last a lifetime LMAO Apologies for your mental health in regards to it. Even if most of the books you talk about aren't my cup of tea, I'm very glad I saw the two I did. May you have better luck with your new MO and not taking recommendations and requests in the future ❤️🩹
What an absolute legend. I love your videos. I can't imagine publishing a draft of any quality, even a good draft. The objective is create something for other people to enjoy. Part of that is to not waste people's time and money. A work should be made as perfect as you can make it for the audience. It takes the smallest amount of maturity to understand that. You can write for yourself, but published work is for the audience, not the author.
Man, these videos really make me reflect on our interactions because I'm one of the nerds who sent you their book. Just know that you're a super chill person and you can tell everyone to fuck off at any time dude. This is your hobby, your passion, your channel, and your *time*. You don't owe anyone anything and if they say you do, they aren't worth listening to anyway.
_"Hey, I know that you don't like this type of thing, but here's my version of the thing that you don't like. Please tell me what you think of it."_ "Yeah, so... I didn't like it." _"What? No! How could this be happening to me?"_
So sorry people suck Ian. Sending big hugs. In other news, I'm sending 10 multi-brick-sized books to your inbox. I know none of them is your preferred genre, but they'll change your mind! (jk of course) Hope you have a Merry Christmas and happy new year!
11:33 Your video on Amygdala was what drew me in to read it. I enjoyed the first part. The illustrations were beautiful. What turned me off to the rest was the sharp turn into politics that didn’t fit the story. (it was pure author insert, and it killed the story for me.) DNF’d for that reason. (Acotar may be loved by millions, but I don’t happen to be one of them. I’ll never read it.) All the high drama around your videos reminds me of this truth: Writers are, as a whole, crazy. Learning what level of crazy is acceptable as a reader and writer is a work in progress on my end. 20:44 I would enjoy a review of the books you actually wanted to read. You’ve worked so hard on the ‘Banned book list’ among others it would be good change. You are consistently honest and fair in your reviews. I’ve found some amazing authors through your channel and look forward to seeing your videos. I would add more but I”m in a brain fog today and keep hitting the ‘whut r werds’ wall. 🤪 May the Christmas Season lift you into better spirits. I’m looking forward to the New Years prompts.
Hey, first of all, great video! It's a legitimate rant. I'm a reader, and my husband is an author-many revisions. I've read it silently, aloud to Mike and him to me at least 15 times. He had 10 beta readers, some with strong criticism, strengthening the book. Then, a professional editor who was not cheap but worth every penny. It's not easy, but that's what it takes before you should ask a reader to invest the time and sit down with a book.
I'm a self-published author with a fairly massive reader base... all I think about is how I can please my readers. I never do interviews because I figure no one cares what I have to say :) I just keep writing.
I can relate to many of the things you said in this video. I stopped doing reviews for anyone other than personal friends on our forum. Too many authors think they are doing you a favor by giving you a free copy not considering the amount of time and energy it takes for a review. Many of them are pushy and grifters looking to take advantage of you and pretend to care about you personally to get what they want. I enjoy my reading a lot more now that I stopped being open to reviews. I love when you look at some indie book reviews and all of them are from other indie authors and glowing 5 stars. It's so transparent.
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It's very hard to have real human response and feedbacks. Good or bad. I would greatly appreciate even if it's a cruel and abusive response as long as it's from a human. The indie storytelling scene today had become very toxic, especially within the Discord server. You'll never know the feedback is from a BOT, bombarding flatteries or insults, creating false community that build nothing to the actual creative works... It's sad. You're right to put yourself first. We all need to take care of ourselves emotionally. Just ovoid those who never read and use gen-Ai to make millions of words to waste your time.
This is one of the reasons I didn’t send you any of my books this way. The one I could have sent was a book I no longer have passion for and I knew that I wouldn’t have a response to the review that I cared about. I wouldn’t have been a jerk and I never have been, and I hate so much when I don’t vibe with a book in a critique group and get a private message from the author when I do what they asked me to do. So, long rant short, I get how you feel.
Ugh. I’m sorry! Ive been in a similar boat with critiquing unfinished work. I’ve finally gotten to the point,(after swaddling through and struggling with so many damn aspects I just got overwhelmed.) of not critiquing bodies of work that aren’t fully writen out. It was hard for me to really give an answer. Is this chapter good? In comparison to what? Not until I see everything kind of working together did I feel I could give any in depth critique. I stopped doing first drafts. Because personally I’ve found that I should share and judge my first drafts so harshly and I don’t think it actually was helping the people I was critiquing. And now I feel like a jerk sometimes Because I can understand and relate to not knowing, not knowing the better ways to communicate in story. But if someone can’t even put in the effort to use quotation marks for speech, indent for paragraphs, or keep thier main characters names consistent, it just starts to feel as if they don’t care about the craft. A craft I live and breath in. My time wasted. My opinions wrong if they aren’t providing validation. And it just ugh. 😑 it sucks. I’m the bad guy because I’m not filling my 45 minutes allotted to critique to critique stuff where the passion just wasn’t there, and validation is all that they were asking for. And I definatly think after hearing you talk of similar concerns I will be focusing less on providing for others, and more on filling my well and producing my own content. 😅 happy holidays! I enjoy your videos and perspective and hope 2025 goes better for all!
Well, there goes my chance of getting free positive coverage! (I'm joking) It's fine to put up a gate and tell people no. You put your trust out and people abused it and since it was abused you took it back. Whilst it is terrible, some people won't get the chance to shine and get their time in the spotlight, be it good or bad, if you ultimately believe and feel it right to put yourself first then that is that. Either way, you come first and if it that is how it shall be, then the curtain has closed. Oh, well. Keep positive and keep those book reviews coming. Your style, to me, is a bit goofy but I appreciate the semi-dryness of it because you're trying to inform people and help them understand if its a book for them. Compared to everyone elses reviews, you are a breath of fresh air with how straight forward you are.
Your amygdala book review was really great and you always give fair and detailed reviews and are never throwing the book across the room, metaphorically. So you don't deserve all the messages and deserve to write scripts for vids about things that you choose
Sadly, I’ve heard similar stories from other reviewers …then ppl wonder why the writing industry can be so cold sometimes to new writers when it’s just caution against being taken advantage of
Its amazing to me that people can't take criticism. When i majored in Design one of my teachers would take our work off the wall during class and tear them up and drop them on the floor. Ive had my art called garbage multiple times on multiple platforms. Thats just the nature of the beast.
The level of entitlement from some people is insane to me. I personally have some problems with finding 'good' beta readers (good in the sense that most people I can ask are super casual and read rather superficial, without much critical thought), so the pure thought of having someone read my work and giving my detailed and cocise feedback seems mesmerizing to me - and it certainly makes me somewhat envious. The last thing I could ever imagine is shit talking and harassing people that actually put time and effort out of their day to read my stuff and talk with me about it, even if it's just for half an hour. In that regards I am deeply sorry for the abuse that you had to go through by those 'authors', that apparently view readers as nothing more but a means for confirmation. I hope you will still find enjoyable ways to find, read and share works by authors that appreciate what you are doing, just as I and propably many more do just as well, even tho they may be mostly lurking without commenting much under your videos (just like me).
personally, i think between authors and aspiring authors, we *should* give each other feedback. i take another storyteller's feedback so much more seriously because i know they're invested in the craft and the art of it. all of it is still suggestions, it's up to me to sift through what is and isn't useful to me. but without that author-to-author feedback, my stories would only be half as good as they are after editing.
To me, publishing a book 'for feedback' is like releasing a movie in a movie theater 'for feedback.' People shouldn't have to pay for the 'less thought out' version of your product. Sadly the kindnesss of helping people this way, whilst beneficial to a lot of people, is sadly impossible to do in a world where everyone just wants to exploit such dedication. I think you're more than entitled to be as selective as you want.
Dan Schneider coined the term Deliteracy to define thos who are not interested in reading good works, but content to campare themselves to sub-mediocre writers and say, "I can do that, too." And thus, many write sub-par slop, but aggressively marketing it, because they never experienced the kind of really brutal form of criticism that used to be.
U need to charge for a beta review. If someone asks u to read and review their book, u need to charge them + contract. That way if they dont like wat u said, u at least get paid for ur time
I really appreciated your feedback on my book. I feel bad now asking you to do so, since it takes up your valuable time. You put so much effort into your reviews, I find it disgusting (not surprising) that someone would use you for the work.
No feeling bad! I read and share because I like to, the people that ask and then respond horribly are the ones that affect me, but I'm appreciative of every normal author cause they counter balance against the ones that get rough. It's hard either way to get feedback, but also... The books I want to read keep piling up, so that's my own balancing issue I have to manage and no one else's. :p
Good for you for setting boundaries. While I would love for someone like you to beta read me, I can't bring myself to outright ask for it. It is my own opinion if you are going to ask for someone to read for you, expect bad news, at least in part. Some of the feedback I received hurts my feelings because I thought I had things in plain text but they missed it. But it should never be the expectation that your work is perfect, because no ones work is. That said, you should have basic formatting. Page size, first line indent. I like double spaced.
This really sucks. I am putting the finishing touches on my book that I will be requesting for you and others to review. I planned on saying "I don't care if your review is negative all I care about is that it's honest." Now you'll be thinking "I've heard that before!" These scum bags are the same people in critique group who, no matter how many times get asked not to, still defend their work and act like it's your fault for reading it wrong. How can they have such poor character that they attack people who did them a favor?? They ruin it for the rest of us.
No worries. I'll announce the opportunities in the future for self-rec. I don't want to end it for people who haven't done anything because others have been jerks. It just might mean not accepting cold calls anymore, lol. Congratulations on nearly finishing your book and good luck!
@KirkpattieCake many thanks. I can't imagine the patience you have. Not sure I could keep doing it if I were you to be honest after getting burned so undeservedly like that. I know I don't know you but you seem like good people. If nothing else you have a lot of common sense takes which sadly sets you apart lol. So hope you feel appreciated by us, your viewers. And yes some of us are honestly trying. I had years of critique group meetings, 2 professional developmental edits and now waiting on a professional line edit. Guess I have the opposite problem. Putting time and money into a book doesn't mean it'll be good of course, but if my book sucks at least it won't be from lack of effort
I think that'll always be the case as long as an open platform exists. That includes traditional publishing. Imo, one if the only things that can be done is to keep reading and exploring different authors, different unknowns and look for those fresh things. Unfortunately, I am constantly seeing people say all things are the same slop so they don't read anything or they only read older work, which means never finding new, contemporary authors. I agree there are a lot of ill-prepared writers, scams (esp with ai), and wattpad style fanfic hitting bookstores, but all the more important to search, be specific, and talk about stuff, especially if you like it. Personally, I've found some great contemporary artists in different mediums and I'll keep looking, even to get through meh stuff to find what I like. I know it's out there and I know I'm not the only person making art that I think is valuable. Lol Idk, I have hope and I've found greatness and great discussions in things.
@@KirkpattieCakeI might have sounded more cynical then I am, but I agree, I am optimistic too. Been finding more cool stories in places like visual novels and other mediums, and finding gems in the pile of slop feels great. Sorry people have been giving you such a hard time. Been in graphic design and art business for a long time and when giving feedback being honest and direct is truly the best way for people to learn, the ones that can't handle kind but true feedback tend to never improve in my experience. Never seen you attack a author in bad spirit. Sadly it's that I see a lot when people ask for critiques, just pure compliments is what they want, maybe the slightest negative stacked between only the most glowing of words. You're doing great work and if you focus more things you care about next year I look forward too it.
I think you are being fair. I am disappointed because I was hoping you might glance my way and review my newest book (a short read). But I understand as a reviewer it's you doing the favor and not the other way around. And writers who ask for a "honest review" should expect just that. Personally, I would love it if someone took the time to make fun of my book or was very critical (as you were for shad's novel) because at least I know someone actually read it. (Note: not that I think my books are bad and should be made fun of) But of course you can't trust people when they say that.
There'll still be chances. I'm thinking next year I'll open up a form to submit requested reads for video discussions, authors can submit their books or people just what they want to share, and then they'll be voted on which to read and I'll contain that to like summer months. Also might pick from it randomly in between other books, because despite how some of these authors have been, I also don't want to strike the opportunity of self rec. But submission and voting might be restricted to the discord server. I'll have more clarity on it by the time I do a 2025 plans video I think. So don't worry, self rec isn't totally going away. I just need to organize myself and figure out a way to do this.
DSo Sam Fenna broke the camels back, and the weirder books are interesting, but , take care about your mental health and at your own pace. ?, and even ones with good one. Dont authors have groups anymore? And yes people with different opinions and authors can be friends, honestly a good friend should say the unpleasent parts especially if needed. And i liked the reviews and it was even fair to Sam Fenna that its, unique and it is.
Nah, Fennah was hardly the first or last person to do this to me this year. There has just been a lot of broken trust and demorilalization this year and I really takes it out of me to take requests then be insulted while also hurting people just by doing what I have been without requests.
Totally understandable why you'd stop doing what you're doing. Some people just don't know how to respect another person's time, energy and effort. That's really abusive behavior. Requesting that kind of work and, especially, to ghost you right after! So I imagine you'll still do your regular book reviews, but completely cutting out any peer requests?
I am going to keep doing book reviews. I love talking about books and what people put together/how it functions as I see it. Peer requests and requests in general I'm thinking of limiting to a requests form for those in the discord server (which is free to join. It just means people aren't strangers to me as much maybe lmfao), have people vote on the books, and then limit the requests to maybe summer.
Aww. No more accepting Indie books? Dang. I was hoping you'd end up reading my wife's book Aurora's Awakening by Elfie Fae Beauchamp. Your reviews are always top notch and whether you love or dislike the book, she and I think you're quite fair. It's really obnoxious that people will ask for a review and straight up not be okay with it unless it's exactly what they wanted. If you put yourself up for criticism then you need to be mature enough to handle the response. If you think you're stuff is perfect it almost never is and if you can't handle critiques then you absolutely shouldn't be an artist of any kind. Not everyone is going to like your stuff. And critiques should help you improve your work and fill weaknesses. You're by no means cruel or abusive. Like not even close. And while you're right you're feelings aren't NEEDED to be taken into account, but a morally just person should take them into account. You should always be at bare minimum respectful to people, especially those you hope to give you feedback or criticism. Not be abusive. I'm sorry you're feeling the need to close the door. Gotta put yourself first of course. Still love your videos and will always look forward to your content. Hope you have a great Christmas Season and a happy New Year! And I hope looking at books don't make you upset anymore!
Thank you and no worries. I'll make an announcement soon of how indies can still be recommended. I will still pick them up as I find them and from the Monday feature if they interest me, I'm just closing on direct recommendations for now. A way will be available though cause I do like reading new authors and ideas and talking about them. Thank you again, merry Christmas, and happy new year!
Actually, comparing alpha-beta testing in game development to writing is wrong. Game development requires specific knowledge. You need to know what you are doing to make it work. So when you throw even an alpha build there, at least you know it is functional. Writing does not have such requirements. You can just pour words onto paper and technically you have an alpha.
I totally get what you’re saying, and it’s unfortunate that people would do that. I’m still working on an early draft of a novel and I can’t imagine publishing it in the state that it’s in and using the marketplace as a critique partner. That’s honestly wild that some people seem to see it like that. I’m not sure why anyone who watches your content would think that you’re just going to give them a pat on the back for an unpolished rough draft instead of critically analyzing their writing, because the latter is what you regularly do. You give your honest opinions, and that’s what I like about your reviews. If people can’t handle that and don’t want to be critiqued, then they shouldn’t ask you to review their book, because you’re one of the most in-depth and honest reviewers I’ve ever seen. I agree, they should find actual critique partners or workshop groups for this instead of using reviewers who expect to review a finished product rather than editing a rough draft. This video reminded me that I keep meaning to read one of your books and never have gotten around to it, so I finally got around to purchasing the first Bodymore book. I mostly read horror novels, and your books legitimately sound like the kind of thing that I normally enjoy reading. So I have a feeling I’ll probably enjoy it. I don’t do reviews, but I try to give star ratings on GR/Amazon that reflect my honest opinion. I’ll admit I might have some bias towards being nice to you though, since I enjoy your content here. So I can kind of understand some people’s tendency to be nicer to indie authors, especially ones they know or follow. 😅 But you’re absolutely right, indie authors should still be held to some basic standards of quality and not behave like children when someone doesn’t like their book. They also need to realize that there is no one book that is for everyone, and every book will have people who hated it. Even objectively well-written books and/or books that are considered classics have people who love them and other people who despise them based on personal preference. It’s all about finding that niche and the readers that will enjoy your writing.
I'm proud of you for putting yourself first, I don't think it's cruel to want and expect better from those who want to do the craft. If their dreams were easy to crush from a book review, then they are going to really struggle as an author because not all criticism is about helping the author.
I love storytelling, I love what I can do right, what I do wrong, how I'm always learning new things, exploring different ideas, I love that storytelling makes me believe that I can do something, not perfectly but to create something special to me with all its flaws and that I can try again to do better. Maturity to handle criticism is important, knowing what hurts you but didn't kill you is also an important lesson, nothing starts out great the first time, but the journey has only begun and the path is always changing.
it's great that you're standing up for yourself, and as a newer subscriber this also gave me insight into your review process and the amount of work you do. newfound appreciation for the amazing content you put out
Oh gosh- as someone who was waiting for, read, and thoroughly enjoyed Amygdala, I'm disappointed but not too surprised to hear how people (and the author) reacted. It's difficult to have something you worked so hard and long on be criticized and not liked, but it's also not ideal to take yourself 110% seriously at all times.
I watched your video duology on it the other day, literally while I was working on something related to the universe, and I absolutely loved them both! (In particular, I really love a 'Freydian slip' as a concept- that cracked me up). Hearing outsider opinions about the universe and figuring out ways to make it more palatable to a general audience/ease people into it is one of my favorite things to do with franchises I enjoy. I'm struggling not to bring up things you mentioned in the videos exactly because I never saw them through that lense, and I was excited to see another interpretation!! Extatic, even! I don't though, as I'm sure you've had enough hyper-political furries that cum when they die to last a lifetime LMAO
Apologies for your mental health in regards to it. Even if most of the books you talk about aren't my cup of tea, I'm very glad I saw the two I did. May you have better luck with your new MO and not taking recommendations and requests in the future ❤️🩹
What an absolute legend. I love your videos.
I can't imagine publishing a draft of any quality, even a good draft. The objective is create something for other people to enjoy. Part of that is to not waste people's time and money. A work should be made as perfect as you can make it for the audience. It takes the smallest amount of maturity to understand that. You can write for yourself, but published work is for the audience, not the author.
Man, these videos really make me reflect on our interactions because I'm one of the nerds who sent you their book. Just know that you're a super chill person and you can tell everyone to fuck off at any time dude. This is your hobby, your passion, your channel, and your *time*. You don't owe anyone anything and if they say you do, they aren't worth listening to anyway.
You're good. Don't feel bad, just don't hate me. 😂
_"Hey, I know that you don't like this type of thing, but here's my version of the thing that you don't like. Please tell me what you think of it."_
"Yeah, so... I didn't like it."
_"What? No! How could this be happening to me?"_
So sorry people suck Ian. Sending big hugs.
In other news, I'm sending 10 multi-brick-sized books to your inbox. I know none of them is your preferred genre, but they'll change your mind! (jk of course)
Hope you have a Merry Christmas and happy new year!
I already have your forever long light novel. 😂
Merry Christmas and happy new year!
@@KirkpattieCake Thank you! I'll aim for even longer in the future!
That’s terrible, I’m so sorry man. You keep doing your own thing, you’re doing great and we love you
11:33 Your video on Amygdala was what drew me in to read it. I enjoyed the first part. The illustrations were beautiful. What turned me off to the rest was the sharp turn into politics that didn’t fit the story. (it was pure author insert, and it killed the story for me.) DNF’d for that reason. (Acotar may be loved by millions, but I don’t happen to be one of them. I’ll never read it.) All the high drama around your videos reminds me of this truth: Writers are, as a whole, crazy. Learning what level of crazy is acceptable as a reader and writer is a work in progress on my end.
20:44 I would enjoy a review of the books you actually wanted to read. You’ve worked so hard on the ‘Banned book list’ among others it would be good change.
You are consistently honest and fair in your reviews. I’ve found some amazing authors through your channel and look forward to seeing your videos. I would add more but I”m in a brain fog today and keep hitting the ‘whut r werds’ wall. 🤪 May the Christmas Season lift you into better spirits. I’m looking forward to the New Years prompts.
Hey, first of all, great video! It's a legitimate rant. I'm a reader, and my husband is an author-many revisions. I've read it silently, aloud to Mike and him to me at least 15 times. He had 10 beta readers, some with strong criticism, strengthening the book. Then, a professional editor who was not cheap but worth every penny. It's not easy, but that's what it takes before you should ask a reader to invest the time and sit down with a book.
I'm a self-published author with a fairly massive reader base... all I think about is how I can please my readers. I never do interviews because I figure no one cares what I have to say :) I just keep writing.
I can relate to many of the things you said in this video. I stopped doing reviews for anyone other than personal friends on our forum. Too many authors think they are doing you a favor by giving you a free copy not considering the amount of time and energy it takes for a review. Many of them are pushy and grifters looking to take advantage of you and pretend to care about you personally to get what they want. I enjoy my reading a lot more now that I stopped being open to reviews. I love when you look at some indie book reviews and all of them are from other indie authors and glowing 5 stars. It's so transparent.
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It's very hard to have real human response and feedbacks. Good or bad. I would greatly appreciate even if it's a cruel and abusive response as long as it's from a human. The indie storytelling scene today had become very toxic, especially within the Discord server. You'll never know the feedback is from a BOT, bombarding flatteries or insults, creating false community that build nothing to the actual creative works... It's sad. You're right to put yourself first. We all need to take care of ourselves emotionally. Just ovoid those who never read and use gen-Ai to make millions of words to waste your time.
This is one of the reasons I didn’t send you any of my books this way. The one I could have sent was a book I no longer have passion for and I knew that I wouldn’t have a response to the review that I cared about. I wouldn’t have been a jerk and I never have been, and I hate so much when I don’t vibe with a book in a critique group and get a private message from the author when I do what they asked me to do. So, long rant short, I get how you feel.
You're my go to on Rippaverse reviews because I think you'll do it based on the content without an axe to grind either pro or anti Eric July.
Ugh. I’m sorry! Ive been in a similar boat with critiquing unfinished work. I’ve finally gotten to the point,(after swaddling through and struggling with so many damn aspects I just got overwhelmed.) of not critiquing bodies of work that aren’t fully writen out. It was hard for me to really give an answer. Is this chapter good? In comparison to what? Not until I see everything kind of working together did I feel I could give any in depth critique. I stopped doing first drafts. Because personally I’ve found that I should share and judge my first drafts so harshly and I don’t think it actually was helping the people I was critiquing. And now I feel like a jerk sometimes Because I can understand and relate to not knowing, not knowing the better ways to communicate in story. But if someone can’t even put in the effort to use quotation marks for speech, indent for paragraphs, or keep thier main characters names consistent, it just starts to feel as if they don’t care about the craft. A craft I live and breath in. My time wasted. My opinions wrong if they aren’t providing validation. And it just ugh. 😑 it sucks. I’m the bad guy because I’m not filling my 45 minutes allotted to critique to critique stuff where the passion just wasn’t there, and validation is all that they were asking for. And I definatly think after hearing you talk of similar concerns I will be focusing less on providing for others, and more on filling my well and producing my own content. 😅 happy holidays! I enjoy your videos and perspective and hope 2025 goes better for all!
Well, there goes my chance of getting free positive coverage! (I'm joking)
It's fine to put up a gate and tell people no. You put your trust out and people abused it and since it was abused you took it back. Whilst it is terrible, some people won't get the chance to shine and get their time in the spotlight, be it good or bad, if you ultimately believe and feel it right to put yourself first then that is that.
Either way, you come first and if it that is how it shall be, then the curtain has closed. Oh, well.
Keep positive and keep those book reviews coming. Your style, to me, is a bit goofy but I appreciate the semi-dryness of it because you're trying to inform people and help them understand if its a book for them. Compared to everyone elses reviews, you are a breath of fresh air with how straight forward you are.
Your amygdala book review was really great and you always give fair and detailed reviews and are never throwing the book across the room, metaphorically.
So you don't deserve all the messages and deserve to write scripts for vids about things that you choose
Sadly, I’ve heard similar stories from other reviewers …then ppl wonder why the writing industry can be so cold sometimes to new writers when it’s just caution against being taken advantage of
Its amazing to me that people can't take criticism. When i majored in Design one of my teachers would take our work off the wall during class and tear them up and drop them on the floor. Ive had my art called garbage multiple times on multiple platforms. Thats just the nature of the beast.
The level of entitlement from some people is insane to me. I personally have some problems with finding 'good' beta readers (good in the sense that most people I can ask are super casual and read rather superficial, without much critical thought), so the pure thought of having someone read my work and giving my detailed and cocise feedback seems mesmerizing to me - and it certainly makes me somewhat envious. The last thing I could ever imagine is shit talking and harassing people that actually put time and effort out of their day to read my stuff and talk with me about it, even if it's just for half an hour.
In that regards I am deeply sorry for the abuse that you had to go through by those 'authors', that apparently view readers as nothing more but a means for confirmation.
I hope you will still find enjoyable ways to find, read and share works by authors that appreciate what you are doing, just as I and propably many more do just as well, even tho they may be mostly lurking without commenting much under your videos (just like me).
personally, i think between authors and aspiring authors, we *should* give each other feedback. i take another storyteller's feedback so much more seriously because i know they're invested in the craft and the art of it. all of it is still suggestions, it's up to me to sift through what is and isn't useful to me. but without that author-to-author feedback, my stories would only be half as good as they are after editing.
To me, publishing a book 'for feedback' is like releasing a movie in a movie theater 'for feedback.'
People shouldn't have to pay for the 'less thought out' version of your product.
Sadly the kindnesss of helping people this way, whilst beneficial to a lot of people, is sadly impossible to do in a world where everyone just wants to exploit such dedication. I think you're more than entitled to be as selective as you want.
Dan Schneider coined the term Deliteracy to define thos who are not interested in reading good works, but content to campare themselves to sub-mediocre writers and say, "I can do that, too." And thus, many write sub-par slop, but aggressively marketing it, because they never experienced the kind of really brutal form of criticism that used to be.
U need to charge for a beta review. If someone asks u to read and review their book, u need to charge them + contract.
That way if they dont like wat u said, u at least get paid for ur time
I really appreciated your feedback on my book. I feel bad now asking you to do so, since it takes up your valuable time. You put so much effort into your reviews, I find it disgusting (not surprising) that someone would use you for the work.
No feeling bad! I read and share because I like to, the people that ask and then respond horribly are the ones that affect me, but I'm appreciative of every normal author cause they counter balance against the ones that get rough. It's hard either way to get feedback, but also... The books I want to read keep piling up, so that's my own balancing issue I have to manage and no one else's. :p
Good for you for setting boundaries. While I would love for someone like you to beta read me, I can't bring myself to outright ask for it. It is my own opinion if you are going to ask for someone to read for you, expect bad news, at least in part. Some of the feedback I received hurts my feelings because I thought I had things in plain text but they missed it. But it should never be the expectation that your work is perfect, because no ones work is.
That said, you should have basic formatting. Page size, first line indent. I like double spaced.
This really sucks. I am putting the finishing touches on my book that I will be requesting for you and others to review. I planned on saying "I don't care if your review is negative all I care about is that it's honest." Now you'll be thinking "I've heard that before!"
These scum bags are the same people in critique group who, no matter how many times get asked not to, still defend their work and act like it's your fault for reading it wrong. How can they have such poor character that they attack people who did them a favor?? They ruin it for the rest of us.
No worries. I'll announce the opportunities in the future for self-rec. I don't want to end it for people who haven't done anything because others have been jerks. It just might mean not accepting cold calls anymore, lol.
Congratulations on nearly finishing your book and good luck!
@KirkpattieCake many thanks. I can't imagine the patience you have. Not sure I could keep doing it if I were you to be honest after getting burned so undeservedly like that. I know I don't know you but you seem like good people. If nothing else you have a lot of common sense takes which sadly sets you apart lol. So hope you feel appreciated by us, your viewers. And yes some of us are honestly trying. I had years of critique group meetings, 2 professional developmental edits and now waiting on a professional line edit. Guess I have the opposite problem. Putting time and money into a book doesn't mean it'll be good of course, but if my book sucks at least it won't be from lack of effort
Coolest shirt. Oh and I support this message.
Except the part where you're a fool. That part I dispute 😁
Feels like we will need a new book platform in the future. Everywhere I look I just see slop. At lest that kind of inspires me to write lol
I think that'll always be the case as long as an open platform exists. That includes traditional publishing. Imo, one if the only things that can be done is to keep reading and exploring different authors, different unknowns and look for those fresh things. Unfortunately, I am constantly seeing people say all things are the same slop so they don't read anything or they only read older work, which means never finding new, contemporary authors.
I agree there are a lot of ill-prepared writers, scams (esp with ai), and wattpad style fanfic hitting bookstores, but all the more important to search, be specific, and talk about stuff, especially if you like it.
Personally, I've found some great contemporary artists in different mediums and I'll keep looking, even to get through meh stuff to find what I like. I know it's out there and I know I'm not the only person making art that I think is valuable. Lol
Idk, I have hope and I've found greatness and great discussions in things.
@@KirkpattieCakeI might have sounded more cynical then I am, but I agree, I am optimistic too. Been finding more cool stories in places like visual novels and other mediums, and finding gems in the pile of slop feels great.
Sorry people have been giving you such a hard time. Been in graphic design and art business for a long time and when giving feedback being honest and direct is truly the best way for people to learn, the ones that can't handle kind but true feedback tend to never improve in my experience. Never seen you attack a author in bad spirit.
Sadly it's that I see a lot when people ask for critiques, just pure compliments is what they want, maybe the slightest negative stacked between only the most glowing of words.
You're doing great work and if you focus more things you care about next year I look forward too it.
Give people an inch, and they take a mile..😔 I'm sorry that stuff happened to you, yo.
So, are there organizations or programs to have first readers look at my book before I get it published?
I think you are being fair. I am disappointed because I was hoping you might glance my way and review my newest book (a short read). But I understand as a reviewer it's you doing the favor and not the other way around. And writers who ask for a "honest review" should expect just that. Personally, I would love it if someone took the time to make fun of my book or was very critical (as you were for shad's novel) because at least I know someone actually read it. (Note: not that I think my books are bad and should be made fun of) But of course you can't trust people when they say that.
There'll still be chances. I'm thinking next year I'll open up a form to submit requested reads for video discussions, authors can submit their books or people just what they want to share, and then they'll be voted on which to read and I'll contain that to like summer months. Also might pick from it randomly in between other books, because despite how some of these authors have been, I also don't want to strike the opportunity of self rec.
But submission and voting might be restricted to the discord server. I'll have more clarity on it by the time I do a 2025 plans video I think.
So don't worry, self rec isn't totally going away. I just need to organize myself and figure out a way to do this.
DSo Sam Fenna broke the camels back, and the weirder books are interesting, but , take care about your mental health and at your own pace.
?, and even ones with good one. Dont authors have groups anymore?
And yes people with different opinions and authors can be friends, honestly a good friend should say the unpleasent parts especially if needed.
And i liked the reviews and it was even fair to Sam Fenna that its, unique and it is.
Nah, Fennah was hardly the first or last person to do this to me this year. There has just been a lot of broken trust and demorilalization this year and I really takes it out of me to take requests then be insulted while also hurting people just by doing what I have been without requests.
Totally understandable why you'd stop doing what you're doing. Some people just don't know how to respect another person's time, energy and effort.
That's really abusive behavior. Requesting that kind of work and, especially, to ghost you right after!
So I imagine you'll still do your regular book reviews, but completely cutting out any peer requests?
I am going to keep doing book reviews. I love talking about books and what people put together/how it functions as I see it. Peer requests and requests in general I'm thinking of limiting to a requests form for those in the discord server (which is free to join. It just means people aren't strangers to me as much maybe lmfao), have people vote on the books, and then limit the requests to maybe summer.
Aww. No more accepting Indie books? Dang. I was hoping you'd end up reading my wife's book Aurora's Awakening by Elfie Fae Beauchamp.
Your reviews are always top notch and whether you love or dislike the book, she and I think you're quite fair.
It's really obnoxious that people will ask for a review and straight up not be okay with it unless it's exactly what they wanted. If you put yourself up for criticism then you need to be mature enough to handle the response. If you think you're stuff is perfect it almost never is and if you can't handle critiques then you absolutely shouldn't be an artist of any kind. Not everyone is going to like your stuff. And critiques should help you improve your work and fill weaknesses.
You're by no means cruel or abusive. Like not even close. And while you're right you're feelings aren't NEEDED to be taken into account, but a morally just person should take them into account. You should always be at bare minimum respectful to people, especially those you hope to give you feedback or criticism. Not be abusive. I'm sorry you're feeling the need to close the door. Gotta put yourself first of course.
Still love your videos and will always look forward to your content. Hope you have a great Christmas Season and a happy New Year! And I hope looking at books don't make you upset anymore!
Thank you and no worries. I'll make an announcement soon of how indies can still be recommended. I will still pick them up as I find them and from the Monday feature if they interest me, I'm just closing on direct recommendations for now.
A way will be available though cause I do like reading new authors and ideas and talking about them.
Thank you again, merry Christmas, and happy new year!
Actually, comparing alpha-beta testing in game development to writing is wrong. Game development requires specific knowledge. You need to know what you are doing to make it work. So when you throw even an alpha build there, at least you know it is functional. Writing does not have such requirements. You can just pour words onto paper and technically you have an alpha.
I totally get what you’re saying, and it’s unfortunate that people would do that. I’m still working on an early draft of a novel and I can’t imagine publishing it in the state that it’s in and using the marketplace as a critique partner. That’s honestly wild that some people seem to see it like that.
I’m not sure why anyone who watches your content would think that you’re just going to give them a pat on the back for an unpolished rough draft instead of critically analyzing their writing, because the latter is what you regularly do. You give your honest opinions, and that’s what I like about your reviews. If people can’t handle that and don’t want to be critiqued, then they shouldn’t ask you to review their book, because you’re one of the most in-depth and honest reviewers I’ve ever seen. I agree, they should find actual critique partners or workshop groups for this instead of using reviewers who expect to review a finished product rather than editing a rough draft.
This video reminded me that I keep meaning to read one of your books and never have gotten around to it, so I finally got around to purchasing the first Bodymore book. I mostly read horror novels, and your books legitimately sound like the kind of thing that I normally enjoy reading. So I have a feeling I’ll probably enjoy it. I don’t do reviews, but I try to give star ratings on GR/Amazon that reflect my honest opinion. I’ll admit I might have some bias towards being nice to you though, since I enjoy your content here. So I can kind of understand some people’s tendency to be nicer to indie authors, especially ones they know or follow. 😅
But you’re absolutely right, indie authors should still be held to some basic standards of quality and not behave like children when someone doesn’t like their book. They also need to realize that there is no one book that is for everyone, and every book will have people who hated it. Even objectively well-written books and/or books that are considered classics have people who love them and other people who despise them based on personal preference. It’s all about finding that niche and the readers that will enjoy your writing.