Showing Tag: " goodreads" (Show all posts)

Faction or fiction

Posted by Paul Samael on Wednesday, April 17, 2013, In : Book reviews

[NOTE: Scroll down for review of Red Plenty by Francis Spufford]

While on holiday last week, I thought I would put the accuracy of my Goodreads recommendations to the test, so I chose some of the books they had suggested to me based on my own ratings of books I’d enjoyed (or not – but mostly the former). So far, the recommendations have been somewhat wide of the mark. Take “Ascent” by Jed Mercurio. It’s about a Russian, Yefgenii Yeremin, who (after an appalling childhood in Stali...

Amazon + Goodreads = end of world?

Posted by Paul Samael on Wednesday, April 3, 2013, In : Self-publishing

So, Goodreads is being acquired by Amazon - what does this mean for indie authors? Well, if I put my ear to the floor, I do believe that I can hear the sound of the four horsemen of the publishing apocalypse galloping towards me at top speed, mercilessly crushing indie authors to a pulp beneath their pounding hooves. Or maybe that’s just the kids leaping around again upstairs.

I feel a bit the same way about the Goodreads/Amazon tie-up. At first, I was inclined to think that it was very l...

In defence of miserable, depressing stories

Posted by Paul Samael on Sunday, August 19, 2012, In : Writing fiction

Well, I always knew it couldn’t last – having been fortunate enough to get five stars from my first few reviews, I now find myself the proud possessor of a 2 star review of my novel (equating to a rather unenthusiastic “it was OK”) on goodreads. This particular reviewer, Juanito, appeared to like one or two aspects of it but overall, he felt that it was too depressing and the protagonist wasn't sympathetic enough. In fairness, he explains that he likes stories which are “redempt...

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About Me

Paul Samael

Welcome to my blog, "Publishing Waste" which will either (a) chronicle my heroic efforts to self-publish my own fiction; or (b) demonstrate beyond a scintilla of doubt the utter futility of (a). And along the way, I will also be doing some reviews of other people's books and occasionally blogging about other stuff.