And you [i]may[/i] just know how to write better than King.

We'll have to wait for the sales of your first book to answer that, though, but IMO they should be at least above average.

 

Lanth, though your support is as appreciated as it is unexpected, and I certainly hope my books sell well, I think any comparisons to King are borderline madness. After all, the man is an industry unto himself, he's got his own book club, countless bestsellers, etc. Other than Rowling and some of the uber-prolific romance novelists, isn't he the best selling author alive today?

Besides, while I think King's a good and a popular writer, and I think I'm pretty good with a great deal of room for improvement, I've also frequently lamented the rather casual relationship between quality and sales in books and most other areas of entertainment. Unfortunately, IMHO, sales prove nothing, or at least very little, about quality.

 

Don't arrogant and pompous essentially mean the same thing? An arrogant person is someone who thinks he knows everything, a pompous person is someone who thinks he knows everything while wearing a nice suit. Of course there is little evidence that you have ever worn a suit when it wasn't funeral related, so I think everyone could agree that you are arrogant, not pompous.

If someone were to pass judgement on you based on only a book review though, I could certainly see how they could come to such a conclusion. Your reviews frequently go into detail about how author X's writing style is flawed, which I am sure is 100% correct from a purely technical standpoint, but which could come across as a bit preachy -perhaps even pompous- to a first timer.

Of course the Flux that we have all grown to [strike]tolerate[/strike] know and love would be nothing without the unbridled arrogance, wear it as a badge of honor.

 

Why is it madness to compare yourself to another writer?

As you say, quality of writing generally does not go hand in hand with book sales, so why are you using King's book clubs and bestsellers as examples of him being a good writer?

So, you may be a better writer than King is, but it's hard to define 'better' when it comes to writing as people all have different tastes.

But a good general guideline is how well your books sell - if you sell a few hundred copies, then it's probably an indication that not that many people think your work is good. If you sell above-average copies, that tends to suggest that you're above average when it comes to your work.

But beyond those broad bands, it's pretty impossible to quantatively and authoratively say writer X is better than writer Y. I think it is perfectly reasonable to take book sales as a guide though - again with the caveat that once something/someone gets very popular, the sales figures become meaningless in terms of gauging quality because the work brings a whole lot of cultural baggage to it. A good example is the people who went to see the 2nd and 3rd Matrix movies 10 times just beacuse they're 'the Matrix', so they thought they had to, rather than because those films actually deserved that treatment based soley on their merits rather than all the cultural baggage that they managed to inspire around them.

Hopefully you get what I mean by all that - I never meant to imply that you are better than King, just that you shouldn't simply automatically assume that you aren't as good as King, especially because you haven't actually published anything for a wide audience yet. Once you have, the sales figures should give a general guide as to how others perceive your work - but even then that doesn't tell you if you are better than King or not, but it at least gives you an idea.

 

Well, you said I might know how to write better, and we'll have to wait for book sales to answer that. Which I took to mean if my book sold more it would prove me a better writer.

I'm certainly open for comparisons to king's writing quality (I've not read anything by him I really enjoyed since about 1994.) but I was saying sales comparisons were nuts.

As for which writer is better, I agree that that's unanswerable. It's an entirely qualitative issue and everyone will have their own preference based on personal issues that can't be objectively measured. On top of that, there's a big difference between "quality" and "enjoyability" or whatever words you prefer. Most consumers go for enjoyable over quality for the same reason that there are 1000 places to buy junk food for every organic produce market.

 

Right, I thought that's how you had read it, but it really wasn't how I'd intended it.

As for organic food, since when has that been higher quality? Usually organic food is smaller and in worse condition, doesn't last as long, and contrary to popular belief, often does not taste as good. Consumer magazine here did a survey of different types of organic foods and generally found that most people prefer the normal mass-produced foods, because they're better quality and lower price.

There did seem to be a very positive response to farm raised eggs vs battery hen ones, though, although some people found that the farm ones were too rich for their liking.

 

Wasn't thinking about it at the time, but my post about organic food is actually somewhat relevant to the original topic.

A lot of people go out and buy organic foods because they're 'healthier' and 'taste better', even when studies are done to show that in general they're usually no better, and often are worse than the competition, despite costing more. People buy organic food not because the actually get any descernable benefit from it, but because they think they do, and they like to belong to the club of snobs who buy overpriced food so they can feel good about themselves.

Similar to people who buy books by best-selling authors because they 'must be good', whereas there are plenty of books by other, lesser-known authors that they would probably enjoy a lot more.

 

as a writer you are a pompous arrogant ass?

yup.

but sometimes witty and entertaining?

yup.

your books will sell?

no telling, but the odds are not in your favor unless your rich daddy or momma can pull some major strings for you.

 

tragically, I don't have a rich daddy or mommmy, and even if I did, how would they conspire to boost by book sales? I mean I could be Bill Gates Jr. and he could just buy Random House and get me published, but how would parental wealth and string pulling assist book sales? Fiction book, at least; celebs get book sales on bios and such based on who they (or their parents) are, but I can't see that helping much with a fantasy novel?

 

Well, money and influence could garner you a huge well planned international advertising campaign. If people don't know your book is out there, they won't buy it.

Course, that doesn't guarantee long-term sales or popularity if word-of-mouth starts to spread that it's terrible, but initially it can bring a big boost.

 

Following up on what Kim wrote, it is less likely to get published if you are broke, even if you are the best writer in the world.

And you could be the crappiest writer in the world (look at all the crap that gets published these days!) and yet still get published because someone winked for you at the right moment.

From reading your blogs, you and your parents (dad especially) are not exactly destitute. You personally have enjoyed the luxury of not holding down a "real" job for over a year. Smells to me like a trust baby, or like a kept man (sorry Malaya - don't mean to imply your boy is a gigolo).

 

yeah, it would be nice to have the luxury of parents that hand you a decent living so that you can continue to be unemployed for years after moving in with your girlfriend and chasing your foolish dreams of getting published should you ever finish writing^H^H^H^H^H^H^H editing your book.

I can only imagine what it would be like to have the opportunity to spend my days blogging, surfing the web, and making a snails progress on that novel that is unlikely ever to see the inside of a Barnes & Noble.

Malaya is a very patient person. Sounds like she gives up quite a bit for the flux. Gigolo isn't quite right. Maybe 'Mimbo' isn't either though.

 

I couldnt of said it any better myself, who ever anonomous is.

 

This is what I get for busying myself with the novel and the HGL site and leaving the same post up for a week... the rabble turns on me!

I've never talked about financial issues between myself and Malaya on here, and I'm not going to start now, but I will say that I have some income sources I don't mention on the blog, and that I insist that we split the bills on almost everything. That being said, I am very lucky to have her and a nice place to live without working full time to afford it, and I hope the situation changes soon, as my writing eforts enable me to equalize and hopefully surpass her income.

 

Well, if money is an issue, I got this promising lead from someone in Niegeria. It looks like I am about to make around 14 million dollars for a very minimal financial investment. I could give you my source if you are interested...

 

All of you are retarded. Do something meaningful with your lives instead of obsess over other's business, retards.

 

" All of you are retarded. Do something meaningful with your lives instead of obsess over other's business, retards."

Oh! The irony!

 

You may find that ironic, but I find it both sane and logical. Being vindictive and picking apart someone's life based on internet blogging is obsessive and mean-spirited. Reprimanding those who do it lacks the same mean-spiritedness, because they clearly deserve it!

 

Oh Flux, take off the anonymous label and tell us how you really feel.