Why Internet Authors Don't Need Critics

I love to help people, and I'm always ready to give advice to people who ask.

For instance, there's a lot of people out there seeking advice because they've written a book. A lot of people. Almost as many as the number of people who give advice to people - who've written books. Most of that advice is meant to be helpful, but is, quite frankly, wrong.

For instance, I saw an article the other day which said that it 'was OK to publish on the internet', (which is patronising enough), but then went on to say that it was important that the book 'had all the usual things in it', so as to 'impress the Critics'. Why? Why do Internet Authors need Critics?

The problem, as I see it, is that these 'Advisors' don't seem to realise that being published on the internet is a new kind of experience. It's not like Traditional Publishing, which has dominated the world of letters for the last 250 years. It isn't a 'cheap imitation', or something that you do while you're waiting for a 'real publisher' to notice your book and make you an offer. It's a whole different world. If you get your book onto an internet publishing site like Lulu.com, you will be able to get a few copies printed, enough for yourself and your friends, and maybe that's all you really want. You will stop there. Of course, you have the other opportunity, which is to carry on, do the 'submitting to publishers' thing, like all authors do, (even though you've seen your book in print - internet print), and wait by the mailbox like other authors do, hoping against hope that you're going to get good news. And wait. And wait. Just like other authors do, playing the game that publishers have been forcing authors to play for the last few hundred years.

If you think that Traditional Publishing is the right way to go, really the only way, the one true way, then yes, Internet Publishing is going to seem like a weak and pale imitation. More important, the books that come out from the Internet Publishers, are going to look all wrong. After all, Internet Published books are mostly laid out and planned by amateurs. Authors, that is, but rank amateurs when it comes to layout, design and book jacket artwork. These authors may find, (as I found), that getting your picture properly sized is a minefield, and matching pic and text is easy to get wrong. Page numbering is another quagmire. The result? Books that purport to be 'paperback novels' but look nothing like the things you pick up and buy in the shop.

That's what this woman was getting at, with her advice. She wanted Internet Authors to make sure they put a nice blurb on the back; a tempting extract on the front page (like 'real' publishers do); and ensure that the ISBN information was all correct and properly laid out on the reverse of the Title Page. Lost? Confused? Don't worry. My advice is more simple. Pick a book off your bookshelf and copy that. When you upload your own manuscript to Lulu and begin the long journey of becoming an Internet Author, copy what you can see in one of your 'normal' books. Make sure you have the same first few pages, and draw up a Dedication Page for instance, and Contents Page, or whatever you can see the proper publishers doing. (Like me, I put in a 'Cast of Characters' page into my romantic novel, but only because I saw that other similar authors had done it first!)

As a result, your Internet book will look and feel 'normal'. This is what the woman was advising. Most particularly, she was worried that if Critics received a copy of your Internet book and it somehow looked different - looked cheap, badly printed, poorly laid out - then they wouldn't take it seriously and wouldn't give it a good review.

Who cares? What are the chances that any reputable Critic is going to get hold of a copy of a book that is published on the Internet? Would any Internet Author dare send their self-produced novel to a national newspaper for review? I mean, what if the Critic liked it and orders flooded in - how are you going to print off the thousands of copies you will need? How will you get them distributed to bookshops?

No, Internet Publishing is a different game. First and foremost it's about satisfying the author, and finding a way to put your well-loved and crafted manuscript into book form, so you can enjoy that frisson of holding your book in your hand. Second, it's about impressing your family, your friends, your neighbours and their dog. It's not about rivalling the Traditional Publishing companies. It's about filling in that gap between 'published' and 'unpublished' for all those aspiring authors who have been passed over, ignored and generally reviled for the past few generations. It's also about giving readers more choice.

It's not, definitely not, about pleasing Critics. Internet Authors don't need Critics.