...I'm embarrassed to be an author now

[DokiDokiTsuna]

"Author" should really be in quotations, since it's not like I'm published or anything...but that's beside the point!

Let me set the scene: so I was in the 'book section' of the local supermarket today...normally I don't hang around there, but I wanted to find a book written by a YouTuber I watch sometimes-- see, there's this micro-discourse going around about book reviewers/critics paradoxically writing shockingly bad books, and I wanted to observe the phenomenon with my own two eyes. Yes, I'm messy; but also, as a critic/creator myself, I may be in that position someday, and there's no harm in learning from others' mistakes.

All that is to say, in order to search for the book, I had to actually stop and stare at all the romantasy slop I usually ignore...and it was a viscerally unpleasant experience.

Modern 'viral' advertising has officially taken over traditional publishing, and as a result looking at book covers just feels like looking at AI art-- a wall of passionless dollar signs. Like you can practically hear the money-hungry CEO drool dripping onto the floor as your eyes traverse yet another Knight Night Knave Mate Blood Sword title printed in curly letters...

Looking at books never made me feel that way before, and I truly hate that it's come to this. Also, I'm willing to bet that at least 25% of those stupid book covers were actually made with AI. =_=

It doesn't help knowing that most of those books are just as inane on the inside as they are on the outside...inane books are nothing new, but I feel like nowadays inanity is being upheld as the "goal" in a way that it wasn't before.
Like, to give an analogy-- fast food has been popular for as long as it's existed....but it still remained in the domain of 'junk food'. Tasty treats that are acknowledged as tasty, but also acknowledged as nutritionally bereft and low-quality, even when compared to similar items prepared by home chefs. Your foodie friend who loves to cook usually isn't raving about the latest McDonald's burger, or wishing their quesadillas tasted just like the ones from Taco Bell.

Meanwhile, if your friend who loves to read and write is obsessed with the latest Bowl of Mac and Cheese pseudo-YA slop, or if their only criteria when choosing a book is "spice level"...that's just reality. Someone who loves literature is not necessarily someone who wants to read good books, or even cares if a book is good. Or even just wants to be seen as someone who reads good books, like on a surface level. That's the culture now-- no standards.

And I think this is reflected in the content that people in the "bookish" community put out, like the aforementioned YouTuber: no matter how insightful or intelligent the critic is, they WILL spend 90% of their time talking about smut and slop. Because that's what gets views; that's all anyone cares about. Like, essentially, the way you gain clout and respect in this community is by being smart enough to point out how stupid it is.
Even MCU nerds get to brag about lore and comic history at least! All book nerds get to brag about is being on the frontline of Goodreads beef, or getting an ARC sent to you because you have 10,000 followers. Like I said, it's inanity all the way down, and it's genuinely tragic to see this happen to what is still considered an "intellectual" hobby.

All that is to say, I'm still gonna write. But I don't know if I want to be a "writer" in this climate...the fact that the kind of stuff I come up with would never be favored by a traditional publisher is starting to look less like a sad reality of pop culture preferences, and more like a legitimate indicator of the quality of my writing. ¯_(ツ)_/¯ If stupid books are what sells, I'm thinking maybe I don't want to sell.

...I'm also thinking this might have something to do with the "book critics can't write" phenomenon...like, at the very least, it may be selection bias at work, where the book critics most likely to get published are those who apparently turn their critic-brains off and just vibe for 500 pages. =/ Idk, let me know what you think.

***Also, let me know if you know of any book reviewers whose video catalog isn't just one long tabloid press. I like book reviewers; I watch their videos on a case-by-case basis, but there is simply no point in subscribing to someone when I will be disgusted and irritated by the majority of their content. Like, I'm not mad at them; get that bag or whatever, but I am just not interested in "This Smutty Viral Book Makes no Sense! 🤪 Rant Review (1 HR)" week after week, and I never will be...

[vapidink]

I mean, I don't look for quality reads at the supermarket, so that's part of the issue, lol. I dunno, I think there's always been trashy novels that sell. Like the old harlequin novels my SIL loved to read when she had the time. Same thing, different era. I don't really think whether a book sells is a sign of quality, rather it's a sign of luck and marketability. The sad truth is that most authors are shit at marketing, myself included.

[jwabeasley]

I get it, I do. What passes for novels today is just a real shame. Frankly, as a reader I've found it so difficult to find novels I can enjoy that I don't read anything published recently, instead tracing my way back through the stories that inspired the authors I enjoy most, and the stories that inspired those authors. Lately, I have been trying to read G.K. Chesterton's fiction, whose essays I like fine but whose novels I have had a hard time getting into.

It's absolutely true that being a good critic and being a good writer are different skillsets! One of my favorite examples of that is the book The Flight to Lucifer by literary critic Harold Bloom, it's a sequel/adaptation of his favorite novel A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay.

While Arcturus was a foundational sci-fi novel that inspired a great swathe of mid-20th century sci-fi and fantasy, Flight was ...not. Bloom himself paid to stop a second reprinting.

I heard from a professional author that the editing mind and the writing mind are separate. He advises to write the first draft without editing at all, not even looking at the page if he can help it, then coming back later and editing/revising it as-needed.

[DokiDokiTsuna]

Like the old harlequin novels my SIL loved to read when she had the time. Same thing, different era.

Oh yeah, I was gonna mention that...I've looked at supermarket bookshelves before, in previous years before BookTok got huge. And yeah, I've seen those...I think the difference is that the entire selection didn't look like 'harlequin novels', with the shirtless guys and the sexy lip prints on the covers. There was so much more variety, even when it came to the YA blockbusters like Twilight and the Hunger Games-- which, notably, each had their own distinct book cover aesthetics.

It's not necessarily the trashiness that gets me, it's the samey-ness...trash is natural, clones aren't. And a wall filled with clones of trash is just bald-faced capitalism at work, which is why it made me feel so grossed out...

The sad truth is that most authors are shit at marketing, myself included.

Man...that is worth a thread of its own. I don't want to get into another rant, so lemme just say this: I just hope someday publishers will go back to doing their job and promoting authors, instead of trying to pinch pennies by forcing them to promote themselves. My heart goes out to all the incredible works of literature that will never make it to bookshelves, simply because their writers are just writers, and not social media managers+publicists+influencers on the side.

[vapidink]

Honestly, my local supermarket doesn't even have books, just tabloids and those word search/crossword puzzle magazines. Marshalls has been stocking more books lately though, a lot of it probably booktok stuff. Heartstopper, Fourth Wing, those smutty hockey books. Saw a full set of HP books too and a lot of classics with nice hardcovers. I don't know, I see variety in the literary junk food, but when I want junk food I read bad fanfics, so there's that. For everything else I abuse my library privileges or go to a bookshop.

Full disclosure, I stay away from booktok. I don't care what books are hyped, I don't read what's popular just because it's all over the place. I remember the height of the Twilight phase, it was a lot, lol. Never read past chapter one! Personally, I'm an author and I will continue to be one until my hands fall off from too much typing. I like writing, I've written niche stuff I knew didn't have mass appeal and it's some of my fav work. Whether other people like it matters very little to me.

Which is probably why I'm shit at marketing, haha. Honestly, one more reason why self publishing isn't such a bad idea nowadays. We're already being pushed to do our own marketing anyway, might as well control the rest of the process!

[penxpanel]

Harlequin novels still sell well at thrift shops. Lol.

And yeah most artist/arthor types are shit at marketing as the vast majority are introverted. so trying to promote your book, feels like someone asking you to go stand in the middle of a crowded mall with a giant sign and a little dance to do. Like; nope, i'll waste away in the shadows, thank you very much.
.

[vapidink]

Really? I haven't seen any in the thrift shops I've been to, but I've seen them at those little newspaper kiosks. Fun fact about Harlequin, they actually partnered with Dark Horse to make Harlequin manga a while back, lol.

Youve just described me and my marketing situation. Most of the time I don't even use social media and I don't make art often enough to use that to advertise so I've just kinda given up.

[penxpanel]

Use to work at one that did sell them. They were one of the books that did well and actually sold. Probably top 5

Crime and mystery sold the best, than romance.

And yeah similar. I struggle to advertise, theirs so many opportunities were I should have went "hey go read" or at least provide a quiet link in the bottom, than I'm like, nope.

[bulgariansumo]

***Also, let me know if you know of any book reviewers whose video catalog isn't just one long tabloid press. I like book reviewers; I watch their videos on a case-by-case basis, but there is simply no point in subscribing to someone when I will be disgusted and irritated by the majority of their content. Like, I'm not mad at them; get that bag or whatever, but I am just not interested in "This Smutty Viral Book Makes no Sense! 🤪 Rant Review (1 HR)" week after week, and I never will be...

SBU English Club's gimmick is covering internet infamous books as if the author brought them into a critique group. They focus on constructive critique, try to leave out author drama as much as possible, and though some of the books they cover are the smutty viral books, they tend to have some variety in what they cover.