Thread: Book Published on Lulu: Reviewed in the Guardian

A self published book, available only on Lulu.com and Amazon Kindle, has received a brilliant review in the Guardian.

The Exploding Boy and Other Tiny Tales by Nick Parker

The sad twist is that the reviewer, Ian Samson, says he gets many self-published works sent to him but this book, "The Exploding Boy and Other Tiny Tales" by Nick Parker, is the first good one he's received.

99.9999999999% of self-published books are garbage. It'll probably be the only good one he receives.

Originally Posted by caelum

99.9999999999% of self-published books are garbage. It'll probably be the only good one he receives.

There's nothing like an informed opinion from someone who knows what he's talking about - and that's nothing like an informed opinion from someone who knows what he's talking about.

Mmm, this kind of thing is usually a mixed bag, but I think the good outweighs the bad here.

It's great to see somebody break through to the point of media attention without the headache of the inevitably tedious process of commercial publishing, and I think that perhaps it's something that will grow in coming years with the approval of established authors or not.

But we all know what caelum means. It wasn't subtle, but it's a pretty good approximation of that little voice that speaks from the back of your mind sometimes.
However, I disagree in so far that I don't think that self published books are bad in general, because great ideas are everywhere (especially on the internet, where they scuttle behind every wall and crawl under every stone). I always feel a great sadness when I see a great piece of writing posted on the internet, because I know that maybe, at most, a few thousand will ever read it.
Self publishing offers a way out of that.

The problem with self publishing is, aside from the obvious fact that there's no filter, is that it's too quick. The months in which an author slogs away finding and agent, finding a publisher, wrestling an editor and waiting for the book to make its way through the system are the months in which an author has the opportunity to discover so many glaring mistakes and shoddy sentences. In self publishing, there's none of that.
'A book sir?'
'Can I get this printed?'
'Published, sir? Yes, sir. Here's your receipt. Times New Roman or Courier?'

But then again, so much tripe gets published in the 'old fashioned' sense. (I'm all for changing times but, uh, 'old fashioned' makes me cringe)