Monday, March 9, 2020

The Bestseller Dilemma

When I go on vacation, I take several books. This year, I took two from one of my favorite authors. I quickly read them. My cousin finished her book (only 1????) so we switched. There were several things that both books had in common:

Both were written by bestselling authors.

Both authors were world known.

Both authors wrote 30 books or more.

And they shared another aspect; the more famous the authors became, the less editing was done on their books. Both books had numerous repetitions; not just two, three times saying the same thing, but almost every chapter.

I find that so annoying. Being a bestseller shouldn't make you immune from good editing. What's required from new writers- conciseness- should be required from established authors. I have noticed this among other bestselling authors (no, I'm not going to name them and commit author suicide). It's like laws that the average citizen has to obey, but somehow politicians and the very rich think don't apply to them. Makes you mad, right?

I finished the books because one was a favorite author, and the other because I wanted to know the ending.

And after snorkeling, dancing, partyboating, dining, swimming, and sunning, what else was there to do?

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Till next time....

Char