not really SBD

When is Robin Hobb going to write another Rain Haven book? I want it, now. I went looking and I think there are more coming out but I'm not sure. If her publisher didn't pick up more of the series would she self-publish? I hope she would, but with help! HELP THE BOOKS.

I just got a book from amazon that could have been fabu. It could have been a madcap Capra movie, it could have been a A Contendah. . . . but it turned out to be something less than wonderful.

That baby screamed for an editor. There were issues of all sizes and shapes, big stuff like characters who were inconsistent and repeated plot points (food in fights once per book), and way too many typos along with dumb stuff that like "six am in the morning" that an editor would catch.

I got all indignant thinking that hey, this is why we need editors in our lives.

But wait! This book is from a small press! I felt the urge to tell them they need to hire better editorial help--and I looked them up to make sure I never accidentally subbed to them or the horse they ride around on. Turns out Outskirts Press is self publishing. So now I'm going back to being indignant. That story didn't get the help it deserved.

This sort of sad condition, of potential glimpsed and lost, is going to be true more often than not now. It makes me want to go back to bed and give up. Naw it makes me want to kiss an editor and buy her a beer.

Publishers, pay those editors. They suffer to keep the reading safe and painless for the rest of us.

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