Sunday, May 04, 2008

The Self-Publishing 6th Sense

I was reading a blog I like, Dark Roasted Blend, and saw an ad for a book. I could tell it was self-published as soon as I saw the ad. Is this because...

a) Emily is psychic
b) The not-so-good cover art is a tell
c) The not-so-comprehensible ad copy is a tell (see below)
d) Duh, it was advertised on a blog

"More than an ordinary tale about an elf! Chessie -who's got a really cute dog- straddles two worlds: the human and the undiscovered world of elves. Read how Chessie discovers her magical powers, deals with dangers and triumphs."

Edited to add: Due to some trolling, that I guess I may have asked for, comments are temporarily being moderated.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hmmm...now you've got me worried....I worked all day Saturday on cover art for my next book....(bites nails nervously)

veinglory said...

I may have been struck by a random bolt of bitchery there. But I was interested that I could look at the add and tell. In fact I also thought it was most likely to be iU/authorhouse with Lulu as second most likely. Maybe I have just been doing this too long. I though iU because an author willing to pay $200 for a blog ad is also more likely to have used a pay-to-pay printer to keep the cover price down.