Brilliant
Anyone who has met me and been forced to put up with me for more than five minutes has probably heard my Rules for Bad Books (TM). Specifically, a set of 3 simple criteria that can be used when purchasing a book to determine whether or not it's likely to be total crap. For the uninitiated, I have summarized them below:
1) The book contains the words 'A Novel' somewhere on the cover without any context. If the publisher needs to TELL you that this
collection of printed dead tree is, in fact, a novel, then you've got problems.
2) If the author's name is printed in a larger font size than the title. (Author's name and title being in the same font size doesn't
count.) This means the book is being sold solely based on who wrote it, and not because it's good.
3) The back cover or inside flap, normally being reserved for a brief teaser plot synopsis, are covered instead with 'praise' for the book.
If they need to spend all their time telling you it's good, while not providing you with a blurb to help you decide for yourself, then there
could be problems.
Now, to qualify as bad, a book must meet at least two of the three criteria listed above. Meeting only one should raise suspicions, but
that doesn't mean it will be bad. It just means that the publishers flunked cover design school, which anyone who has seen either the
Hitlercycle or the cover of Der Kadett can readily agree is a common occurrence.
--
http://www.mit.edu/~mitsfs/reviews/Millar-GoodFairiesOfNewYork.txt
1) The book contains the words 'A Novel' somewhere on the cover without any context. If the publisher needs to TELL you that this
collection of printed dead tree is, in fact, a novel, then you've got problems.
2) If the author's name is printed in a larger font size than the title. (Author's name and title being in the same font size doesn't
count.) This means the book is being sold solely based on who wrote it, and not because it's good.
3) The back cover or inside flap, normally being reserved for a brief teaser plot synopsis, are covered instead with 'praise' for the book.
If they need to spend all their time telling you it's good, while not providing you with a blurb to help you decide for yourself, then there
could be problems.
Now, to qualify as bad, a book must meet at least two of the three criteria listed above. Meeting only one should raise suspicions, but
that doesn't mean it will be bad. It just means that the publishers flunked cover design school, which anyone who has seen either the
Hitlercycle or the cover of Der Kadett can readily agree is a common occurrence.
--
http://www.mit.edu/~mitsfs/reviews/Millar-GoodFairiesOfNewYork.txt