I came across a site calling itself a “Book Club” with the tag line, “Bringing Voice to New Authors.” The domain was purchased in March, 2006 and currently has 19 new authors who have put their manuscripts on this site for “Club” members to read and comment on. I’d be surprised if they actually have any “Club” members other than the authors. Who would pay $25 per year to read unknown authors work? I’m not sure who this site is actually marketing to. It appears that their focus is on marketing to authors who have not been able to get their manuscripts published through normal publishing channels. Not that marketing to authors is a bad thing but what does an author actually get from placing his/her book manuscript on a site like this?
Here is what the site claims they offer:
For authors, this site gives voice to your stories and excellent feedback from the members. It is for authors who are leaving no stones unturned in their efforts to get published. Our authors want out of the slush pile–or at least on top of it–so their voices will be heard.
It goes on to state that there is NO compensation for authors who places their book manuscripts on the site. Read, NO compensation! So, how will this site help get their authors out of the slush-pile? Well, they also market to agents and publishers. They even have an area setup specifically for them. They call it, “Special Invite For Agents and Publishers”. They ask publishers and agents to “Use this site as your pre-ranked slush pile.”
Pre-ranked slush pile? What does that mean and why would a publisher and/or agent care? It seems that this site encourages their members to read and review the new authors work. The reviews are supposed to “help” the authors hone their writing craft and rank the manuscript accordingly. Okay … I guess that could be a good thing but I’m not so sure an agent or publisher would take much notice at this point. Maybe if the site does well and it actually gets a large group of non-author members, then the agents and publishers might take some notice, though I doubt good agents and publishers have time to surf the net looking for that rare gem just waiting to be discovered.
Here is what the site actually offers un-published authors:
Your book will be featured when it first arrives. It will be featured both on BloodyGoodRead.com and on our sister site: UnreadTreasures.com.
You will receive feedback, from members, fellow authors and possibly even agents and publishers about your book. If there are problems with a portion of the novel preventing it from being the success you want, this feedback can be invaluable and is very easy to retrieve.
Your book may be featured in ‘top ten’ or ‘best of genre’ if it scores well (based on downloads and review ratings). Which means, if you have a really great book that is well liked by the members, the book will continue to receive high visibility, making it more likely to be read by an agent or publisher.
You can review ‘real time’ statistics about your book.
Your book’s statistics on average rating and downloads can be retrieved instantly, providing you with a real time view on your book’s popularity.Certain aspects of the presentation of your novel can be ‘tweaked’ real time by you. You may improve the ‘marketing’ of your novel by improving the header and cover blurbs and by selecting better review headliners as often as you like.
Your bio is placed on the website. This enables members, agents and publishers to get a better understanding of you and what makes you special.
All of the above for a mere $250 per year for one manuscript or $600 per year for multiple manuscripts. The manuscripts are setup in pdf format with cover art by a “In-House” artist and an author’s bio page is included. I don’t know … the bio pages have very little content and took almost no effort to create. Turning a manuscript into pdf is a no-brainer and uploading it take seconds and adding the html can be done in minutes. The artwork is probably the most time consuming. $50 per year would be much more appropriate if an author really thinks this is a good thing to do.
Personally, I think it’s a big waste of money and time. Author’s can join a writing critique group and get the same feedback, probably better feedback and the likelihood of a reputable agent or publisher ever seeing their work is almost none existent. There more likely to get vanity press type publishers interested in their work then a real publisher, one that doesn’t charge you for publishing your book.
The sites design does not look professionally done. In fact it looks very amateurish and not very appealing with strange color combinations and bold brown text!. It doesn’t showcase the author or their manuscript in a professional atmosphere nor does it do anything to excite potential “Club” members to want to sign up and download a book manuscript. And why would anyone want to read a book on their computer? Non-fiction does far better in the ebook marketplace than fiction will ever do, especially in a pdf format. Fiction readers want to sit in a comfortable chair with book in hand.
The developers of this site may believe they are offering a valuable resource to new authors but I believe the developers are getting far more than they can possibly give their authors. My advice is to run in another direction and take your cash with you!
Go to the site, Bloody Good Read, and see if you can find any real value in placing a manuscript on the site, even if they didn’t charge way more than they should and leave a comment if you don’t agree, or even if you do agree.
That there are people gullible enough to believe that their as-yet-undiscovered talents will be found on the web like a high-school wallflower discovered by a jock and turned into a prom queen (I actually have no doubt that this actual plot is tackled somewhere on the site with a belief that its a fresh angle) is one thing. But the website alone portrays one thing: Amateurism - a first year design student would create something more inviting than that contortion of fonts, frames and links. Sites like that should give you one message and that is BEWARE. There are even spelling mistakes in titles and blurbs. Something so wrong with that - I’m so glad that you raised this, - I’m in shock that whilst in this day in age people are well aware and beware of about vanity publishers, they can be convinced that this is an INVESTMENT?
Hi, Jo
Yes the site looks very unprofessional but even if it looked professional it would still be marketing to the desperation of want-a-be writers for a hefty price. There are much better and less costly ways to get noticed on the Internet today.
Hell, I could offer the same service for less $ and give the writers a real bio page or even a blog where they could write about their writing/publishing process, which would be of more value to anyone looking for a way to market themselves and/or their writing.
I’d like to think that the developer of the Bloody Good Read site has good intentions but it’s hard to believe given the amount they charge.
Thanks for leaving a comment.
I don’t know…I rather liked it.
I thought some of the stories sounded interesting. I may actually join the club. (As a member, not an author.)
I like reading new authors. Yes, they are raw and ‘under’-edited, but sometimes there are good stories behind those typos.
clm
clm, what did you like about the site? Surely not the design, I mean, it is a poor design and doesn’t present the books/authors well at all.
Yes, there may be some good stories on that site but that’s not what I was commenting on. I would not presume that there are typos or poor grammar, nor would I presume that they haven’t been well edited. There’s no way for me to know that without joining and downloading one of the books. What I did say is that most “readers” would not want to read a whole book on their computers, which is one reason fiction ebooks haven’t done well.
You do realize that by joining, you are supporting the site more than the authors, don’t you? The authors would do far better by self publishing and then marketing online. At least any money generated from their writing would be theirs!
I’m a frequent buyer and reader of ebooks and the site has more detail than most about the book and lets me read the first chapter. Also the price: $25 to real all the books in the club comes to less than a dollar a book, and while I won’t spend $25 to read a book by a new author, I will spend a dollar. So given the number of books that look interesting to me, I joined it and downloaded my first selection: Ghost Lover. I’ll let you know how it goes.
clm
You know what, clm, I was really hoping you would not comment again. I know who you are. Do you really think the comments you made here are appropriate?