Monday, September 15, 2014

My mind is at the end of its tether. Thank you HG Wells for putting how I feel so succinctly.


I was laying in bed last night long after midnite trying to finish a book that I need to do a write up on soon, and  all I could think of was how many potentially excellent books I have in my library that are just sitting there unread waiting for me.    So I came to the conclusion that as nice as it may be (in most cases) to read a book before its release date, and as much as I want to help support indie authors & publishing houses, after I finish with all of the books I've said I would read, I am just done.  It is very cool to have my hands on a book sometimes months before it's published, but enough is enough. I keep watching the UPS guy and the postal person delivering new orders to my door only to have to put them away for later. And then I respond to review requests and later becomes even more later, while all the while even more books are piling up.  It's enough to drive a person effing insane.   The freebies are no longer worth it. I will, however, make a couple of exceptions for people I enjoy working with.

 I mean, seriously -- if it's a book I want enough to say yes to a pre-pub review request, I'll probably buy it anyway.  And then there's this: a majority of the time I bust my butt to get the book read & posted on time, and then what? Where's the freakin' publisher saying "thanks for the review" if it's a good one, or "hey, sorry you didn't like it" once it's posted? I mean, sometimes I feel like a tool and I'm so done with that.  And god forbid you should tweet to an author about how much you enjoyed his or her book -- there have only been a couple from whom I've heard  anything back.  It's not like I want to be the author's best friend, and I don't need twitter followers, but I mean seriously -- I take the time to help with publicity for a book he or she has written, and not hear even a freakin' thank you?

The word "no" is soon to be a major staple of my vocabulary. I've know I've done this to myself, but enough is just enough.  As soon as I have fulfilled my obligations, I'm done.





4 comments:

  1. Bravo to you! Good to stand up and say "No" when you need to do that.

    And, as I say, "So many good books, so little time," so one has to prioritize the use of that precious time.

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  2. My goodreads to-read pile shows in the neighborhood of 2000 books. I need to read some of them!

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  3. 2,000? Wow! Even if you read all day every day, could you read 365 books in a year? Then a lot more books will have been published, adding to your to-read lists.

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  4. Yes. And so my dilemma is made transparent! LOL

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Say what you will, but at least try to be nice about it.