NY Times reviewers…
Once again I can celebrate: I didn’t read one book on the NY Times’s list of top books for 2021! I sometimes by chance have read a few non-fiction books on that list, but not this year. And fiction books? Very rarely. Why is this?
It’s simple: I filter out all books from the Big Five publishing conglomerates the NY Times reviewers focus on because I’ve learned that I’m rarely interested in any book published by the Big Five…or reviewed by the NY Times, which rarely supports small presses or self-published authors (of course, they’ll take their money when spent on ads). That saves me a lot of time and money.
I’m an avid reader, but I prefer not to read the Big Five’s schlock. (Whether they will become the Big Four is still in question, I guess.) That probably includes all the fiction Times reviewers recommend, those books that for whatever reason manage to get a nod from the Big Five agents and acquisition editors. The old mares and stallions in the Big Five’s stables, who are ready for the glue factory because they write formulaic crap, are automatically out; they try to appeal to everyone by avoiding anything controversial. The latter’s not their fault, I suppose. Those agents and acquisition editors force those old authors into a rut they can’t escape. Or this is a just an extreme case of the Peter’s Principle.
I’m not going to say my stories are any better—I’m a lot more modest than most Big Five authors—but I write stories without any external constraints imposed by traditional publishers, especially the insidious ones of the Big Five. And the mafia of reviewers at the Times, most of whom never wrote a book and aren’t able, is in the pocket of the Big Five publishers, the best lobbyists the Big Five could have. To hell with them!
Think the above put-down of Times reviewers is a bit harsh! Okay then, keep on paying premium prices for Big Five schlock. Otherwise, please protect yourselves against the pandemic of the Big Five’s books by finding and supporting self-published authors and those who write for small, independent presses. Their works are much more worthwhile. That would be a great resolution for 2022! Happy New Year to all my readers! May you find the truly interesting stories.
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The trilogy that grew. The “Esther Brookstone Art Detective” series became a trilogy in spite of the publisher of the first two novels…and then it grew. It’s still a trilogy if readers insist on reading print versions. The first three novels, Rembrandt’s Angel, Son of Thunder, and Death on the Danube, take one of the most unusual crime-fighting duos in the mystery and thriller genres from a wild, mature romance to a honeymoon cruise that will motivate readers to ask for more. And there is more!
Around the world and to the stars! In libris libertas!
