You Have One Chance

/ Joan Hall

Hey, SE Readers. Joan with you today. Like most writers, I’m a reader. All writers should be readers, but that’s a discussion for another day. Mystery and suspense is my favorite genre, but I’ll read others as well. I have my favorite authors, some are auto-buy, but I’ll also explore some that are new to me.

Recommendations come from a variety of sources—from friends, reviews, BookBub, Goodreads, and also Net Galley. If you aren’t familiar with the latter, it’s a place where readers can signup and request advanced reader copies of upcoming releases. It’s a good way to get free books. Who doesn’t like free?

Recently, I saw one that intrigued me. The premise sounded good, so I requested it. I should have known better because they were still allowing ARCs after the publication date. I was approved within minutes. Yes, minutes. Net Galley can sometimes take weeks depending on the publication date.

I was turned off beginning at the first page, but because I’d agreed to review the book in exchange for the free copy, I trudged on. Things only got worse, and I ended up skimming the last half of the book, not caring less about what happened. I rarely leave one-star reviews, but this book wasn’t worth even that. It was my first (and last) time reading anything by this author.

This brings me to the title of my post. There’s a lot of competition out there to gain readers.  The market is flooded. Not to sound pessimistic but only a handful of us will achieve best-seller status. Because we love to write, we keep trudging along. Gaining loyal and repeat readers is hard, and most of the time we only have one chance.

Today, I’ll share a few of the reasons that have kept me from reading a second book by an author.

Repeated words. I’ll be honest repeats are the bane of my existence. No matter how often I think I’ve caught all of them, my critique partners find some I’ve missed, and still, I’m sure some slip through the cracks. However, when an author who is with a traditional publisher and a book goes through multiple edits, there is no excuse. A few years ago, someone recommended an author to me, so I picked up one of his books. Here’s an example.

Yardley stood outside the bedroom doors. Double doors, white with copper trim. She pictured Isaac in the morning opening both doors and what he must’ve seen. She took both knobs and pushed the doors open, the way a child might.

Unlikeable leading characters. With rare exceptions, I want to like the lead characters. A well-written plot where the protagonist is redeemed can be extremely satisfying. When there’s no character arc and no growth, that’s a huge turn-off for me. This was one of the problems in the Net Galley book. The protagonist was extremely unlikeable, and by the middle of the story, I would have probably cheered had she been killed. (Okay, that’s a bit extreme, but I would have said she got what she deserved.)

Insulting a reader’s intelligence. This is tricky because what ticks one person off might be pleasing to another. Once again, I’ll turn to a book I received on Net Galley. This was a book by a best-selling author and many love his work. I was “meh.”

I’m not a huge fan of chapter titles, but in this book, the author felt the need to title each chapter by location and time of day. A good deal of the action took place in a car, so titles went something like this: Int. Grand Am – Night, Ext. Grand Am – Night, or Int. Dorm Room – Day.

Hello? I think I’m smart enough to figure out if they’re inside or outside or if it’s day or night. I did give this author another chance and liked that book much better, but not enough that I care to read everything he writes.

Both books mentioned have some stellar reviews What one reader likes another won’t. I’ve purchased—and enjoyed—several books based on bad reviews. What that person didn’t like, I knew I would.

It goes without saying that good editing and proofreading are a must. Too many typos or misused words are enough to dissuade readers. Remember as authors we often have only one chance.

81 thoughts on “You Have One Chance”

  1. I hate repeated words, it pulls you right out of the story. I read a fantasy where there was a lot of religion and everything had god before it. Godpole, godgate, godsword, god-day, godrobe… it just clanged like a bell. I am sure they could have still shown the intensity of the religion without doing that.

    I personally find I repeat words in clusters, so if I use the word strange in a scene – suddenly I’ve used it 20 times and never again in the book.

    Reviews are always fun especially as I’ve read the 1 star reviews of my favourite authors and either saw the reviewers missed some nuaunce as to why something happened or just hated a certain character personality trait or trope that I loved. It kinda makes you feel better, knowing that a lot of bad reviews do come down to personal taste.

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    • I’ve purchased books after reading one star reviews and like many of them. I also have what I call crutch words. These change from project to project, and I never know what my new “favorite overused” word will be.

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  2. Totally get what you mean about the repeat words, Joan. And when you wanted to cheer over the protagonist getting killed? In the newest Halloween movie I was on Michael Myers’s side and hoped he’d take out the whole cast, lol.

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  3. Hi Joan, I agree that editing is important but, honestly, some typos always creep through, even with traditionally published books. I would also agree that everyone has different tastes in books. My mom loves murders and thrillers and I hardly ever read that sort of book. I like family dramas and books with strong social issues messaging including dystopia.

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    • I agree. Some always creep through. I’ve had it happened to me. I for one don’t read book in a genre I don’t like. It’s not fair to the author for me to leave a negative review based on the genre.

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      • That makes sense. I can’t say there are any genres of book I absolutely don’t like, I just read more of some genres. I really enjoy some cozy mysteries, for example, and have read all of Agatha Christie’s books, some more than once.

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  4. I agree, Joan. Using an editor is one way to avoid most errors in a novel. There are some things that I can’t let slide, but others that I can gloss over. If the plot is really good, or the characters aren’t flat, that helps a lot. We all miss things, and even editors do, but I don’t need every minute detail to help me cross a room. I prefer to use some imagination. Excellent post.

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  5. Great post, Joan. Good points all around. The value of content editors, line editors, and proofreaders is a vital part of the writing process. Too many authors don’t take it seriously enough. The best writers have the best editors!

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  8. I love to read, but I don’t like to feel forced to read. I’m not sure I’d finish a book that bothered me. I know I have put some down and not gone back to them. Repeated words, phrases, and beginnings of sentences are a problem for me. I try to avoid them and I look for them later. I look for anything that makes me stop and think (because that’s when I would put the book down for the night). Reading, particularly reading good books helps writers maintain a standard to shoot for. This is a nice reminder. Thanks Joan.

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    • Reading should be a pleasure. I have a nice little stack of books in a “did not finish” pile, as well as a few that I wasn’t able to get past the first page. Sometimes, I’ll go back to give them another chance, but more than likely I’m done with it. Reading preferences change, I know mine have, so books I bought years ago (yes, my TBR pile is that old) may no longer appeal to me. Still, there are not many things more enjoyable than sitting down with a good well-written novel. Thanks, Dan

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  11. Great post and point, Joan 🙂 These repeat word stand out to me, and I hate when I miss my own. Not caring about the lead? That sure does make it hard to read unless they redeem themselves. It’s hard when you have to read a book you don’t like. Those I put down quickly.

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    • One of the best character arcs ever (IMO) is the Humphrey Bogart character in Casablanca. I never disliked the character, but he’s selfish at the beginning of the film. Of course, in the end, he gives up the woman he loves for a better cause. If done well, I don’t have a problem. But in the case of the book I just read, the character NEVER became likable. If nothing else, she got worse.

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  12. I absolutely love to read and devour books on a regular basis. I’m reading one right now that is SO FREAKING GOOD, I was ticked off last night when I had to call it a night and go to bed. I’ve read most everything this author has written but it’s been a number of years since I opened one of his novels. He’s big time–NYT best selling author, with at least one book-to-movie that I’m aware of. I didn’t even know this release was out, until I stumbled over it in a bookstore and promptly snatched it up.

    I mention all of this because one of my biggest pet peeves is when a author switches POV. I noticed that happening within the first few chapters of this book—something I don’t recall him doing in the past. Likely he did. I probably just didn’t notice because his stories are that good. Which is where I’m headed with this rambling reply, LOL.

    This book is currently my fave read of 2023 and unless the ending goes south, it will likely remain among my top reads as the year goes on. And yet there are POV hops. Not many, but I do notice when they happen. When I write reviews, I would normally (gently) flag something like that. In this case, I doubt I will even mention it. The writing, pacing, story, and characters reduce those POV hops to a minor hiccup.

    I guess I’m willing to overlook minor problems in a book when it’s otherwise a five-star read. If this were a three-star read with POV hops, guaranteed I’d mention it in my review.

    Great post for prompting discussion, Joan!

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    • Oooh, now you have me curious. I’ll look forward to your review. I can overlook minor issues as well. Often I get so caught up in a good story that I’ll miss things. It’s the blatant mistakes that trip me up. I found a mistake in the last release from one of my favorite authors. A minor character’s last name changed. I noticed it, but it wasn’t enough that I didn’t lower my five-star rating.

      I agree that I hate to be interrupted in reading – even to go to bed! 🙂

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  13. Ah, the dreaded repeated words! That’s a big one for me–especially repeated words that dumb down the story. A word like “was” really gets to me. I’ve written on this a time or two. I began reading a book that used that word more than twenty times in the opening paragraph. I didn’t get past the first few pages on that one. I’ve never been a fan of the titled chapter either–unless it’s relevant to the story in ways that set up scenes. I have a bunch of books I’ve never finished reading–both on my Kindle and in physical form. Many of these come from the big publishing houses. But it’s these sorts of failures that make the gems we find much more enjoyable. Fantastic post, Joan.

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    • That is an excellent way of looking at it, Beem. It makes those jewels sparkle a little brighter. I realize we can’t entirely avoid “was,” but there are so many different ways to write a story. Overuse of any word is a huge turn-off for me. (Cringing now as I think of some of my other writing.)

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  14. Like you, I have trouble enjoying a book with a main character who isn’t likeable for SOME reason. I loved Mark Lawrence’s Prince of Thorns, and Jorg did some horrible things, but Lawrence still made you like him. A hard feat to pull off. Look at Hannibal Lecter. It can be done, but most of the time it doesn’t work for me. And as for repeat words, I still don’t understand how a book can go through a publisher with professional editors and have as many problems as some books do these days.

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    • Yes, it can be done, Judi. Maybe that’s one reason I root for the bad guys in those Hollywood stories about Butch and Sundance or the James brothers. Hannibal Lecter is a great example.

      I’m with you on the repeated words. How can they???

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  15. I don’t use Net Galley since a few years back, I dedicated myself to reading Indies exclusively. I did resonate with your points. I would like to add another, and that’s when authors use a lot of acronyms or words that are so proprietary that only folks close to the subject can understand. I see this in non-fiction more but have run across it in fiction as well. It is very irritating to try and stumble through a story half understanding what is being written. Super post, Joan. Sorry, you had to suffer through that book, but at least a good post came out of it.

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    • Excellent point, John. When writing one of the short stories for Menagerie, i wanted to use the word, “petrichor.” When one of my critique partners had to look it up, I settled for the smell of rain on the parched earth. It annoys me to have to stop and look up the meaning of a word. In some cases, I think authors are trying to show off their level of intelligence.

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  16. Great post with excellent points. I agree with each example you’ve given. An author I used to auto buy did the same thing with his last trad pub book, where everything to do with the MC’s daughter was ‘little’. It didn’t bother hubby at all but drove me bonkers. In the end I got eye strain from all the rolling, lols. It’s like, did the editor fall asleep at the ‘little’ wheel? Thanks for sharing, Joan 💕🙂

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  18. This is such a great message, Joan. We need to think of every one of our books as the gateway to our list. It’s so important to put our absolute best out there and that means no shortcuts, no skipping important steps because we “don’t feel like it” or “can’t afford it.” Where there’s a will, there’s a way. It requires discipline and a commitment to endless learning. If I don’t enjoy a book, I’ll rarely pick up a second by the author.

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  19. Interesting discussion! In the repeated words example, my first thought was that perhaps the repeated use of “doors” was a stylistic choice for effect, rather than sloppy writing and editing. If so, it was obviously a risky choice that backfired. I had the same question about the chapter titles example. Could they have been used to emphasize the role of time and place in the story? On the other hand, without seeing the context of both examples, I could be completely out to lunch with my questions!

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    • Good point, Liz. Reviews are subjective. I have a friend who loved the second book mentioned, but it wasn’t for me. In the other example, the author may have chosen that, but it was a huge turn-off for me I will sometimes write three sentences in a row beginning with the same word. It’s done for emphasis and cadence, but sometimes readers don’t like things like that.

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  20. First of all, I totally agree with you, Joan, that writers should be readers. When an author tells me they don’t read, I’m instantly not interested in whatever they’ve written. I recently got a book from NetGalley just because it sounded outrageous enough to be a fun read. That was definitely not what I found. I did not finish the book and gave my feedback. It’s true that what one reader may love another may hate. I had the same DNF reaction to another book I picked up a few months ago based on a personal recommendation from a friend. This book had over 1,000 reviews. But it was so poorly written I could not force myself to keep reading. Thanks for writing about this topic today!

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    • It continually baffles me how some books have thousands of four and five star reviews when there are so many grammatical errors and an uninteresting plot. I guess it’s to each his own, but still…

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  22. I try not to be too critical about errors like that in books because I know a perfect book is impossible, but I also know I jump through hoops to eliminate as many as I can in my work, so I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect other published titles, especially ones from NY that benefit from full teams of editors instead of one or two like most indie authors have, to be cleaner. It’s hard (for me) to walk a line where I’m not too critical but also don’t let too many things slide. But you’re right; we only have one chance at a first impression. We should always do our best instead of “good enough” before publishing. Thanks, Joan.

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    • I know I make plenty of errors, and as you say there is no such thing as a perfect book. The two books I mentioned had too many repeats to ignore. And typos? Yes, I make them frequently, no matter how hard I try not to. I’ve noticed books published by the big publishers these days don’t have the quality editing and proofreading they once did. Probably because of cutbacks in that industry with the onset of Indie publishing.

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    • I make plenty. No one is perfect but with traditionally published books that go through several edits and editors, there is no excuse for so many blatant ones. I’m with you. Thank goodness for beta readers and critique partners.

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  26. Thanks for this, Joan! As others have said here already, if you’re an author and read a lot, all these issues leap off the page at you and (if there’s enough of them) completely ruin the experience. Reviews are obviously subjective which is why, like Alicia, I’ll often check with Look Inside before committing to buy. I’m another one who struggles with my own repetition and I’m grateful to my beta readers who spot the ones that have slipped the net! Your example of the doors was a great one! 🙂

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    • You’re right about reviews. I don’t read books if I don’t like a certain genre, but some do, then blast the story. Even in mystery and suspense, which is what I love, there are some that don’t appeal to me like others. The look inside feature is nice. Back in the days of brick and mortar stores, I used to read the first page or two of a book before purchasing it.

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  27. An excellent post, Joan. Yes, what some readers love, another will hate. It goes with the territory.
    I read a book that had wonderful reviews by many readers, but in my opinion it was awful. Flat characters, predictable plot, cliché ridden and poor writing. Still, the author was selling lots of books and was on the NYT best seller list.
    Repetition is a tricky one, and catches me out, too. My critique group usually catches most of them. But I think reading it aloud helps with that.
    Misused words are another thing you mentioned that is annoying I rarely read vampire books, but I read one some time ago with the now universal (and now clichéd) ‘good’ vampires who only prey on animals. In this case the vampire ‘etched towards the rabbit’. And this was a traditionally published book, so presumably it had been professionally edited. And the author claimed to be an English language undergraduate at Cambridge University UK.

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  29. Joan, you highlighted one of my own pet hates. Repeated words. I’ll rewrite paragraphs until I don’t even have “book” and “booking” in it. One of them, as appropriate, can be magazine, diary, journal – or reservation. I’m not quite that picky with other authors, but too much and that’s it for me, The odd one, we all miss, but more is plain laziness.
    Your other points about what would stop you reading a second book are food for thought. May I mention one you didn’t? Cost. I read many books free with Amazon Prime, and if I really like one, I look for others by the same author, only to find prices in excess of £/$5, and my purchase limit is £/$2.99. There really are too many free or low-priced books available to pay more.

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  30. Pingback: You Have One Chance — Story Empire – Typography

  31. Good points, Joan! I’m always surprised when a book with seriously clunky prose gets a lot of enthusiastic reviews. Maybe if the plot is compelling enough, some readers just skim along and don’t notice. Readers who are also writers do notice, however!

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  32. If the story doesn’t reach out in the early pages, grab me by the throat, and drag me in, it’s unlikely it’s going to suddenly do so later.

    But it doesn’t have to be all action – it can be any number of compelling (to me) things – if I’m the target audience.

    It doesn’t, however, require that many typos or grammatical mistakes. Or info dumps. Or “As you know, Bob,” chunks of dialogue.

    The more you’ve read, the more likely you are to have standards, and those standards to be cutoffs.

    I’m curious. I’m a Net Galley member, but more to observe than participate, so I don’t know if they have a way to look at the first few pages of fiction before you choose something. I haven’t been there in years for various reasons. But on Amazon I rarely even consider buying a book if I don’t first check the Look Inside. Most writers can tell within a few pages if the writing will be problematic, fewer pages the higher their own standards are. But if the book isn’t published yet, you can’t use Amazon to supplement NG; most aren’t.

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    • I agree about the ‘look inside’ on Amazon. A useful thing.
      On the subject of grammar, I would say that correct grammar and punctuation would never put anyone off reading, nor generate poor reviews, but poor grammar and punctuation will. To me it’s a no brainer to get it right.

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      • Exactly. I know some people struggle with basics – and still want to tell their stories. Editing can be expensive, and programs like Grammarly inadequate for fiction. But doing it right IS transparent, while NOT doing it correctly really shows.

        I’ve been blessed with seeing the logic of grammar and a good enough memory to know when I need to review a word choice even if it is spelled correctly – my brain likes to trick me. I don’t see how some authors manage.

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      • Time, yes, and the freedom to dump the book when you’ve agreed to read and review. Do that too many times, and you get the wrong kind of reputation (or should!).

        My ‘good time’ is too rare for me to go the reader path at NetGalley, though I’ve participated, with zero results, in a couple of the organized group offerings: I forget the exact details, but you were part of a group with a special deal, a single group post, and NO ability to choose your reviewers based on their previous reviews. IIRC. That last bit was a problem for me (not that I had many offers), and being in a group promotion with dissimilar other books. I haven’t done it again after a couple of tries some years ago.

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