Kevin's Watch

So at Indies Unlimited, we vet all the books whose authors want to advertise with us. We can handle most genres within the staff. But we've now had a book of poetry submitted, and none of us feels qualified to say whether it's any good.

Would any of you guys be willing to lend a hand? It doesn't usually take more than 10 or 15 minutes to vet a book. Essentially we'd get you the Amazon link, you pull up the "Look Inside", and then tell us whether the book is crap or not.

Thanks!

It's garbage

The reading of poetry can be a very subjective experience, you may want to get a couple of opinions... that way, you might be able to tell if it's at least an honest attempt at poetry or some juvenile, gimmicky self-congratulatory trash.

Let's see if we can get U and V involved!

As someone who used to get paid for this kind of thing, I would also say that you need a staff. Unless the job is just to reject trash (another man's treasure), in which case anyone can do it.

If you want an opinion, go ahead and send me the link.

--A

I'm in too.

[Syl] wrote:As someone who used to get paid for this kind of thing, I would also say that you need a staff. Unless the job is just to reject trash (another man's treasure), in which case anyone can do it.

Option B, actually.

Av and Morning, thanks! I'll try to figure out how to connect everybody up.

EDITED: Well, that was easy -- Kat posted the link to the book. Just click the "Look Inside" and lemme know what you think.

EDITED AGAIN to add the link.
www.amazon.com/Dawn-Dusk-Norian-F-Love- ... 00NWXT2YC/

aliantha wrote:

[Syl] wrote:As someone who used to get paid for this kind of thing, I would also say that you need a staff. Unless the job is just to reject trash (another man's treasure), in which case anyone can do it.

Option B, actually.

Av and Morning, thanks! I'll try to figure out how to connect everybody up.

EDITED: Well, that was easy -- Kat posted the link to the book. Just click the "Look Inside" and lemme know what you think.

EDITED AGAIN to add the link.
www.amazon.com/Dawn-Dusk-Norian-F-Love- ... 00NWXT2YC/

I have an opinion.
Do you want it right here? A pm?
I bet I agree with both Av and Morning on this one...a very rare occurrence, but I'd bet good money on it.

Vraith wrote:

aliantha wrote:

[Syl] wrote:As someone who used to get paid for this kind of thing, I would also say that you need a staff. Unless the job is just to reject trash (another man's treasure), in which case anyone can do it.

Option B, actually.

Av and Morning, thanks! I'll try to figure out how to connect everybody up.

EDITED: Well, that was easy -- Kat posted the link to the book. Just click the "Look Inside" and lemme know what you think.

EDITED AGAIN to add the link.
www.amazon.com/Dawn-Dusk-Norian-F-Love- ... 00NWXT2YC/

I have an opinion.
Do you want it right here? A pm?
I bet I agree with both Av and Morning on this one...a very rare occurrence, but I'd bet good money on it.

I would love to hear it, but let's give everyone a chance before we...review... the book

Right here's fine.

I read the sample poems, but I don't think I'd be comfortable reviewing any of the books in a public forum. At the very least I'd prefer to do it in the Writers' forum.

u.

aliantha wrote:Right here's fine.

Ok.
Much as I like to follow Orlion's rules...I'll go ahead. It will give folks some impetus to read it just so they can disagree with me.

Bminus if it is written by a high-school student for English class.
Otherwise...
It's bad.
There is one decent line in the excepted part:

I've tasted oblivion on my fingertips

Yes, I think I have...now...in these poems.

It's better than I thought it would be. But, I am still standing by my initial assessment.

It's incredibly juvenile, and too me seems to try too hard. Reminds me a lot of what a poetry student in high school would write to prove how poetic he was.

Now, there is an audience for that, it just is not me.

Final verdict: it's what I would expect from a self-published work of poetry sold for 99 cents on a Kindle.

ussusimiel wrote:I read the sample poems, but I don't think I'd be comfortable reviewing any of the books in a public forum. At the very least I'd prefer to do it in the Writers' forum.

u.

You can post it there, if you want, or pm it to me.

And thanks a bunch, guys. Another minion knows a poet, and he thought about as highly of this book as you guys did. So it's gonna be a rejection notice, and our work here is done....

Rejected. With extreme prejudice.

Noted, Sheriff.

This thread has convinced me that I MUST read this.

I had a first cousin who joined a boyz band when he was 16, I think, and their lyrics vaguely resounded of this. On the flip side, I could see myself taking the entire thing and rewiring, I mean rewriting it to some extent - it's not ALL bad, just the end result.

Morning wrote:I had a first cousin who joined a boyz band when he was 16, I think, and their lyrics vaguely resounded of this. On the flip side, I could see myself taking the entire thing and rewiring, I mean rewriting it to some extent - it's not ALL bad, just the end result.

The non-Watcher poet said he thought one of the poems -- the first one, maybe? -- could be a rap lyric.

I haven't looked at the "Look Inside" myself. And having heard from you guys, I expect I'll keep it that way...

aliantha wrote: The non-Watcher poet said he thought one of the poems -- the first one, maybe? -- could be a rap lyric.

Was my first thought. Got that rhythmic feel and a fair amount of feminine rhyme.