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You are here: Home > Forum > A Place of Safety > Literary Merit > Unashamed Self-Publicity
Unashamed Self-Publicity  [message #70985] Thu, 04 February 2016 10:07 Go to next message
Nigel is currently offline  Nigel

On fire!
Location: England
Registered: November 2003
Messages: 1756



I have been completely underwhelmed by the response to my Christmas 2015 pantomime story Dick & Pussy, my take on Dick Whittington.  Perhaps it just got buried in the wealth of offerings.  If it's rubbish, at least say so.
Hugs
Nigel
writing under the pseudonym of N Fourbois



I dream of boys with big bulges in their trousers,
Never of girls with big bulges in their blouses.

…and look forward to meeting you in Cóito.
Re: Unashamed Self-Publicity  [message #70986 is a reply to message #70985] Thu, 04 February 2016 10:23 Go to previous messageGo to next message
timmy

Has no life at all
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13739



That is rather a shame, but may be symptomatic of the lethargy of the general readership. You can gather, by default from me, that I would not have published it had it been rubbish. I decline politely instead. So I appreciate that you are hurting somewhat.

I wonder if the fact that it is derived from pantomime, a peculiarly English art form, has militated against it? It ought not to have done, for the work stands alone as well.

Dick & Pussy is well worth the read.

The page view profile is as follows:

http://forum.iomfats.org/?t=getfile&id=2321&private=0

The tail off is as expected since most stories gain their audience on day 1. Day two was good too, the more so since it was Christmas Day.

http://forum.iomfats.org/?t=getfile&id=2320&private=0

As you can see, folk have spent time on the page. They have most definitely read it. The issue may be the tail off after the first chapter. That's quite a drop off, and I am unsure whether folk have read chapter one and chosen not to carry on, or if real life intervened with the seasonal devouring of turkey and small children. All we know with reasonable certainty is that 58 people may be presumed to have read the entire tale.

So, Nigel, if you are willing, might we break a golden rule here and ask folk to critique the tale, knowing that it might not always make the author happy to receive a critique? I think we should most definitely await your permission to do that because critiques are tough things to do well and to read.

[Updated on: Thu, 04 February 2016 10:45]




Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
Re: Unashamed Self-Publicity  [message #70987 is a reply to message #70985] Thu, 04 February 2016 16:17 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Matthew is currently offline  Matthew

Toe is in the water

Registered: February 2015
Messages: 73



I have to be honest and say that i'm not a got reader, in the sense that i don't often write to authors and i often start to read a story and then get distracted by other things (work, hobbies or writing my own story) and forget about the story that i might have been reading, so i can easily imagine that a lot of people are the same

As for your story, i took a glance at it and to be honest, this is petty on my behalf, but i hate the name Dick, i have a couple of turn offs for stories and names is on of them and i have to like the names of the characters, not all of them of course, but the main characters are something we're going to see a lot of in the story, so yeah for me i would find it extremely difficult to get into a story where the main characters name is a turn off for me and sadly Dick is one of those names for me 
Re: Unashamed Self-Publicity  [message #70988 is a reply to message #70987] Thu, 04 February 2016 17:00 Go to previous messageGo to next message
timmy

Has no life at all
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13739



"Matthew wrote on Thu, 04 February 2016 16:17"
I have to be honest and say that i'm not a got reader, in the sense that i don't often write to authors and i often start to read a story and then get distracted by other things (work, hobbies or writing my own story) and forget about the story that i might have been reading, so i can easily imagine that a lot of people are the same

As for your story, i took a glance at it and to be honest, this is petty on my behalf, but i hate the name Dick, i have a couple of turn offs for stories and names is on of them and i have to like the names of the characters, not all of them of course, but the main characters are something we're going to see a lot of in the story, so yeah for me i would find it extremely difficult to get into a story where the main characters name is a turn off for me and sadly Dick is one of those names for me 

--
I fear it would not work with any other names. It is based on Dick Whittington and his Cat. You could download and replace Dick with Alphonse, of course....



Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
Re: Unashamed Self-Publicity  [message #70990 is a reply to message #70988] Thu, 04 February 2016 19:39 Go to previous messageGo to next message
James Matthews is currently offline  James Matthews

Toe is in the water
Location: United Kingdom
Registered: May 2015
Messages: 93



I'd just like to add that as a complete hypocrite, in the sense that I always ask for feedback and rarely give any, I too am like Matthew. The reading of a good novel is easy, you don't have to lift a finger. The hard part is taking those few minutes to write to the author and say how you felt. Few tales (even good ones) have left me itching to tell the author their work was amazing even if it was.

On the author's side of things I felt very much the same when I wrote Faking Happiness and the sequel - Jordan and the Grease Monkey. Because of the slight dusting of comedy I put in (which I found a challenge as a writer) I felt in that aspect they represented some of the best pieces I'd written, and yet the reviews were few and far between. The paranoia increased more so because at the time I didn't have access to any site traffic software as they were not posted on my site leading me to believe my stories must have been shit! I will never really know what people thought, but the point is I have learned as time has passed to care just a little less. 

I have also learned, and I hope you will agree, it is very easy to become consumed by reviews and over think things. Sometimes when you impress yourself with something you have written you do long for someone to take a few minutes to let you know how they felt too. And I agree with you... I'd feel much better if someone said the story WAS shit rather than if they said nothing at all.

Keep ur chin up, Timmy has shown in magical Technicolor that people ARE reading your work.

Take care Smile

West 

[Updated on: Thu, 04 February 2016 19:49] by Moderator

Re: Unashamed Self-Publicity  [message #70997 is a reply to message #70990] Fri, 05 February 2016 11:42 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Nigel is currently offline  Nigel

On fire!
Location: England
Registered: November 2003
Messages: 1756



Thanks, Timmy, for the encouragement.  Yes, I'm interested in what other people think and would be happy to read critiques.
I think point of view is crucial.  I write for a British readership.  That is my background and I couldn't pretend otherwise.  The original story is "Dick Whittington etc" and a change of name is not an option.  Also he was a real person.  I also understand that irony does not always travel well outside Europe.
Although based on drama, it is in fact an epic, in the sense of the three ancient Greek genres - lyric, drama and epic.  In this sense the epic was the retelling of well known tales and the interest lay in the way they were told.  Everybody knew the story and its outcome.  The modern form is the novel and the short story, not a long film such as El Cid, say, which is drama.
I also note that I got more responses from my mere fripperies than from - for want of a better word - a more 'serious' work.
Great, though, that 58 persevered to the end.  Thanks to them.
Hugs
Nigel



I dream of boys with big bulges in their trousers,
Never of girls with big bulges in their blouses.

…and look forward to meeting you in Cóito.
Re: Unashamed Self-Publicity  [message #70998 is a reply to message #70997] Fri, 05 February 2016 12:15 Go to previous messageGo to next message
timmy

Has no life at all
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13739



"Nigel wrote on Fri, 05 February 2016 11:42"
Thanks, Timmy, for the encouragement.  Yes, I'm interested in what other people think and would be happy to read critiques.
I think point of view is crucial.  I write for a British readership.  That is my background and I couldn't pretend otherwise.  The original story is "Dick Whittington etc" and a change of name is not an option.  Also he was a real person.  I also understand that irony does not always travel well outside Europe.
Although based on drama, it is in fact an epic, in the sense of the three ancient Greek genres - lyric, drama and epic.  In this sense the epic was the retelling of well known tales and the interest lay in the way they were told.  Everybody knew the story and its outcome.  The modern form is the novel and the short story, not a long film such as El Cid, say, which is drama.
I also note that I got more responses from my mere fripperies than from - for want of a better word - a more 'serious' work.
Great, though, that 58 persevered to the end.  Thanks to them.
Hugs
Nigel

--
I think we can assume with some safety that the 58 who read to the end did not persevere. INstead they read becauise they wanted to Smile

I am going to put my lit crit hat on. Bear in mind that like any such effort, a critique is unlikely to focus on the good. You have to take the good as a given. Critiques usually focus on shortcomings.



Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
Re: Unashamed Self-Publicity  [message #70999 is a reply to message #70997] Fri, 05 February 2016 13:20 Go to previous messageGo to next message
timmy

Has no life at all
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13739



"Nigel wrote on Fri, 05 February 2016 11:42"
Thanks, Timmy, for the encouragement.  Yes, I'm interested in what other people think and would be happy to read critiques.
I think point of view is crucial.  I write for a British readership.  That is my background and I couldn't pretend otherwise.  The original story is "Dick Whittington etc" and a change of name is not an option.  Also he was a real person.  I also understand that irony does not always travel well outside Europe.
Although based on drama, it is in fact an epic, in the sense of the three ancient Greek genres - lyric, drama and epic.  In this sense the epic was the retelling of well known tales and the interest lay in the way they were told.  Everybody knew the story and its outcome.  The modern form is the novel and the short story, not a long film such as El Cid, say, which is drama.
I also note that I got more responses from my mere fripperies than from - for want of a better word - a more 'serious' work.
Great, though, that 58 persevered to the end.  Thanks to them.
Hugs
Nigel

--
I have put my literary critic hat on, and made only the following notes while reading.

BEGINS
The style is unique, perhaps eccentric, and there is no harm in that. The story is as told to a group of friends sitting around the storyteller, all imbibing light refreshments. This strikes the reader immediately, as exemplified by
Quote:
However, let's return to Luke's pert little bottom.Okay, fine, now we've done that we must continue with the story.

Everything in the tale that the reader should be shown is shown, not told. The style stays true, start to finish. The only 'fault' I can see in it is that the style is either immediately to the reader's taste, or is not.
ENDS

Others may have different views, and it would be good to see them. 



Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
Re: Unashamed Self-Publicity  [message #71009 is a reply to message #70999] Sat, 06 February 2016 10:29 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Nigel is currently offline  Nigel

On fire!
Location: England
Registered: November 2003
Messages: 1756



Timmy, I like 'eccentric' and also the atmosphere created in the telling.  I can't claim that I set out to do those things.  They are incidental and with thanks to the Muse.  Thanks to you, Timmy, for taking the trouble.
Hugs
Nigel



I dream of boys with big bulges in their trousers,
Never of girls with big bulges in their blouses.

…and look forward to meeting you in Cóito.
Re: Unashamed Self-Publicity  [message #71011 is a reply to message #71009] Sat, 06 February 2016 12:17 Go to previous message
timmy

Has no life at all
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13739



I think all we can conclude from the figures is that of the many who read chapter one, 58 of so reached the end. Since under 1% of readers who enjoy a tale write to authors you may get an email "in due course"



Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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