Creative Writing: What's the Standard of Quality for the $0.99 Novel

Creative Writing 

Every creative writing  project is a laborious act and in my experience the novel is the most laborious of them all.  To make the process easier, I've worked on honing my process.  I’m not exactly sure how other writers do it, but I imagine other writers have a process as well.  My writer’s process is fairly thorough but, as rigorous as some aspects of it are, there is still a big part of it that I've left improvisational so that I don’t feel boxed in by a robotic routine. 

I've been writing for quite some time but, I've always written for myself.  Initially, I never intended my work to be read, I poured so much of myself into my novels that the very thought of people reading my work frightened me. The fear had more to do with allowing someone to access a part of my mind that I've only lived in before, than it had to do with what they'd actually find.   In the last few weeks, however, I've decided to start publishing my creative writing.

The Self-Publishing Process 

In the last few weeks I've spent a lot of time researching the self-publishing process.  Lately I've read quite a bit on the topic, including a number of blogs written by a variety of writers.  Hands down every writer recommends aspiring writers to read as much as they can.  This is essential for me as well, not just to optimize my writing but to optimize my life.

One of the first things that finally motivated me to publish my novels were the stories of the outliers.   Who wouldn't find Amanda Hockings' tale and John Locke’s journey motivating?  Sure, they're the exception to the rule.  I know they're not the norm, but in doesn't stop them from being inspiring.   I am adopting Amanda Hockings pricing model once I start publishing at the end of this month.  Her model appears intelligent to me, and I've recognized a number of other people have adopted it as well.

The $0.99 eBook!

I will admit, however, that I lacked confidence in the online publishing model for some time.  I feared that an eBook priced at$0.99 would likely be of low quality discouraging people from purchasing it.  Writing a novel is such a labor of love, that I found it hard to believe that people would sell their quality novels for $0.99.   This assumption I've made curbed me from purchasing a $0.99 eBook from Amazon for awhile.  Nonetheless I grew curious. A few weeks ago I was in Walgreens and I noticed John Locke's book, Wish List for sale.  Normally I wouldn't have purchased this novel, but I spent the $4.99 on it anyhow.

Before I traded cash at the register for the 215 page paper back, I logged on my iPhone and read the reviews for Wish List.   The reviews were overwhelmingly positive so I took a chance.  When I got home I opened up the book and breathed in the new book, a smell I love so much.

I finished Wish List in a little over three hours.  Unfortunately, I was happy to be finished with it. 

The book had a quick tempo that I appreciated but the book was weak in a number of ways. I'll write a formal review of this book in the near future.  Unfortunately, I found the story to be a thin stream of drivel and less creative than a corpse. Thankfully,  it was a quick read.  

It is apparent that a number of people enjoy Locke's style, it's just a different style of creative writing than I am accustomed to.  I'm disappointed that I took a chance with it for $4.99, however.  It would have been a nice easy read for $0.99, but $4.99 was just too expensive for a book that belongs in the dollar store in my opinion. 

Normally, laziness is the corrupter of quality, but Locke is more of an enterprising hack than lazy. He's a book mill.  He pushes quantity without concern to quality.  He’s not looking to make an impact, change a person's life, or point out something profound, he’s writing books for a pay check. 

There is  a part of me that sees Locke  as no more than a writer flipping novels like burgers in a fast food joint, and another part of me that just admires his steely entrepreneurial ambition.   

I don't recommend purchasing any of Locke's books for more than $0.99 (especially not for $4.99), but I have no doubt that Locke will continue to do just fine selling his novels for $0.99 .  The silver lining for me is in knowing that when I publish my novel and price it at $0.99,  the quality will be a great deal higher (What? Why would I be bias?) :) 

Have any of you read any of John Locke’s books? Do you like them? Was Wish List just a fluke?  What are your favorite $0.99 novels?