Wifetheif
Experienced
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2012
- Posts
- 507
"One of the podcasts I listen to regularly is "372 Pages We'll Never Get Back." A Bad book podcast hosted by Michael J. Nelson of Mystery Science 3000 "and "Rifftrax" fame and Conor Lostoca a writer for "Rifftrax." The things I've learned on this podcast are indispensable. It is a master's course on how NOT to write! Among its regular features is "The Dumb Sentence of the Week" which is self-explanatory. And "Real Or Fanfic?" where Mike has to guess if a piece of writing is fan fiction of the current book being discussed, created by fans of the podcast, or a real atrocious bit of writing from further in. The hosts do not read ahead but the fans are under no such strictures. They have covered a gamut of books. Self-published horrors, classic horrors like Irene Ideslehge, and Lair of the White Worm by Bram Stoker. The podcast takes its name from the page count of "Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline, which was praised to the heavens when it first came out. Mike and Conor could not understand what the fuss was about, so they tore into the book. Today RP1's reputation has slid greatly. Many of the very same critics who issued that praise now believe the book to be a moronically written collection of cultural references, misogynist musings, and very lazy world-building.
In this case, Mike and Conor were right from the start. The second book they covered was Ernest Cline's second book, "Armada" which was basically a poorly written copy of "The Last Starfighter" crammed with pointless cultural references and the infamous line, "You don't know what it's like growing up with an insanely hot mom!"
Later they did Ernest Clinre's third book "Ready Player Two" which was pretty much universally reviled upon its release and made fans of the first novel incredibly angry with Cline.
Currently, Mike and Conor are doing a takedown of "Artemis" by Andy Weir which features one of the least convincing female characters ever written by a man. Seriously there are male authors on Lit.com who can put more authentic female reactions and sensibilities into a throwaway female character than Weir accomplishes in his entire novel.
Now comes the best part. What do all four of these clinkers have in common? All of them were "edited" by Jilian Pavia! Yes, the common denominator for a crappy fiction podcast that has covered books from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century is one guy! Pavia admits that he doesn't really "edit" the books he's hired to edit. He is more of a promoter than a corrector. His books are full of typos, bad grammar, and just flat-out misinformation. This guy did not catch the fact that Magnum P.I. wore a Tigers baseball cap. He let Cline's error of the Detroit Lions baseball hat stand. This, in a book where the character's fate and very life depend upon how accurately he can remember things!
Pavia is hesitant to pull out the editorial scissors so his job as "editor" for a major publishing house is basically rubber-stamping crappy prose from authors who actually require discipline and scrutiny. My reasons for posting this were twofold. One, to point out how low current publishing standards are and -- take heart Ldotters! You put more effort into writing for free than an actual big-name, big-money "editor" does in his actual job! I don't know if that is comforting or horrifying.
In this case, Mike and Conor were right from the start. The second book they covered was Ernest Cline's second book, "Armada" which was basically a poorly written copy of "The Last Starfighter" crammed with pointless cultural references and the infamous line, "You don't know what it's like growing up with an insanely hot mom!"
Later they did Ernest Clinre's third book "Ready Player Two" which was pretty much universally reviled upon its release and made fans of the first novel incredibly angry with Cline.
Currently, Mike and Conor are doing a takedown of "Artemis" by Andy Weir which features one of the least convincing female characters ever written by a man. Seriously there are male authors on Lit.com who can put more authentic female reactions and sensibilities into a throwaway female character than Weir accomplishes in his entire novel.
Now comes the best part. What do all four of these clinkers have in common? All of them were "edited" by Jilian Pavia! Yes, the common denominator for a crappy fiction podcast that has covered books from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century is one guy! Pavia admits that he doesn't really "edit" the books he's hired to edit. He is more of a promoter than a corrector. His books are full of typos, bad grammar, and just flat-out misinformation. This guy did not catch the fact that Magnum P.I. wore a Tigers baseball cap. He let Cline's error of the Detroit Lions baseball hat stand. This, in a book where the character's fate and very life depend upon how accurately he can remember things!
Pavia is hesitant to pull out the editorial scissors so his job as "editor" for a major publishing house is basically rubber-stamping crappy prose from authors who actually require discipline and scrutiny. My reasons for posting this were twofold. One, to point out how low current publishing standards are and -- take heart Ldotters! You put more effort into writing for free than an actual big-name, big-money "editor" does in his actual job! I don't know if that is comforting or horrifying.
