fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #3864 ]

[ SECRET POST #3864 ]

⌈ Secret Post #3864 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 15 secrets from Secret Submission Post #553.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

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01. http://i.imgur.com/aEFr0Ng.jpg

Eh, sometimes it's best to read more slowly and let stuff sink in. There are times I've sped through a book and missed stuff because I was so excited to know the story.

yeah, unfortunately they really wouldn't.

How's your aural comprehension? Is text-to speech or Whispertext/Audible an option for you?

This. Trying out text-to speech and staying off book-related websites until you’re done is the two best suggestions here. You are making it a bigger problem than it needs to be.

I have a busy schedule and have waited to check out discussion sites for months waiting for enough free time to read. It's not fun, but it does work and is worth it to avoid spoiling.

Have you thought about starting a review blog? Then you would be a reviewer...

Or you know you could not go on book-related websites until you’re done with the book? Seems like a simple solution.

Right? I mean, why would you even go looking if you're not done? Especially in the case f the 9-hour read.

Right? It's just like trying to avoid spoilers for anything, stay away from sites/Twitter/Tumblr/etc.

Seriously? The last fandom book rush I had was mainly on facebook. In my personal feed. Spoilers don't neatly sit in particular fandom space.

Re: OP

(Anonymous) - 2017-08-03 05:46 (UTC) - Expand

Re: OP

(Anonymous) - 2017-08-03 09:15 (UTC) - Expand

On average, authors get about 10-15 ARCs total. That’s it. As ARCs are meant for publicity and their existence actually is one of the biggest expenses a publisher can shell out; using them simply because you’re a slow reader is incredibly unethical. As is buying them on eBay. It means you’re encouraging others to sell them, when it says on the book “NOT FOR RESALE.” It’s a terrible trend to sell ARCs and it’s damaging to the book industry as well as authors’ careers.

I'm a relatively slow reader to start with, and I usually just don't like blowing through a book that I'm enjoying in less than a week, so the spoiler avoidance I definitely relate to :/

It couldn't hurt to contact the author and ask to be part of their ARC team. Digital ARCs are making the process much easier for even the less-established authors. I'm on a couple mailing lists where authors have asked for readers that would have reviews ready to post on Amazon on the release date.

great idea, except that OP said they aren't interested in writing reviews.

Ehhhh. People always say that, "it couldn't hurt to..." but I think that's often used to justify trying to get all sorts of stuff a person isn't actually entitled to have, but hoping that by pestering someone you'll get what you want. ARCs aren't freebies that authors hand out out to people who want one for Reasons. They're for promotion, sent out to reviewers and bloggers. OP doesn't fall into that category.

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2017-08-03 04:34 (UTC) - Expand

I'm a slow reader because I like to take my time and enjoy stuff. Give it some time to sink in between chapters.

I kinda cut myself off from the fandom if I'm trying to read something. Everyone just wants to blow through as fast as they can and I will never be able to relate. The longer I put it off the more enjoyment I get out of it.

It's like with food really. I eat slow to savor it and save the best for last. Someone who wants to eat their favorite thing first and devour everything fast is someone I will never see eye to eye with.

Heh, I'm lucky to read something the year it came out.

Same here. I don't have the money to buy hardbacks (or the place to store them if I did), so unless the ebook is reasonably priced and/or it's available at the library, I don't get to read new releases until maybe a year after they're out. I've never had a problem with spoilers, though.

(no subject)

cbrachyrhynchos - 2017-08-03 02:32 (UTC) - Expand

I'm a rather unknown author. I doubt you'd be waiting for my books, but if you were, and asked for one, I'd probably give it to you. All I ask from my review copy readers is that they at least try to give a review when they're done, posted somewhere online. :)

I feel bad for not being sympathetic, but you can't stay offline for the day (not even, if the nine hours you mention is about average for all) you take to read the book? Really? Even if a lot of that time is spent actually reading that book? I wouldn't even think it would be a big deal if it took you a week and you had to avoid sites that might spoil the book until then. I'm ridiculously spoiler phobic, and I've managed to avoid spoilers for shows for a couple of weeks because life was too hectic for me to be able to watch them right away while others were able to post about them (with live tweeting) as soon as the shows started. You're making this into a much bigger issue than it needs to be. Buy a book, take your time reading it, and join the conversation when you're done, not before.

This. I'm surprised that OP is finding this so difficult.

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2017-08-03 08:05 (UTC) - Expand

Huh. I've never found that it's hard not to get spoiled for book fandoms. Aside from the really big ones like Harry Potter or Game of Thrones, it's not like the fandom discussion is EVERYWHERE, you know?

I'm not in any book fandoms, and I'm not all that spoiler sensitive to begin with, so I cant say the spoilers thing has ever really been an issue for me.

But man, I totally feel you on the general frustration of being a slow reader. I think I read at about 250 wpm, though I tend to pause in places, as well as rereading lines sometimes, so the speed at which I actually get through a book is probably well under 250 wpm. I read a lot, and I read mostly literary fiction, including some fairly challenging reads. So it's not a matter of me not being smart enough or something like that. I just can't read quickly, no matter what I'm reading or how hard I try. And it can be kind of demoralizing, when every book is such a big time commitment, and other people are just zipping through books like they're nothing.

Ha, I didn't know that there were so many book fandoms in the first place? I'm sorry OTP, but it doesn't really seem all that bad, you just have to stay of the internet for one or two days? I manage not to get spoiled for films which sometimes take a week or three to come around to my country (and there's shit ton of spoilers everywhere for that), so one or two days doesn't really seem like that much of a challenge? (Not to mention, when I was much, much younger and I had to wait for new HP books to get translated into my language to read them, and still, I was only spoilt once, by a fucking headline in a newspaper...)

This should be a product for you:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016856FDG/ref=?tag=natdee-20

As an author? I'm never giving ARCs (even digital ones) to people who don't leave reviews, because those are people who don't have to pay and who could spoil our book to others. It's trust. And let me tell you, we keep track of who does and doesn't review among our ARC readers, and people who don't on one are much less likely to get another in the future.

If you want early copies, learn to leave reviews - and frankly, authors in general would appreciate that all the time anyway! Because a lot of things with Amazon in particular depend on how many reviews you have. You don't have to leave much - just give it a star ranking and "I liked it" or "I had issues with ____" - but leave something.

As for avoiding spoilers, I was an avid Harry Potter reader and an avid LiveJournal user (I know, dating myself). I still managed to stay off LJ for two days (one while the book was coming out elsewhere, one while I read) so I wouldn't get spoiled. Either kindly ask your friends on Facebook who spoil to avoid doing so for at least a few days, unfollow those people, or avoid Facebook for 24 hours. It's not that long.

So no, taking pity on your slowness wouldn't work. Writing is a business and reviews are currency, so either wait until you can pony up the cash or learn to pay with the other.

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