The gist: read fifty pages then evaluate. If you're over fifty, subtract your age from 100; thus, I'm 76 so I have to read only 24 pp. [And as she points out at the end, if you're 100,, you get to judge a book by its cover.]
I bail sometimes too - more and more as I get older. I think some of this has to do with being overextended, and some of it has to do with what I worry is a declining quality of many new books - not edited as well as they used to be in some cases, and conglomerates flogging publishers to produce quarterly profits, which leads to lots of books published by people who aren't actual writers. They're doing a side project/vanity project/having a book written for them. A good friend is a ghost writer and she's excellent, but a lot of ghostwritten books are doubtless not as good as the ones she's written.
Thanks for the link to M. A. Here's a link to Nancy Pearl's RULE OF FIFTY: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/nancy-pearls-rule-of-50-for-dropping-a-bad-book/article565170/
The gist: read fifty pages then evaluate. If you're over fifty, subtract your age from 100; thus, I'm 76 so I have to read only 24 pp. [And as she points out at the end, if you're 100,, you get to judge a book by its cover.]
Anyway, keep up the good work, S.R.
I bail sometimes too - more and more as I get older. I think some of this has to do with being overextended, and some of it has to do with what I worry is a declining quality of many new books - not edited as well as they used to be in some cases, and conglomerates flogging publishers to produce quarterly profits, which leads to lots of books published by people who aren't actual writers. They're doing a side project/vanity project/having a book written for them. A good friend is a ghost writer and she's excellent, but a lot of ghostwritten books are doubtless not as good as the ones she's written.
Team bail!!!