Romance Reading Magazine
Those Devilish Details By Holly Bargo
W riting quality constitutes a major issue in self-published literature. From pervasive use of passive voice to incorrect punctuation to information dumps, indie authors who don’t accept the responsibility for producing polished work not only insult their readers, but they also contribute to the degradation of an entire genre that struggles for legitimacy. Add anachronisms in speech or setting or easily researched and corrected inaccuracies, and don your asbestos underwear, because savvy readers will notice. An author’s credibility rests upon 20
getting the details right. For example, I read a book by a young author of “New Adult” romances. That author set her story on a ranch and began with the hero rancher and his brothers baling and stacking hay. Shirtless. That author instantly lost all credibility, because no one who bales or stacks bales of hay more than once ever does it without a shirt. Hay pokes, scratches, and itches. It gets everywhere. For ranchers who have been doing that all their lives … no. Just no.