I’m really starting to ask that question a lot lately. This isn’t just a matter of writing forums but a lot of things. We will focus on writing forums this time out and I could venture into other things later though. So what is the point of having any of these forums at all?

I don’t know, you tell me!

This one came up on what is supposed to be a more “professional” group on Facebook, one dedicated to established self-published authors. I figured that can’t appeal to the rank amateurs, right? It had to be filled with people who at least have a modicum of practical knowledge, right?

Nope.

So we’re in a discussion about covers and where to find good cover artists and this one moron shows up and says something about “if your friends draw, or if you can find anyone willing to draw for you, you can make a cover out of it!” That’s absolutely horrible advice and I explained why. Even if you are a good artist, or if you know someone who is a good artist, that doesn’t mean they’re qualified or skilled as a cover artist specifically. There are a particular set of skills that go into that. It’s like saying that just because you can paint a house, you’re qualified to be a professional art restorer. You might be the world’s best house painter but that doesn’t mean you have the skills to retouch old masterpieces.

A cover artist is a specialized field. They have to understand cover composition, what appeals to readers in specific genres, they have to know about spine dynamics and text placement and a lot of other things. Little Timmy with a box of crayons simply won’t suffice.

Of course, this moron comes back with a personal attack. “Do you have any friends?” What, because you’re a complete idiot who hasn’t got the slightest clue what you’re doing and apparently, no interest in learning? I didn’t bite, I reported the rude post to the moderators and moved on, but that’s exactly the kind of thing that I’m trying to get away from.

There’s a certain minimum level of knowledge that people ought to have in order to publish a book. You don’t have to be an expert but you have to have access to some modicum of clues. If you’re willing to learn, then certainly, other people ought to try to bring you up to speed and most are perfectly happy to do so, but so many of these are not only pointedly ignorant, they’re proud of it.

How many times have you seen people putting up book covers proudly that are just objectively terrible? I saw something yesterday, a black-and-white pen-drawn cover that looked like it was done by a 6-year old. Now that might work for a children’s book, but this was a novel for adults. I wish I had grabbed a picture when I saw it because now, it’s apparently gone. You try to help these people but they don’t want to hear it.

Or the people who say “I can’t afford to pay for a cover!” Or, “I can’t afford to pay for an editor!” Okay, fine. Just keep in mind that your book is going to start from a significant deficit. Your cover sells your book. It just does. The same goes for editing, having beta readers and the like. It’s going to mark your book as the work of a rank amateur and that means most people will never take it seriously. You can do it but you’d better have realistic expectations of the outcome.

“But that’s not fair!” Who cares? That’s reality. Your feelings don’t change the way the real world actually works. These idiots try to argue against reality and reality doesn’t care. These are the people that I don’t want to deal with and these are the people who pollute every single writing forum that I come across these days, even the more “professional” versions. Where do people go to get away from the constant frustration?

That’s what I really want to know.