What's Happening at Book Readers Heaven... The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly...

The BAD...

It's been a long time since I wrote one of these articles... That's been for a reason; however, it didn't work... LOL

I have announced that I am no longer accepting new requests for book reviews... but that doesn't stop them coming! I appreciate greatly that peoople believe I can help them by reviewing their books, but...it's time to slow down. And, frankly, if I stop to respond to each and every request, I am spending too much time, saying, "No, I'm an no longer accepting new requests!" Requests come in from so many different sites that I have hundreds each day/week that I have just stopped! 

I am so sorry that I cannot take the time to handle the administrative details of being a book reviewer! Would you believe that I have hundreds of books that I have not read yet... At the same time, there are hundreds of books I'd like to read that, if I continued to accept new requests, I'd never be able to read those I want to! Please know that if I do not respond to a request to my official email address, which I can assure you I read, then please assume I am not able to accept your requests. If you write to me on a different site, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, GoodReads, etc., I will not respond... Rather, I cannot respond in order to protect my own health...

For one, my eyes are not as great as they should be, even though I just had an annual exam which showed my glasses were ok (and which means that my eyes are deteriorating and getting tired from so much reading, but improved glasses can't help)... Sad to Say!


The Good!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

But, on to more important things! Like the coming of Emmanuel!

May God Bless you on the Birth of Jesus Christ next week. And to all those who celebrate their beliefs in other ways during holidays. God Loves us all and I personally have accepted Jesus as my Savior. However, God has a plan for each of us who is born--may we each learn what that plan is...

I'm sharing some of my beloved Christmas songs today, so I'll add that, if you don't know who Jesus is, let Andrea Bocelli and Mary Bilge tell about him...

An Exclusive Gift from Lauren Carr

Lauren Carr is graciously sharing two of her short stories from an anthology, here at Book Readers Heaven. I loved both of them and want to thank her in advance for sharing them here, exclusively, at Book Readers Heaven... Don't forget to check my blog on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! My review of the anthology will follow after Christmas...

Yes, I do accept guest blogger posts from authors/writers. I like to share via the blog and if submitted in a good format, it is quite easy and takes little time for me to get them ready to publish... I won't take something just to market a book, however... You can talk about the book, write about why you wrote it, or problems you had publishing it...or even some poetry from poets or articles from those who support the publishing of books... Search on  "Guest Blogger" for my blog to get an idea of what has been published before. Note that I reserve the right to refuse based upon my own beliefs, or to write a dissenting feedback statement... if appropriate.


And the UGLY!

NO, this is not one of my favorite songs. I can deal with a combination of Santa along with the Birthday of Christ, but I have never liked jokes, or poor humor that celebrates "ugly" behavior. Even if it is funny. I'm one of those "Jesus is the Reason for the Season" individualsand after that, then fun can be added, I guess. But I recently heard of a country, I think it was Spain but may be wrong, where they celebrated gift-giving in recognition of Christ and the Three Wise Men who brought Him Gifts... To me, this was perfect... But, that personal opinion, is not what the "ugly" is about...

I'm in the midst of beginning some type of complaint... I'm not quite sure to whom to address it: To Amazon? To publishers? To Editors and Proofreaders? or to Writers/Authors?

Quite simply, I am tired of buying books (or receiving them) which are so badly "presented" to me the purchaser that I do not really want to read that book!

I have contacted Amazon about this issue, from a technical standpoint, but have not yet received a response. My point is, who is responsible for an inferior product...surely not the buyer?! Soooo, if a book is inferior, should we

•  Automatically return it for our money back?
• Contact the author? The publisher? Amazon? All of whom have a role in getting that book to print.
• Let it go if it is not too bad? Say less than 20 errors?
• Complain to the government?
• Stop buying books if there is no ability to resolve the problem?

Ok, do you think I'm over-reacting? Do you care about quality of purchases? Books in particular? What if you got a "gift" of a book that was too "ugly" to read? What would you say to the gifter who acted in good faith to buy a gift for you because you love books? 

Books are important--print or electronically format. That's my opinion. If you share that opinion, I would love to have your comments below, or sent to me at GABixlerReviews...because...YOUR book may be one of the ugly ones I've read...

I know, I know...when it's something about "us," we want it corrected. I enjoyed this little song, because it's something we all have to deal with (yes, I had to replace teeth with fakes, since I already had and lost some of my two sets of teeth! LOL)

Besides I wanted to leave you smiling... But, here's my personal thoughts! If I had written a book, I would want it to be perfect...From my own experience, I'd say that less than 10% of what I've read had been perfect...until they were fixed and republished... I was embarrassed when my a number of visible teeth on top were out and I didn't want to talk to anybody... To me, that's how you should feet about a book... And, writers, if you want to write a book and cannot speak and write the language in which your book will be published, I urge you NOT to publish until you can read that book and know for sure there are no errors... One way or another (and there are ways to make that happen).

My best wishes to you and yours for the holidays... I'll be writing more on the "ugly" issue that's "bugging" me right now... Take care and God Bless...

Glenda
Writing for Book Readers Heaven!