Libraries Are Amazing

I love books. I love to read.

I like bookstores.

I LOVE libraries.

For me, libraries are magic. They’re full of old books and new ones. You never know what you’re going to find there. You never know who you’ll meet there.

I believe libraries are very important to communities for many reasons, but I’ll tell you a few off the top of my head.

1. A safe place for kids to go after school or during breaks to read, have tutoring sessions, use the computers, or do homework.

2. A place where people without home computers can use the library computer to do a job search, send some emails, or browse the internet.

3. A place where local authors can hold a book signing or “meet-n-greet” with the community.

4. A place to hold fun community events for kids, such as crafts, Lego building contests, pumpkin painting, and more!

My local library, Frank J. Basloe Library in Herkimer, holds a once-a-month book club. They have a Lego club for kids and a day where adults can chat while working on their crafts. And SO MUCH MORE.

Honestly, I wouldn’t read as much as I do without my library.

It’s not just my local library that I love. One of my favorite libraries is the Utica Public Library in Utica, NY, only about 25-30 minutes from where I live. That library is absolutely GRAND. Marble floors, a second and third floor, pillars…it’s beautiful.

And guess what? My friend and fellow author, Mindy Macisco, published a book about the Utica library. It’s a super cute and fun book about a little girl with a big imagination, and her favorite library is…you guessed it. The Utica library!

The book is called Lucy's Utica Library Adventure and can be found on Amazon, and Mindy would love positive Amazon and Goodreads reviews.

Mindy has also written other children's books (also found on Amazon): Pasquale's New Friends and They Call Me Rockefeller.

Do you love and support your local library? What are some things you like about libraries?

Be The BEST Version Of Yourself

Recently, I saw a post in one of the FB groups I’m in for authors, editors, etc. The post stunned me at first, and then I laughed. Not in a mean way. I laughed because I thought, “Why in the world would you want to publish crap??”

Let me start at the beginning.

The woman (author) posted that she got bad reviews on her book. Not because people didn’t like the story but because the book was “not edited,” “poorly written,” or “bad editing.” I didn’t sympathize. I did, however, look at some of the MANY comments. I was not surprised that all of the comments were sympathetic. “I’m so sorry,” “Ugh, people are awful,” “Why do people have to be mean?” and “Why can’t people leave positive reviews?”

If my book were published poorly, I would WANT people to tell me. I would WANT the bad reviews. (Ok, no one wants terrible reviews, but in this case, wouldn’t you want to know your book sucked?). You know why I would want this? So I could pull the book and get it properly edited and republish it.

Now, I'm not saying readers should leave nasty reviews. But a poor review because of poor (or no) editing is perfectly acceptable.

In cases like this, I wonder if her book was edited by a professional. I’ve seen published books where the author claims they had it edited by a “professional,” and the book was crap. Second, instead of leaving the book published and complaining on a FB group to get sympathy, why not pull it immediately to fix it?

I have over ten books published, and a few of them had mistakes—nothing major, one or two things here or there—but when a trusted friend mentioned it, I hopped on that bandwagon. I fixed the mistakes and republished. Phew. All good now. Great reviews.

As I mentioned in a previous post, How Do YOU Take Constructive Criticism?: No one is perfect, and it’s ok to have a few small errors here and there when you publish (and I reference Stephen King). Most times, people won’t even pick up on these errors. Heck, I had one woman tell me the only thing she saw wrong in one of my books was I used a comma and not a semi-colon. I didn’t fix it.

I’m not trying to sound mean. I’m simply trying to help authors. That woman’s post ended with pleading with people to either leave a good review or no review. I guess I’m confused. I’ll say it again. Why would you want to publish crap?

Harsh. Yes. But truthful. I’ve been in this business for many years, not only as an author and editor but now as a publisher, and I would never let anything be published that was crap. In fact, I have edited for a handful of authors whose books were published and then PULLED because people mentioned their books had mistakes. Those authors care. They care enough to be mortified, pull their books, get them PROFESSIONALLY edited (by an EDITOR), and republish.

Authors, I implore you to do the same if someone mentions mistakes in your book(s). Be the BEST version of yourself. You want success? EARN IT. SHOW you care. Otherwise, don’t complain about bad reviews.

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How Do YOU Take Constructive Criticism?

I’ve been a published author since 2015 and an editor since 2017. I have been given tips, ideas, suggestions, criticism, and even backlash.

So how do you handle that?

PROFESSIONALLY.

Not all people do. I didn’t at first. Even today, I struggle with getting on the defense. However, I strive to be my best and take criticism constructively. That’s how we grow, after all. Without growth, it’s impossible to be successful.

I went through an experience not long ago where someone asked me to read their book. I started reading but couldn’t get past the first few pages because of all the errors. We’re not talking about a typo here or a grammatical error there. We’re talking…did you have your book edited by a professional?? Even the Amazon blurb had so many errors it was horrifying!

They clearly did not have it edited professionally.

So, in a nice way, I told the person I could not get past the first few pages due to all the errors.

They did not take it well. They said it was edited and went on to say a few more things before I was blocked from even responding. I was also “de-friended” on FB and in life, apparently, and blocked from social media. (That one kills me. Do people really care if they’re blocked?).

Such a shame. I shook my head. It’s scary that people don’t want to know their mistakes. Now, people have pointed errors out to me with my own books in the past, and the simple little ones I let go, but anything that was like OMG, I definitely fixed. There were a few here and there with my books throughout the years. It happens. No one is perfect, not even editors. Does an author want to know about a missing comma or a repeated word in one spot in the entire story? No. It happens even in the best of books (can we say Stephen King??). However, as an author, we should respond kindly and humbly.

I almost feel sorry for the person because had they taken a deep breath and humbled themselves, they’d realize the book was full of mistakes and could fix it, and they might be successful with the book.

This is my point. As an author and editor, I know what it feels like to humble yourself. I OWN my mistakes and learn from them. I take criticism and see if I can fix something or if it’s just someone being sorely critical. I don’t ignore it because I want to be the best version of myself that I can be. And I want to be successful.

I implore those who are writers or editors, illustrators, etc.: When you get constructive criticism, be careful how you respond. Most people are simply trying to help you, not harm you. If someone pointed out a mistake (or tons of mistakes) in anything I did, I’d definitely want to know!