"Mark of Excellence"

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For some time there have been mumblings about how to signal to readers which self-published books have been put together with care and attention, or are of particular literary merit.  I think most of these plans are self-defeating, but the desire is there to give readers a sign that a book is "safe" to buy, to some extent.

It is with some amusement that I noted the gold seal on the cover of 30 Pieces of Silver, a book that is generally promoted in a very 'shouty' and irritating way. Complete with over a hundred unconvincing 5 star Amazon reviews.  To the best of my knowledge the so called  "Mark of Excellence" is completely meaningless.  But, nice try (I guess).

Comments

DED said…
So I looked up the Indie Book Collective, the group that put their Mark of Excellence stamp on the book. The friggin' author is the founding member of the damn group! What a bunch of crap! Grrrr!
2:45 PM
veinglory said…
I'll admit I didn't track it down, but I was pretty sure that would be the case just by looking at it.
2:47 PM
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10:28 AM
Anonymous said…
Someone recently blogged about how the price is a rip off and the entire thing is a scam. I checked out the 1 star reviews on this so called "mark of excellence" stamp and one of the readers commented about lack of editing and typographical errors. The book the reader complained about? Yes - the one the author wrote who runs the Indie Book Collective. I'm investigating. $500 non-refundable dollars for a stamp of approval from people who won't state on their site - the people who are allegedly qualified to review editing, layout, and design is highly suspicious.
3:47 PM
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