And it was easy, too. I disagreed with him.
If you don't know Bob Bly, he's known as being a big copywriter, and he frequently talks about how many books he has written. I've been on his list for a long time. Only bought from him once – a book about email marketing. I didn't read more than 25% of it. It was boring.
Anyway, yesterday he mailed his list and said (and I don't know who TJ is):
But today, as TJ points out, you can write a short document —
just 10,000 words, 5,000 words, or even less — slap a nice cover
on it, create a Kindle e-book, and sell it online.
When people see it on Amazon, most don't realize it is a
glorified report or article — and they mistake it for the author
having written a real full-length book.
I replied to him and said:
No, they shouldn't. Amazon shows a page count, so it's easy to see how long a book is.
Another thing is that a lot of readers, me included, prefer shorter books about one single problem or topic instead of thick books.
He wrote back two minutes later, saying:
Not quite accurate.
You have to scroll down to find the page count.
I sent him a screenshot proving that you don't have to scroll at all.
He wrote:
It does not. I just went on Amazon.
Please do not email me again.
I asked him if he thought my screenshot was manipulated, but he just replied:
Just what I said: I go on Amazon all the time, and the page count is always below the fold.
Oh well… Maybe he has a small screen.
Then, in the same mail, he asked someone called Jodi to unsubscribe me, but that was too late. 😉 I'd already done Jodi's work.
Anyway, there are some who don't measure quality in page counts, and there are readers, like me, who prefer to read shorter, no fluff books. To each their own.
If you're with me on this one, then you'll probably like “Divide and Conquer” which is about writing high quality short books in series. If you prefer long and boring books, I recommend the email marketing one from Rob Bly 😉
Click here to download https://writerbychoice.com/nf-book-series/
Oh dear, oh dear. You are SO right on this one!
He must really be thin-skinned when he doesn’t understand that point – and that is often the case with ‘average’ copywriters. They believe THEIR way of doing this (method) is the only one, and thus they are so set in their minds that no one can teach them anything.
It really reminds me of the many trials we see where Gordon Ramsay – in his Kitchen Nightmares – is trying to help restaurant owners, and yet they talk of how happy their customers are and so on.
When he then asks them the obvious question: “Well, why aren’t you earning money then?” many of them get mad instead of learning the point that many don’t want to offend the owner of the restaurant. They just stop coming – and THAT is a good lesson.
He should have done his Google-research, and then he would have found you didn’t just start in this business yesterday.
You even convinced me to begin in this business – and I was stubborn to begin with. I lost a lot of money from being so stubborn, so I AM very passionate about people listening to you. It’s his loss.
Have a nice weekend. 🙂
Thanks 🙂 Weekend has ended now, but thanks anyway 🙂
Thin-skinned? Maybe. I don’t know or care. I don’t understand his reaction. I mean… you saw the screenshot. Clearly, the page count is above the fold, unless you have an extremely small screen, maybe, or a 256 x 512 resolution. And yet, he kept claiming that it was below the fold, and then he demanded me to stop replying, while keeping his replies coming. If he wanted the last words, I’m sure there are smarter ways 😉 But oh, well.
I fully agree. It’s quite childish of him. 🙂
The internet is filled with those types. I am quite sure we have both experienced the people who shun comments that don’t flatter them also, and quite often it is one of the best resources for knowledge. Feedback is gold once we use it the right way – also a lesson I learned many years ago from you.
So even though you didn’t know, we were quite a few who listened. 🙂