To set the record straight

Here on this book review blog there is an exchange with Andi. (By the way, she has an excellent blog on divorce and healing). She has a very worthy point and I wanted to bring it out in the open.

Andi said...


Gina,
I find it interesting when you review a book that you have such negative things to say about the writing yet I don't see your book(s) being published and being toured. Maybe you need to tender your reviews with a little more grace. Just a thought.

~Andi

I take this criticism to heart. Andi is correct to chide me on the negative things I have to say about some Christian writings. However I am just one voice.


Gina Burgess said...

Just to set the record straight, Andi, I haven't really tried to get anything published. I have not had that 100th rejection, only 2.

However, I owned just less than 1,500 books and read twice as many more. I don't know any author as prolific a writer as I am a reader. I do know what works and what doesn't work. I do know what is good writing and what is poor editing. I have earned my Master's in Communication (Professional Writing and Education).

I realize I am very opinionated when it comes to Christian fiction and that is because a Christian author should strive harder, longer and deeper than any secular writer to get the message out in such a way that unbelievers would want to read said author's work because of the literary value of the work. If not, the readers are searching for something they do not have... and is rarely being offered these days.

Publishers crank out 10,000 titles a year, and each book is counted a success if it sells 15,000 copies! That barely pays for the printing costs with hardly anything for the author. My standards are not too high, they are too low, and that means the editors and publishers are pouring out crappy products.

I want something not only CLEAN to read but something that is really GOOD to read. I know there is a great deal of talent out there that hasn't had the chance to be published, and it is truly irksome that someone who is published several times over gets lazy in their work because they "have so much on their plate" they need to have someone help them write the book as in the case of Ms Walker. It is especially irksome when Ms Walker has written some excellent stories. I feel cheated, frankly.

Actually, to set the record even staighter, I have had more than 300 articles published on the internet (LiveAsIf.org and LivingBetter50.com), more than 100 features published in newspapers, and two articles picked up by Associated Press for national distribution. One article picked up by the National Social Workers Association and published on their website, and my blog was cited in a doctorate paper on Women's Issues. So, while I have not had a book published, my writings have had considerable local, national, and global recognition. Just setting the record straight.

(I need to comment that as of March 2014 I have two books published. I welcome any and all to review either one or both of them. I do require that the reviewer has a blog or Goodreads account to post the review, and will commit to posting the review on Amazon.com or other online retailer. Thanks for reading this blog!)