I know pretty much as soon as I crack a book whether or not I’m going to like it. Chances are I don’t have to get very far in at all to make such a judgment. I think a lot of it has to do with my lacking attention span, my wont to like something right from the beginning and my desire to not want to read crap. I just don’t have that kind of time. Granted the crap, in book form anyway, would have to be pretty big in order for me to not read to the end. I did spend money on it, after all, so it’s only fair I get my money’s worth. Don’t you think?

I’m an “editor” (really only a title, I don’t actually edit anything) at Web Fiction Guide (link in the sidebar with the rest of them), a compendium of online fiction that serves to provide the internet-reading public with a one stop search for online serials and other word-like pieces. Really, it’s a nice site. Sleek design, aesthetically pleasing, easy searches and provides what it promises; links to other pieces of web fiction.

Just as I’m a supporter of fanfiction, I’m a supporter of web fiction as well. If you don’t know what web fiction is, or online serials, it’s fanfiction without the fan–original stories posted chapter by chapter on the internet. Most are for free. I’ll be damned if I pay for those that aren’t. Is the quality the same as fanfiction? No, I’d say it’s a lot better. I’ve yet to come across any monstrosities that fanfiction can boast. There’s been some pretty lazy stuff out there but fanfiction’s got a few legs up in that category. The serials section of my blog boasts the stories I’m currently reading that are web serials (or have read if they’re finished). On top of that I have a queue of stories I still need to catch up on (a couple desperately so).

The thing is, I don’t continue to read everything I review simply because a lot of it doesn’t catch me. When I was reviewing at Pages Unbound (which is folding), I had a roughly 47% read rate, meaning I liked just under half of what I’d seen enough to keep reading. Thus far only one of those stories I’ve stopped reading because it just got ridiculous. And those initial impressions were made after the first five chapters.

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