Is it me?

[FreeThinker]

I use Gmail and at the top of my Gmail page, based on the content of my email messages, Google, in their great wisdom, has placed an ad for Exlibris, the self-publishing company. Does it not seem strange to appeal to writers with the phrase, "Done Writing A Book?"

"Shee-yit! I done wrote me a book, y'all!"

Perhaps a publisher- or a ubiquitous search engine- could find someone from the current generation who knows something, anything, about grammar and good writing to write a tag line for authors that sounds a bit more literate than, "Done writing a book?"

"Do you have a completed manuscript?" perhaps? Or am I just being me again?

[Cole Parker]

Nothing at all wrong with you being you. Now that that's cleared up:

Yes, that phrase has no appeal at all. But, if it's a self-publishing firm, then they don't care how literate your manuscript is. They only care how deep your pockets are. And they probably figure there are a lot more illiterate people who think they've written something worthy of publication than literate ones, and so are going for volume, not quality.

C

[Merkin]

That's a very persuasive idea, Cole. Deliberately dumb down your advertising message in order to target your most susceptible potential clients.

From that perspective 'Do you have a completed manuscript?' wouldn't work at all.

[Guest Dabeagle]

I probably wouldn't have noticed the ad, or rather its errors. I have no money, however, so they lose twice. Right? No, wait...one...