No, I will not read your f#@king script

[pbray]

Stolen from everyone, professional screenwriter Josh Olson hits the nail on the head.

The newest version of the trend is the folks I've never met who think I have nothing better to do than to read their self-published or micropress book and then give them a review blurb. Often helpfully sent to me as an attachment, which luckily 9 times out of 10 will land their email in the spam bucket, never to be seen again.

Comments

[vespican.livejournal.com]

As much as I might want an established writer to read and comment on my work, I would not dream of asking, or worse, insisting. On the other hand, should that writer WANT to read it... But that I think would mean a bit more of an established relationship between that author and me.
Dave

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Right, it's one thing if I know someone, have met them at a con or workshop, or have some other connection, and then I may offer to read a query letter, proposal or sample chapters. Though this can get dicey depending on the quality of their work, and how they react to a critique.

But it's another when people automatically assume that I have nothing better to do than read their work, as if my time had no value....

[jjschwabach.livejournal.com]

One pro I know said she "never (beta)reads friends' work," because of that very issue of delicately having to say, "Terrance, this is stupid stuff/You eat your victuals fast enough..."

[vespican.livejournal.com]

It certainly makes much more sense for an unpublished aspiring writer to have his/her work read and critiqued by his peers and those whose business it is to read material from unpublished authors. Then once his or her work is published, it would be nice to hear that an established author has read it, not because the "Newbie" has insisted, but because the "big name" author found it on the shelf and bought it.
Dave