It's not uncommon

[james_davis_nicoll]

For me to decide whether or not I like a song during its opening chord. I would like to be able to reassure writers I am not similarly judgmental about written material.

That said, the inclusion of a prologue automatically bumps down how good a book can be two categories because it says right off the writer is undisciplined and is going to waste my time.

On an unrelated note, I think more novels need to have the subtitle "A novel" because sometimes I become confused and think I am reading a grapefruit.

Comments

[ritaxis.livejournal.com]

any italicized passage that lasts more than ten words should incur a small per-letter fee, so that writers will only italicize what they really have to.

[seawasp]

I refuse to give up my entire advance just so you can enforce your anti-italic bias on me!

[ritaxis.livejournal.com]

Possibly you could negotiate a waiver by . . . oh, I don't know, yielding the right to an epilog, or something.