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I guy I know self-published a book, and it was obvious more or less from the first page that he'd never actually read more than a handful of books in his life

Right at the start there's a scene with a bunch of people in a nightclub, and when describing someone he uses the phrase "with a face like a bulldog licking piss off a nettle" - a colloquial phrase in Ireland meaning someone looks sour (see https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Face%20like%...)

... but he misplaced a comma, and the sentence he actually wrote was

"Maria, of course, standing close by with a face like a bulldog, licking piss off a nettle."

Terrible book, but almost worth reading just for that image

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One other issue is that a lot of people don't proofread or have someone proofread their self-published book / story, and that's still at the amateur level; anything beyond that, you need an editor.

Editors have read a lot of books. More than most authors will have. They have also read and improved on terrible books. They get everything, literally raw and unedited.

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Bulwer-Lytton material right there...sign him up!