Dear SSS:

If she plans to spend more money than she already spent trying to publish this or another book in this way (and if she doesn’t have a lot of money to waste), then better kindly and honestly tell her the truth as you know it about the business side of her endeavor, and the lacking quality of her writing.

If she is done spending money in this way, I would do just what you plan to do (“tell her that her message came through, then add a couple details I found endearing“). If she pushes you for more feedback, ask her what specifically she wants you to evaluate in regard to her writing (ex.: smooth transition from sentence to sentence, paragraph to paragraph, so readers glide effortlessly from sentence to sentence and paragraph to paragraph), and then give her your honest feedback in regard to the specific area she mentioned. If she is not familiar with writing skills and cannot answer your request for specifics, explain to her a few specifics that you are familiar with, and take it from there.

anita