Currently reading - Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris
If you haven't seen these, go take a look at Adrian Zackheim's piece, a Publisher's Weekly article from last year, or Michele Defilippo's thoughts on Authropublisher.
Now, let's pretend you don't have a dog in the publishing race and take emotion out of the equation.
If publishers, agents, etc., think indie publishing is inconsequential, why are they shouting from the rootftops that it's bad?
If indie publishing is not a game-changer in the industry then why are they focusing so much attention on it?
If traditional publishing is just fine, why are agents opening up their own "self-publishing initiatives"? (Sorry but the former corporate drone in me still finds The Knight Agency's term hysterical.)
If there isn't a problem, why are folks like Trident Media agents Robert Gottlieb and Kim Whalen and editor Colleen Lindsey trolling the Kindle Boards and indie book review sites for the next big thing?
(Okay, turning my emotion chip back on.)
For the record, I haven't met a self-published author who advocates putting up crap on the interwebs despite what some of the traditional pundits would have us believe. Everyone I know works hard to put up a quality product. In fact, indies are very generous with sharing their techniques and tips for creating a quality product for readers.
Speaking of sharing info, if you're in the Northwest Houston area Saturday, August 6th, a writers group I belong to is having a workshop on 'How to Digital Publish'.
Write Stuff Storybundle Ends Today!!!
-
An Amazing Deal! Nine different writing books plus a $150 craft workshop,
all for $25 bucks. And it is about to end! Read yesterday’s blog for Kris’s
essay...
9 hours ago
What I think is that most of these folks see their livings vanishing, whether they're in the process right now or whether they see it going in the future, and they're in a flailing panic. They're not thinking clearly, much less cooly or calmly; they're acting (speaking, posting) from pure knee-jerk reflex, like automatically smacking away a spider that lands on your arm.
ReplyDeleteI think that's why so many people who make their livings from stories and words, who really should know what a logical argument looks like, and the difference between a shallow and a thoughtful treatment of a subject, are relying on snark and contempt and a few shallow factoids skimmed off the surface of the hysterical end of the blogosphere. If they were thinking, they'd know they're just making themselves look ridiculous. They're smacking, though, out of pure reflex, and their aim isn't all that great. Nor do they have any idea whether the spider is poisonous or not.
The good news is we can probably ignore them with impunity. The bad news is that too many people who aren't reflexively reacting, who could be investigating and thinking for themselves, are listening to them. Although even there, I guess that's another example of evolution in action. It's just frustrating seeing folks who could do well in the new publishing environment getting sucked into the whirlpool of hysterical denial.
Angie
But, Angie, tell me how you REALLY feel?
ReplyDeleteYou're right. Fear makes people do stupid things, like threatening your client with a lawsuit. As for the writers who aren't thinking things through, Joe Konrath hit the nail on the head by calling their behavior "Stockholm Syndrome."