Word Count: 3,345
(for FEB)
I see that we utterly failed at last month. This month I have been trying very hard to make it work, although I am still two days behind. Let's try this again!
Also, I've been reading a lot of blogs of published authors and I found this:
http://www.ninc.com/blog/index.php/archives/publishing-printing-or-scam
It's about the dangers involved in self-publishing. I am not trying to convince you guys not to do self-publishing, but I was wondering if you'd read this and/or would like to discuss!
(for FEB)
I see that we utterly failed at last month. This month I have been trying very hard to make it work, although I am still two days behind. Let's try this again!
Also, I've been reading a lot of blogs of published authors and I found this:
http://www.ninc.com/blog/index.php/archives/publishing-printing-or-scam
It's about the dangers involved in self-publishing. I am not trying to convince you guys not to do self-publishing, but I was wondering if you'd read this and/or would like to discuss!
4 Comments:
Found another take on it by Michael Stackpole, who is both self-published and through traditional publishing houses, including being on the bestseller list. He was actually the one who linked me to the one I posted up there. I think he may have a point with e-publishing; care to discuss?
http://www.michaelastackpole.com/?p=769
Yeah, I hear what the first article is saying, and its warning is certainly valuable to those who don't understand the real terms of self-publishing and who might be suckered into a vanity press situation. I know I had gotten myself into something like that with my poetry, and quickly realised that it was an utter scam and demanded my 100-something dollars back when I saw the "book" I had been printed in. It was a total rip-off. I think the warning is definitely necessary.
I also really like what Michael had to say in the second article. I think there could definitely be a changing of the market and the way we go about publishing things in the future. In fact, I hope there is because I feel like the publishing market is far too corrupted by profit and money now to really be very beneficial. I think a shift would be very good.
That said, I have been thinking about this a lot on my own. I think I've come to terms with the fact that my two novellas aren't really anything I want to publish publicly. I would love to see them put together for my own sake, but I don't really see much public value in them. They are a personal endeavor that I would be willing to share with people I know who are interested in that endeavor, but they aren't something I really want on the shelf like that. Those I'm most likely going to print and bind myself through the IPRC (which Aaron & I just joined so we can have fun making all sorts of homemade things, yeay.)
My novel, on the other hand, I'm considering getting it into the hands of at least a small public because I think it has some value. I'm not sure I want to get on the national/international scale, but who knows. I'd like to try and find a small publishing house here in PDX that would take it on because I think it would be more of a personal accomplishment for me to have my book available to my own community. I have looked into some of the local publishers a bit and there's some options I rather like. But, who knows. I might submit it to some bigger publishers just for shits and giggles and see what comes of that (or simply because it might be fun to get some official denial letters in the mail as sort of an accomplishment, haha).
I think part of what makes me not want to really strive too hard after big publishing houses is that I've never really been one for popularity and I think I'd feel kind of awkward if my book were some national best seller. I'd almost feel like I'd sold out - or bought in, in a way. I'm not sure.
But yeah, those are my thoughts as of now. What were your thoughts?
Oh, and by the way, Underground is totally coming along! I'm over half-way through the first read-through and I'm thrilled about the characters again and excited about getting into some solid editting in a few days (or weeks as it goes...)
And yeah, January was a total failure.
I hear you. You should totally read a bunch more of Stackpole's blog - he has tons of good thoughts and advice on a lot of aspects of publishing and writing in general.
I don't think targeting big publishers is "selling out." I mean, I think the chances of my first novel getting any recognition is mostly nil, but if I believe in my work, why not try to get it out there for people to read? I mean, we put all your effort and passion into these creations of ours, and it's likely better than a lot of mass-published stuff out there.
I mean, I don't have to be a bestseller or anything, but I wouldn't mind getting a loyal fan base - that would pretty much rock.
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