Open Wounds
by John Wolf
I've been at this writing gig now for four years, a babe in the woods, still wet behind the ears, so maybe I don't have the street creds to state opinions about what I see in the publishing industry or how disrespectful the business can be to new writers, but that's not going to stop me. Maybe it's because I see the same pattern of behavior that I witnessed as a musician trying to sell songs or as a genealogist trying to search family records. How could these things possibly be correlated?
The common thread is the unethical behavior some companies will indulge in to make a buck. They count on the naivety of inexperienced people and have no guilt in taken all the money they can from the virgin author, musician or researcher, causing great discouragement and building resentment in what would otherwise be nice folks. It' like a Michael Jackson daycare center, if you get my drift. It can only get ugly quickly.
As a musician, I experienced the total rejection patterns displayed by the professionals, just like the process of obtaining an agent that grabs the sleeve of an editor that puts in a good word behind doors few normally witness to seal a book deal. I understand how this works, and like publishing, it makes sense in the high risk world of sponsoring unknowns where money talks. This is actually another article I will take on in the future. What I want to concentrate on here is the independent author with a first book, dripping sweat from the corners of the manuscript clutch between folded arms with that deer-in-the-headlight look on the face.
Where the walk in the woods gets ugly in publishing is like the experience I had with genealogy research. Company's would sell you all kinds of stuff that had little or nothing to do with your work, but was hyped as being what everyone needed to do. In the end, it was all about taking money from the novice and putting it into the pocket of the street savvy. Why give a sucker an even break?
Recently, all this has gotten worst. Most of the big names in self-publishing have sold out to a Silicon Valley venture capitalist, which is one big money-mill known as Author Solutions. What's going on here?
The pressure of the lack-luster economy and the tenacity of new writers tired of the New York Runaround has shifted significant sales to independents—indies. this places a target on their backs and the phone-bank marketers start warming up the phone lines with unbelievable deals. Like any unbelievable deal—run with a tight grip on your wallet.
This is really just an identity crisis writers are struggling with. If you’re famous, and have a book written for you or even if you write it yourself (probably not a good idea), you become an author. If a no-name newbie writes a book, no one knows what to call him. We can’t find a word that will stick, especially if the book gets printed and becomes available to the public. It’s like buying porn in an alley. Intellectuals everywhere cringe at the thought of touching a book published by any other than the New York six or five or however many of these tough, take no prisoners companies there are nowadays that control distribution with an iron fist. You are better known by the publishers name than your own and for good reason, because you don’t exist anymore. The books, the content, the ideas, font style, cover art; all of it belongs to them. So I ask you, who is the real author?
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I say authors are free independent writers that own their own copyright, stand behind there work like any artist, are free to display and distribute same by any means possible to gain recognition in the public eye, just like a painter that places his work in a gallery for all to see. If the public doesn’t care for it; they will when he’s dead. The bickering and gnashing of teeth are ridiculous. Ben Franklin was an indie. Most authors prior to controlled media were independently published. Publishing for goodness sakes is fundamentally a printing process! It has been turned into a legal instrument not unlike junk bonds or below-prime mortgage loans. It’s a way to brokerage rights away from writers and exploit their talent. God bless the free writer. We are writers, not self-published bitches, POD people, “indies”, or any other freak of nature. We are writers, like musician, and painters. Stand back or I’ll drive an ink filled pen through your black heart!
What I'm staying is don't let the pundants, the loud voices of discouragement and ridicule influence you in any way. Understand that these voices come from those that see you as a threat to their selfish business interests or are merely intellictual pinheads. Most of them will wail endlessly about the volume of books on the market are more that the public can bear. Balderdash. The public will filter through the market just fine and be blessed to find fresh writing that was denied them by over-controlling front offices.
Yes, there will be chaff, but you can find that on the finest bookshelves in the land. Be the writer. Let the public be the judge. Tell the world your story. If I don't like your book, it will come in handy when it comes time to light a fire.
As a wide-eyed writer with spunk, be ware of expensive contests. They only make some magazine or shadowy publisher money. Don't buy into costly websites that list your book and charge for the privilege. Go out and build a grassroots following. Find out first if your book has quality and resilience in the market. There is no reason to put money behind a book that no one wants to read.
You will probably find non-fiction books faire better from new authors, especially if you can sell them as part of your normal business or lecture series. Fiction is fickle, but always be aware that if sales pick up and your work has a buzz going, agents will find you. When you're ready to sell your soul to New York, go for it. Fame usually only comes once.
Never feel regret for having a real book as a legacy. All authors are vanity authors and the more famous they become, the more vain. Blow the smoke back in the faces of the pundants, they can't write their way out of a wet paper sack.
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John writes perched in the gilded cage of retirement, in wonder with the artform of words and stories from the imagination. Sharing tales and contrivied mysteries is great sport. John's website: JohnWolfBooks.com |
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