Jim Hines of the Jig the Goblin trilogy wrote a post today in which he rants about writing “Experts”. Jim’s major complaint is people who take their small experiences with either writing or publishing and extrapolate it into a supposed expertise about the whole industry. Many of Jim’s points single out self published authors. I found myself both agreeing with him and feeling a little defensive at the same time. Withing the next few months I will be releasing a self published book and therefore I’m at risk of annoying people in the same ways that Jim was annoyed.
I think it takes a special sort of arrogance to become a self published author. I look at the traditional publishing paths and I know that the reason they are traditional is that they work. The publishing “rules” are there because they are truly the best way for people to combine forces and create books. It has to be some sort of hubris for me to see those rules, understand why they exist, and still decide that somehow they don’t apply to me.
The one area where I know I will not annoy Jim and other published authors is that I have no intention of advocating self publishing as the wave of the future. It is a hard, lonely, scary path and I would never recommend it lightly. There are no easy paths to publication, but for most people the best choice is to find a publishing house. There have been many times during the Hold on to Your Horses project when I have curled into a little ball of despair because the project was broken and I did not have the expertise to fix it myself. Then I had to go begging among my contacts for help. The only reason it has a chance of working is because of the amazing people I’ve come to know during the past few years. The only reason I am an exception to the rule is because I can piggy back on all the marketing and friendships from Schlock Mercenary.
One thing that may contribute to the “expert” syndrome that Jim noted, is the reactions of non-publishing people to a self published work. When I talk to neighbors about my forthcoming book and I say “I’m self publishing” I get even more respect and approval than I did for just publishing. This baffles me a little because I know that self published works nearly always suffer from quality issues. But America prizes its innovators and trail blazers. Self publishing seems more accessible. People look at my self published project and think that maybe they could do something towards their own dreams. I’m glad of that and I do feel that there is value in self published works, even the ones with quality issues. Perhaps it is to these other newbies that the “experts” are speaking. I don’t think anyone who wants to be a professional in the publishing industry is going to be led astray by newbie experts.
I guess in the end I believe that the path you take should be the one best suited to your goals. Hubris or not, I do believe that this alternate path is going to work for me. I am going to be able to accomplish what I set out to do: create the book that my daughter needed, reward the artist who helped me, and not lose money while doing it.
Sandra — you’re so far from annoying me that the annoyance is not even a speck on the horizon. Or something like that. I’ve been doing data entry all day, so my metaphor skills might be a bit clunky.
I hate writing these rants … it does seem that a lot of the people I get annoyed with have gone the self-publishing or vanity route, and as a result, when I gripe online I’m sure it comes off as an attack on self-publishing. Intentional or not, I can understand feeling defensive. I apologize if my rant came across as a broader attack.
And now I find myself wanting to do the “Some of my best friends are self-published!” routine 😛
For what it’s worth, I consider you to have a great deal of expertise, and I’ve learned some good stuff from reading your blog. And I absolutely agree with figuring out your goals and finding the best path to reach those goals.
Also, I think it takes a good dose of arrogance to be any sort of writer. We’re expecting people to shell out their hard-earned cash to read our words.
Don’t worry that you’ve offended me in any way. You haven’t. Your rant isn’t against self-publishing. It is against people who use minimal experience to assume expertise. The example you used to illustrate your point happened to be self published folks because they are frequent offenders in this way. Your blog is remarkably balanced in that you’re willing to examine both the advantages and disadvantages of self publishing. I’ve gained valuable perspectives while reading your entries about self publishing. That was why I found it curious that a piece of me wanted to argue with your rant when I knew that it was dead on. I poked around in my head to figure out what was going on and this post is the result. More than anything else, I realized that I often feel insecure about my decision to self publish. Particularly so since it hasn’t yet met my goals for the project.
I look forward to seeing you at Ad Astra. I’ll have to check the schedule to see if I can make your book release party.
I might suggest that the statment:
“I look at the traditional publishing paths and I know that the reason they are traditional is that they work.”
Is a bit misconcieved. The system works well enough to keep the publishing houses oepn, but their profit predictability is a joke which keeps them up at night, because they feel that they cannot predict what will sell, and what will bust. They’d like to make it better, but who has the time to read every manuscript produced throughout the country? Sometimes, individual inititative is what is needed to get things done.
Here’s an interesting story about the way some of the publishing world sees itself.:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18664871
I look forward to seeing your book in print. I wish I had your guts.
Ona
I think it takes a special kind of arrogance to be an artist at all, so extending that to self-publishing probably isn’t much of a stretch.
*laugh* Good point.
I’m continuing to wrestle with a variety of fallout issues from our panel together at LTUE and this post dovetails into those concerns. For what it’s worth, I suspect that the innate professionalism that you bring to your efforts will pay off.
I really hope that you haven’t run into trouble because of things Howard or I said at LTUE. What is right for us exactly wrong for you and vice versa. We could also be flat out wrong for everybody.
Oh heavens, Sandra. No. You haven’t caused trouble. Merely healthy reflection.
Someone answered Jim’s post with a comment about adding “friends who haven’t achieved more in publication or call themselves editors or publishers” to item 4 in his rant. This brought some thought about how I have no choice but to call myself an editor to put together Evolutions.
What you are doing with your storybook is an interesting synergy of what you and Howard already do with Schlock and what others _try_ to do with self-publishing. I’m still not entirely convinced that a web comic model works for short or long form prose as a mob-driven marketing model. However, it’s far more conducive to what you and Howard are doing.
As for the odd hybrid publication such as Evolutions? Well, the jury’s still out. Some webzines have attained respectability through their efforts, some through their association with established houses or authors, and others not at all. When you go that extra step and decide to forego subscriptions and cast your hopes upon the mercy of support through a readership that has no qualms at all about taking something for nothing in many, many cases — it’s hard to feel confident of success no matter what your faith is in your vision and insight.
Thus, I am conscious of my limitations as both and editor and author and not at all confident that the support will materialize to carry this work forward into long-term viability. Despite those concerns, however, I am moving to release, no small part because the success of those like you in similiar but not identical venues proves that potential for successful innovation exists.
Thus, I am conscious of my limitations as both and editor and author and not at all confident that the support will materialize to carry this work forward into long-term viability.
We all learn by doing, Darwin. There is no shame in being new at something; merely in being obnoxious about it 😉
I think you’ll do fine. And if you give it your best and the project still tanks… well, at least you’ll never sit up nights wondering what might have happened if you’d had the guts to try.