Are Authors born immaculate? Are their births proclaimed far and wide? Are they visited by the three wise and benevolent publishers who come bearing gifts? Are they swaddled in cloths of purest, radiant white, to be raised and nurtured, ever beloved?
Of course they're bloody not. Now I'm sure you're wondering what I'm on about. I'm getting to it, in my own round-about way.
I was trawling the net the other day, procrastinating in my writing endevours, choosing instead to follow interesting links, hither and thither. Now by some sadistic twist of fate, I managed to stumble onto a certain forum that is well-renowned for its animosity to indie writers.
I don't need to name it. We all know the site of the nasty war of 2011. Lest We Forget. And may the Gods help any indie writer that accidently strays onto that blood-soaked ground (alright it's a bit melodramatic, I'll admit. I'm a fantasy writer, what do you expect?).
So realising my error, did I turn and bid a hasty retreat? Of course not. I was like a kid picking at a scab, I had to read the posts. Half an hour later, my curiosity throughly dampened, and feeling bewildered and more than a little sad, I switched off the internet. I went outside to sit with my chooks and ducks.
I thought a great deal about those posts. The scathing comments about indie writers shocked me.
Now I spend a lot of time on Goodreads, it's my virtual second home. There I get to chat with other writers and readers. I've chosen groups where the people are polite and supportive. Yes we disagree from time to time on certain points, but it's all about discussion; different ideas, opinions and concepts are thrown into the mix, and the results are, for the most part, thoroughly enjoyed by all. I have my own author page. I'm made to feel welcome.
Maybe I'm naive, but the posts on that other infamous forum opened my eyes to another side to indie writing. I felt as if I should get out my sack cloth and bell. As if I should be ashamed of my audacity in self-publishing my work. Didn't I realised that I was not one of the chosen? How dare I put forth my diseased and tainted offerings? Didn't I know that I was unworthy, that I had not received the divine blessings of the Big Six?
So now my rambling pen comes back to the pertinent question: are authors born immaculate? For the general feeling on that forum was certainly of that opinion (and the few that dared to stand up for us--thank you!!--were knocked down and trodden on repeatedly). Yes, there were references to crap books and to those over-zealous spammers that we all know and love. But for the most part the posts claimed that indie writing was rubbish because it was nothing more than the slush pile, declined by publishers.
Now that pissed me off. So I'm here typing madly, hoping to remind people of something very fundamental, that I think, has been forgotten.
No writers equals no publishing houses. No artists, no galleries.
Don't bother with the bloody chicken and the egg question, it's a given. We write. They publish. Like it or lump it, it's the way it is. We have other options. They don't.
And are authors born immaculate? Do benevolent publishers instantly realise their $ublime magnificence and sign them on at birth?
In answer, here are a few interesting quotes, taken from Andre Bernard's Rotten Rejections: The Letters that Publishers Wish They'd Never Sent.
The Editor of the San Francisco Examiner to Rudyard Kipling: "I'm sorry, Mr Kipling, but you just don't know how to use the English language."
A rejection letter early in the career of Emily Dickinson."Your poems are quite as remarkable for defects as for beauties and are generally devoid of true poetical qualities."
A comment on Richard Adams' Watership Down: "Older children wouldn't like it because its language was too difficult" --Not only does this editor's tense change mid-sentence, but it's also very clear he/she hasn't even read it!
On Sylvia Plath: " There certainly isn't enough genuine talent for us to take notice."
Joseph Heller's Catch-22: " I haven't the foggiest idea about what the man is trying to say...Apparently the author intends it to be funny-possibly even satire-but it is really not funny on any intellectual level."
Now I could go on giving you examples until the cows come home, but you can source Bernard's book and see for yourself. I'll add that I'm not speaking from sour grapes. I had a bid from one of the Big Six in 2007 for an early manuscript in my fantasy series. I'll also say that I have had nothing but politeness from the Australian, UK and US publishers that I have submitted my manuscripts to (both with and without my former agent). But I'll say it again, writers write, publishers publish. They didn't create us, we created them.
So to those who so enjoy disparaging indie writers, I'll say this: you may not want to read my indie writing but you're sure as hell not going to stop me. I don't give a toss for your own exalted measuring stick. I'm wild and free and loving it! And now that I've found my own team of professional editors, I don't want a publisher. That's right. I intend to retain my freedom and my publishing rights!
To those of you that do support indie writers, for those that do give us a chance, thank you! And now I'm going back to writing, because that's what I do...
Image: The Holy Spirit by Corrado Giaquinto, 1703-1765, Italian Rococo painter
Of course they're bloody not. Now I'm sure you're wondering what I'm on about. I'm getting to it, in my own round-about way.
I was trawling the net the other day, procrastinating in my writing endevours, choosing instead to follow interesting links, hither and thither. Now by some sadistic twist of fate, I managed to stumble onto a certain forum that is well-renowned for its animosity to indie writers.
I don't need to name it. We all know the site of the nasty war of 2011. Lest We Forget. And may the Gods help any indie writer that accidently strays onto that blood-soaked ground (alright it's a bit melodramatic, I'll admit. I'm a fantasy writer, what do you expect?).
So realising my error, did I turn and bid a hasty retreat? Of course not. I was like a kid picking at a scab, I had to read the posts. Half an hour later, my curiosity throughly dampened, and feeling bewildered and more than a little sad, I switched off the internet. I went outside to sit with my chooks and ducks.
I thought a great deal about those posts. The scathing comments about indie writers shocked me.
Now I spend a lot of time on Goodreads, it's my virtual second home. There I get to chat with other writers and readers. I've chosen groups where the people are polite and supportive. Yes we disagree from time to time on certain points, but it's all about discussion; different ideas, opinions and concepts are thrown into the mix, and the results are, for the most part, thoroughly enjoyed by all. I have my own author page. I'm made to feel welcome.
Maybe I'm naive, but the posts on that other infamous forum opened my eyes to another side to indie writing. I felt as if I should get out my sack cloth and bell. As if I should be ashamed of my audacity in self-publishing my work. Didn't I realised that I was not one of the chosen? How dare I put forth my diseased and tainted offerings? Didn't I know that I was unworthy, that I had not received the divine blessings of the Big Six?
So now my rambling pen comes back to the pertinent question: are authors born immaculate? For the general feeling on that forum was certainly of that opinion (and the few that dared to stand up for us--thank you!!--were knocked down and trodden on repeatedly). Yes, there were references to crap books and to those over-zealous spammers that we all know and love. But for the most part the posts claimed that indie writing was rubbish because it was nothing more than the slush pile, declined by publishers.
Now that pissed me off. So I'm here typing madly, hoping to remind people of something very fundamental, that I think, has been forgotten.
No writers equals no publishing houses. No artists, no galleries.
Don't bother with the bloody chicken and the egg question, it's a given. We write. They publish. Like it or lump it, it's the way it is. We have other options. They don't.
And are authors born immaculate? Do benevolent publishers instantly realise their $ublime magnificence and sign them on at birth?
In answer, here are a few interesting quotes, taken from Andre Bernard's Rotten Rejections: The Letters that Publishers Wish They'd Never Sent.
The Editor of the San Francisco Examiner to Rudyard Kipling: "I'm sorry, Mr Kipling, but you just don't know how to use the English language."
A rejection letter early in the career of Emily Dickinson."Your poems are quite as remarkable for defects as for beauties and are generally devoid of true poetical qualities."
A comment on Richard Adams' Watership Down: "Older children wouldn't like it because its language was too difficult" --Not only does this editor's tense change mid-sentence, but it's also very clear he/she hasn't even read it!
On Sylvia Plath: " There certainly isn't enough genuine talent for us to take notice."
Joseph Heller's Catch-22: " I haven't the foggiest idea about what the man is trying to say...Apparently the author intends it to be funny-possibly even satire-but it is really not funny on any intellectual level."
Now I could go on giving you examples until the cows come home, but you can source Bernard's book and see for yourself. I'll add that I'm not speaking from sour grapes. I had a bid from one of the Big Six in 2007 for an early manuscript in my fantasy series. I'll also say that I have had nothing but politeness from the Australian, UK and US publishers that I have submitted my manuscripts to (both with and without my former agent). But I'll say it again, writers write, publishers publish. They didn't create us, we created them.
So to those who so enjoy disparaging indie writers, I'll say this: you may not want to read my indie writing but you're sure as hell not going to stop me. I don't give a toss for your own exalted measuring stick. I'm wild and free and loving it! And now that I've found my own team of professional editors, I don't want a publisher. That's right. I intend to retain my freedom and my publishing rights!
To those of you that do support indie writers, for those that do give us a chance, thank you! And now I'm going back to writing, because that's what I do...
Image: The Holy Spirit by Corrado Giaquinto, 1703-1765, Italian Rococo painter
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