I’ve been good about posting my weekly numbers…but beyond that, what happened to the adventure?
The adventure lives on.
I’m still learning a lot about indie-publishing. A friend last night pointed me to a blog where the writer went OFF on self-publishers who called themselves “indie” saying we had bastardized (her words) the meaning of the word and basically just a long ranty post meant to put indie (yeah, I said it) writers in their place…and to educate all those poor, poor consumers about why self-publishers are not indie and warn them of the evil that…ok, I’ll stop. The word “evil” may not have actually been used.
What followed was a great discussion (ok, maybe more of me soapboxing) about publishing’s history (dude, it didn’t just start a couple decades ago) and indie music/film tie-ins and the ever changing structure of any industry and how we do not live in the same publishing world we did a decade ago… heck, we don’t live in the same publishing world we did two years ago, or even six months.
We live in a Darwinistic world. Adapt or die.
Self-publishing is not only here to stay, but it’s becoming more and more viable an option… if done right.
I know people who put more work, editing, copyediting, money, and cover-content focus into their indie book than some mid-list traditional authors get (or do themselves)… Want to hear a dirty little secret?
I’ve had several traditionally published authors admit that they have gotten zero content editing and almost no (if any) copyediting. All of them were at two major houses.
Those gatekeepers? Those ones we’re supposed to trust to turn out great products? It’s becoming more and more commonly known that they can’t always be relied on. I’m not saying ALL publishers or editors. But let’s be honest, some of them.
The responsibility lies with the indie-pubs. We’re going to have to continue to build the indie reputation until the label doesn’t matter. Until all that matters is the product.
So, when trying to stop judging a book by its cover, maybe stop judging it by its source too.
With all these changes in the publishing world, which one do you think is going to shape your world more?
I’d love to know!
~Caitie~
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