Or you can just say "bollocks" to it

[naomi_jay]

Dear World,

For the past few weeks I've been reading lots and lots about how traditional publishing is dying, bookshops are disappearing, and the only way forward is to self-publish via Kindle and Smashwords. I've been reading about how this will revolutionise the publishing business and rake in thousands upon thousands of dollars for self-pubbed authors. I've been reading about how this is the only way forward, and how all those brilliant writers who've been ignored by traditional publishing and those nasty, self-serving publishers will finally reach the audience they deserve. About how anyone still seeking literary agents and traditional publishing is a coward, looking for validation, a dinosaur, or a plain old moron, because we could be sitting on top of a pile of cash right now from our Kindle publications.

I have to say, it's made me pretty depressed.

Why, you ask? (and if you didn't ask, I'm answering anyway, so you may as well read on).

1. I love books. I am one of these dinosaurs who doesn't own or plan to own an e-reader. I'm not saying I'll never be converted, but for the foreseeable future, I'll stick with my paperbacks, thanks. There's nothing appealing to me about curling up with an e-reader, or relaxing in the bath with one, and yes, I know these are just sentimental reasons, but I don't care. I love books. I don't love technology. The idea of not being able to browse in a bookshop or carefully arrange all my favourite authors' works on my shelves genuinely upsets me. And I don't care if that means I'm behind the times or in denial.

2. I want my books to be books. The idea that my parents might never be able to hold a copy of my novel because it's just a file on a computer bothers me a lot. It bothers my parents a lot too, for what it's worth. If I work for six months to a year on something, fuelled only by love and hope, I want to be able to hold the end product in my hands. The proudest moment of my writing career so far was holding my copy of AFTERLIFE for the first time, and I want to look forward to many more such proud moments. Again, that probably means I'm in denial, but again, I don't care.

3. I'm not really in this for the money. I know! Of course I would love to be a full-time writer. Of course I would. But mostly I just want to be published and have people read my stuff, and hopefully enjoy it. All these thousands and thousands of potential dollars I could be making on the Amazon Kindle don't entice me, because frankly no matter how many people I hear shouting about these piles of cash, I'm pretty sure there are many, many more making no more money than I do sitting at this damn desk all day.

I want to be clear about this: there's nothing wrong with writing for money. There's nothing wrong with writing for any reason. I'm lucky that my livelihood doesn't depend on my writing career, or I'd be living in a box. A really crappy box. And yes, I am insanely jealous of people who get to write full-time, but such is life. I don't see why there's such a divide between those who write for entertainment and look down on people who want to make a living out of their creative works, and those who write for pay and look down on those who write for entertainment. I've said time and time again I hate the stereotype of the tortured artiste, so those who flounce around talking about their deep and deathless prose and scorn writers who just want to have fun or make some money irritate me beyond belief. But everyone else? Whatever your reason for writing, do it and don't worry about what everyone else thinks of those reasons.

Anyway, I'm getting distracted now.

4. I just want to write! I don't want to worry about cover art, editing, distribution, getting attention, and basically being a businessman. Mostly because I would suck at it and be living in that crappy box. I want to write a story and let someone far more qualified than me go about making that story into a book. If I was solely responsible for the publishing of my novels, they would never see the light of day. Again, hearing that self-publishing is the only way forward freaks me out because I simply don't have the skill set to go it alone. And yeah, I could probably learn, but I don't want to.

These reasons, and more, threw me into a complete slump for a couple of weeks as I wrestled with myself over it. Is the death of traditional publishing just around the corner? Will the Kindle destroy us all? Am I missing out on heaps of cash by sticking with my agent and hoping for traditional publication? Am I wasting my time working with my agent when obviously nobody is ever going to get published by NYC ever again unless they write sparkly vampire porn? What's the answer? What should I do?

In the end I flipped out completely and decided the easiest answer was to stop writing altogether and remove myself from the whole debate. Then I remembered I'm actually under contract for two more Urban Wolf novels, so quitting writing was not a viable option.

So then I sat down and thought about what I actually want. The reasons I put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), and the reasons I keep on doing it despite the doom and gloom hovering over publishing right now. I thought about the reasons self-publishing (whilst clearly a more valid choice now than ever before) is not for me. And my conclusion is thus:

It's what I've always wanted. I've been writing stories since I was at primary school. I've always written and it's the only thing I've ever done that I've really believed is worth me doing. I don't say that at all lightly. Anyone who reads this blog knows I'm often rendered useless (and possibly annoying) by self-doubt. But even at my lowest moments, I've clung to the writing. Always. And ever since I first realised that man, people can get published and be in freaking bookshops! that is all I have wanted. To be able to walk into Waterstones and see my book on the shelf next to authors I love is my life's ambition. To have someone pick that book up, read it, and love it, is all I aspire to. The Kindle won't give me that. Does this mean I'm one of those people seeking validation from "higher powers"? Yeah, probably, but so what? It's my dream; it doesn't need anyone else's seal of approval.

Maybe one day I will be a full-time writer. Maybe I'll be a bestseller and go crazy and make a fool of myself on Twitter on a daily basis. We can but hope. In the mean time, I'm writing what I love to write. I have an agent who either believes in my work or is crazy herself (far be it from me to judge which). I have two books out there that are getting great reviews from people I respect. And that's enough to keep me on my chosen path and stop listening to all those depressing, distracting, and often bitchy arguments going on between the indies and the traditionals.

And you know what? That's my choice. If your choice is another route, then go for it with everything you've got. There's no right or wrong here. There's only what's right for you.

PS - If, like me, you're in need of an inspiration boost, the Deadline Dames are charting their paths to publication at the moment.

Comments

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

I'm feeling like saying 'bollocks' to a lot of things at the moment. But I'm choosing to ignore all those people who say that traditional publishing is dying. I don't care. I'm going to submit to the big publishers anyway (when I've got a finished book to send). If they all collapse, then I'll carry on with my small publishers. It seems highly unlikely that they will go, but if they do, then I'll self publish. I don't give a toss, as long as out there there are some people willing to read my stuff.

[naomi-jay.livejournal.com]

That's exactly how I see it, now I've moved past the "Oh God, what am I doing with my life?!" mire I was in last week! Here's to us :)

[shistavanenjedi.livejournal.com]

I was under the impression that self-publishing wasn't really that profitable. A few years back, I was interested in a writing carrer (still am, to some extent) and I looked into self-publishing. A lot of the books I looked at didn't look well put together. Yeah, the story may have been good, but if the cover looks like it's been designed using microsoft paint or some other cheap image software, will anyone buy it? There's also a lot of work involved and how would anyone physically have the time to do make the book, market it and still be able to write?

You also have to bear in mind that going through the traditional publishing route, those who can't write or tell a story will get weeded out from from those who can - (at least that's the theory). If a reader likes someone's work, they'll keep reading it.

In some ways, I would like Kindle, because I read a lot of fiction, and it would be a great way to store all those Star Trek novels, etc that I read, saving space. Electronic publishing also has the advantage of being a way to make books which are out of print avilable again. However, electronic formats need to be accessible to most people if it is going to work - there's loads of times I've come across electronic formats only to find that I wouldn't be able to read it anyway because I don't have the right software. I've also found that a lot of books aren't avialbe in electronic format and for that reason I don't have a Kindle. (The same reason why I don't buy games for my Vista PC is the same reason I don't have a Kindle - the books I'd like aren't in that format and it wouldn't be worth getting one until more books are avilable in that format.)

It can be difficult to read off a computer screen for long periods of time, so I don't really see how electronic publishing can be more profitable than traditional publishing, unless you take out the costs of producing, storing and distibuting an actual book.

[dwg.livejournal.com]

YES, THIS. I hate coming across a book I've been after for a small eternity and it turns out that I can't read it anyway because I'm in a whole other country or is a file format that I need to buy specialist sofrware or gadgetry for and even then it's a temporary file. I like the convenience of ebooks, but oh my god if I wind up paying that amount of money, I am better off placing an order at my book store and waiting a few months.

[craving-vintage.livejournal.com]

I'm not even a writer and I don't think tradittional publishing is dying. I feel it will always be here.

I do want a Kindle, but I still love paperbacks. I want a Kindle because of lack of shelf space and room space. I read a few books at a time and I'm always in the mood for something different. With a Kindle I won't have to lug 2-3 books if I get in the mood for something different. It's more of a convenience thing for me.

Maybe one day I will be a full-time writer. Maybe I'll be a bestseller and go crazy and make a fool of myself on Twitter on a daily basis. We can but hope. In the mean time, I'm writing what I love to write. I have an agent who either believes in my work or is crazy herself (far be it from me to judge which). I have two books out there that are getting great reviews from people I respect. And that's enough to keep me on my chosen path and stop listening to all those depressing, distracting, and often bitchy arguments going on between the indies and the traditionals.

Good for you! :)

And you know what? That's my choice. If your choice is another route, then go for it with everything you've got. There's no right or wrong here. There's only what's right for you.

Exactly!

[blythe025.livejournal.com]

Well said. All your reasons make perfect sense to me and are pretty much the same reasons I would give if asked.

[dwg.livejournal.com]

See, this is why I wish people would take a more whollistic approach to the industry, because while it may be more viable for the authors to push forward with Kindle and epublishing, it may not be the same way for the consumers. For a start, it's incredibly alienating to be told to upgrade or die. Ereaders are not for me, just as iPhones are not for me. I can make do without, and I don't feel like I'm living in the last century because of it. I do just fine my way. Taking away my choice as a consumer to have analogue books means I am much less likely to buy your product. I don't want to pay the same amount of money for a file as I do on an anologue book. I don't want to have to pay for specialist gadgets in order to read the books when I can just pick up a paperback and start reading. There's no reason why both of these things cannot exist and allow people to choose to do things the way they want.

[naomi-jay.livejournal.com]

I keep saying I don't see why it has to be one or the other, but it really seems like people are insisting it must be. It's either that self-publishing is the future and if we don't get in there now, we'll be left looking like twats later, or traditional publishing is the only thing that counts and anything else is just pretending.

No! What counts is what you want - everyone has different goals for their writing, and all those goals are equally valid.

Anyway, yeah, if certain authors or publishers move to purely digital books, I'm not going to be buying any more because A) no e-reader and B) no desire to read on my laptop. I want books, dammit! Is that so old-fashioned?

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

Won't those people with e-readers feel foolish when technology finally fails and we book readers are standing by our libraries, with big smiles on our faces?

I'm with you. I had the option of selling Storm Chaser as just an e-book, but it won't be the same to me until I have that hard copy in my hands. Meanwhile, my game plan remains to find an agent and eventually move from small press to a bigger publisher that has better capabilities of distributing honest to goodness hard copies.

[naomi-jay.livejournal.com]

Well, we all know that eventually technology of all kinds will develop intelligent and enslave mankind. And's my number one reason for not buying an e-reader.

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

Have you ever considered the possibility that Bill Gates is a Terminator, and Steve Jobs a Cylon?

[naomi-jay.livejournal.com]

Makes far too much sense...

[six-old-cars.livejournal.com]

Does this mean I'm one of those people seeking validation from "higher powers"? Yeah, probably, but so what?

Well where else would you get validation from? If from lower entities it's mere hero worship. If from yourself it's meaningless. So yeah, seeking validation from people with cause to be regarded as higher powers is nothing to be ashamed of.