Objection!

[naomi_jay]

I'm tired, so please forgive me if I sound really grumpy, but ... well, I'm about to be really grumpy.

I'm fed up of seeing the endless bitching and pissing over indie v trad publishing, whether indies should refer to themselves as indies, whether self-publishing is valid or vanity, whether traditional publishing is dead, how your an idiot if you want to waste time with agents, how you're a failure if you want to self-publish, how you'll never make it either way because you're one of millions and who's going to pay attention to your crappy book anyway. I'm sick of it.

I'm sick of it because:

1. Nobody has the right to make you feel bad about your choices. Everyone's path is different, everyone's reasons for writing are different. Nobody should be judged for chosing their path and sticking with it.

2. Labels! FFS. If indie authors want to avoid the negative connotations that come with "self-published," who's business is that? Why does it matter? It's a word. It's not an offensive one, so who cares?

3. We're all writers, aren't we? Why does there have to be this divide when we're all essentially doing the same thing: writing a story we care about. Whether we choose to upload it to the Kindle or send it round to agents, why should that create any issues with any other writers?

I'm sorry, but I don't get it. I don't get why one choice is more valid than the other, I don't get why there has to be a competition to see who makes the most money the fastest, and I don't get why people can't feel proud of something they've laboured over for weeks and months - maybe years - just because they chose a different route to you. Indie, trad, self-published, e-published, small press, big six... I don't care. I'm not an indie writer. I'm not a trad writer. I'm not a small press writer. I'm just a writer and I'm bored of all the angst.

Comments

[h-a-holmes.livejournal.com]

I hate it too. It just degenerates writing when one says this way is the correct or official way to publish a book. Some people can't or won't work with agents, but I think it just depends on what you want from your writing. If you want to see a physical book in shops and have a three-book deal, then perhaps scouting out agents and publishers is a better set-up for you. If you want to put your work out there and be your own boss, as it were, then self-pub your work, or whatever.

In the end, we're all writers. It doesn't -- or it shouldn't -- matter what publisher has bought our work, or what agents reps us. Our job is to write stuff we're passionate about and what to share with people.

[Sorry if this seems ranty, your post just got me thinking]

:) xx

[naomi-jay.livejournal.com]

Lol, no, it's not ranty, it's exactly how I feel!

Our job is to write stuff we're passionate about and what to share with people

This is the bottom line for me, and it's taken me years to actually realise that, as stupid as that sounds. I'm not denying I don't still dream of seeing my books in Waterstones or Borders (maybe not Borders, now...), but what I've realised this past year is that what's really important to me is sharing my work with readers and having them enjoy it.

And actually, I'm a lot happier with my writing now I'm not putting pressure on myself to chase agents and publishers every second of the day too!

[nathreee.livejournal.com]

I want to hug you. Let's just write and follow our own path. I would have self-published by now if people weren't so negative about self-pub. I love how it's less hassle and less people telling you to jump through their hoops. I wish people weren't so judgemental.

[naomi-jay.livejournal.com]

*hugs* Amen, sister! You know what, it's never the path I wanted to take, but I'm a hell of a lot happier and more optimistic going indie than I was looking for agents and publishers. And I adore my small press editors. So yeah, I'm with you. I want less hassle and more writing!

[six-old-cars.livejournal.com]

I don't know. I still feel the biggest problem with self-pub is not the high-and-mighty attitude of mainstream publishing, but the volume of badly-written stuff that would have been better off never being let out of the bag. If most self-pub books were half as good as a Naomi Clark novel I'd be happy to self-pub too. But most of what I've seen (and the small-press anthologies I've featured in) have not given me cause to raise my estimate of the validity of the choice.

But then, my success rate with publishers (or rather publications) I respect is 0% as yet, so perhaps I need to admit I'm only good enough for the lowest common denominator.

[naomi-jay.livejournal.com]

I'm with you to a point. There's definitely room for improvement with some small presses (naming no names, but I think you know who I mean!). And yes, I've stumbled across some self-pubbed stuff that really isn't ready for the public...

On the other hand, my experiences with Queered Fiction have been stellar, and Damnation Books, whilst I have some reservations about certain things, have been great to work with too. Same with indie books - so far I've found more good than bad, but I guess the argument there is: I know what I like to read, I don't read much outside my chosen genre, so I'm likely to find what I want without much vetting beforehand.

And the other point is... there are some godawful tradiationally published books out there too!

[intothenyght.livejournal.com]

I totally and completely agree with this. But, I have to say, six_old_cars does have a point...there isn't really a filter with self-pub, so the market is flooded with terrible books. I think that's the qualm everyone has with it (even though there are plenty of well-written wonderful stories that are self-pubbed).

[naomi-jay.livejournal.com]

Agreed! There's an argument that just because you can self-publish, doesn't mean you should. I do worry about the market being inundated with crap, but at the same time, I'm pretty sure word-of-mouth and reviews will help weed out the truly bad books and draw attention to the gems.

[intothenyght.livejournal.com]

Exactly! I'm sure good books will have the attention they deserve...just got to promote, promote, promote!

[jongibbs.livejournal.com]

Well said :)

[naomi-jay.livejournal.com]

Heh, thanks!

[laburton.livejournal.com]

I love you and your writing. You've said it for many of us. Now we are writing for us.

[naomi-jay.livejournal.com]

*hugs* Feels good, right?

[laburton.livejournal.com]

Yes, I think we work hard now than before.