First of the men introduced was self-published and his sales went through the roof...NY picked him up with a nice tidy advance.
Second man was NY published and has since self-pubbed. For various reasons, this happens to many NY mid-list authors.
Third man is with NY and would never consider self-pubbing, except maybe for some of his old 'out of print' backlist.
This was my take on the one hour show-- each man in turn toots NY publishing. And all three made it clear that in order to be considered a "GOOD" writer, you would have to (a) have a NY publishing contract; (b) have had a NY contract; or (c) only be a writer accepted by one of the big 6.
My jaw is still dropped.
What's interesting is the Second Man--he pushes ebooks, just like small/indie published writers, sales his ebooks just like small/indie published writers, but yet, he clearly stated that unless the writer had been with NY, their writing was CRAP.
WHAT???? As many readers can verify, even some NY published writers, write CRAP!
This program made me see RED, and I just had to blog about it.
Once again, I'll repeat myself--it takes time and patience to write a well written book. It doesn't happen overnight. And anyone who has persued this career knows that learning never stops.
So, what validates a writer? Not the publisher, not another writer, and certainly not family.
The reader does. *grin*
Happy Trails,
Cherri
The Scent of Money
Yep, bias is going to be the number one enemy of the independent writer...no matter how good s/he is. People just seem to unconsciously buy into the idea that if you're any good then NY will magically find you and take you.
ReplyDeleteI'm finding that a good many of the mid-list, ex-NY authors who are now finding themselves in the "self/indie" pile are still tethered with an umbilical cord to NY. Sheesh! But with all that's happening with Wylie, etc...makes me wonder what NY will do to keep up with this NEW WAVE of changes. LOL!
ReplyDeleteThis attitude has been around forever. When someone attacks and denigrates a whole group of people, they end up making themselves look bad.
ReplyDeleteObviously, books published by NY publishers are NOT better written than books from small presses or self-pulished authors.