Artistic freedom and self-publishing
Dec. 13th, 2009 10:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deborahjrossLaura Resnick discusses self-publishing, vanity presses, and professional publishing. Much of this I've read before in one form or another, particularly in blogs on the Harlequin s/c/a/m DellArte line. But Laura has a wonderful way of cutting to the chase. This reminds me of a time when I was doing a book signing and a young man informed me that because I was commercially published, I had completely sold out to the system.
The argument that self-publishing offers artistic freedom is most often an excuse used to rationalize the lack of dogged, enduring, committed persistence that is--the single most essential--ingredient (more so than talent, frankly) needed to break into publishing as a writer and to maintain a career in this--highly-- competitive profession.
“Artistic freedom” is also an argument used to evade acknowledging the very real possibility that an aspiring writer’s work simply might not be ready for professional publication yet. Writing a novel is not a natural talent that flows freely from your muse-blessed fingers. It’s a difficult craft that takes years of dedicated practice to develop to a professional level. Not working enough on their craft is one of the two most common mistakes made by aspiring writers.
The--other--most common mistake of aspiring writers is not educating themselves about the highly competitive, demanding profession that they aspire to enter—which is precisely why so many aspiring writers misunderstand the crucial differences between a PUBLISHING business model and a PRINT business model. And also why a percentage of aspiring writers fall prey to costly vanity scams.
The argument that self-publishing offers artistic freedom is most often an excuse used to rationalize the lack of dogged, enduring, committed persistence that is--the single most essential--ingredient (more so than talent, frankly) needed to break into publishing as a writer and to maintain a career in this--highly-- competitive profession.
“Artistic freedom” is also an argument used to evade acknowledging the very real possibility that an aspiring writer’s work simply might not be ready for professional publication yet. Writing a novel is not a natural talent that flows freely from your muse-blessed fingers. It’s a difficult craft that takes years of dedicated practice to develop to a professional level. Not working enough on their craft is one of the two most common mistakes made by aspiring writers.
The--other--most common mistake of aspiring writers is not educating themselves about the highly competitive, demanding profession that they aspire to enter—which is precisely why so many aspiring writers misunderstand the crucial differences between a PUBLISHING business model and a PRINT business model. And also why a percentage of aspiring writers fall prey to costly vanity scams.
