Stupid Stuff I See On Facebook (Publishing Related)

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OK. Its been awhile since I did a “Writing Post”. Writing about writing, is actually totally blah and writing about the politics of writing and modern publishing ends up like smashing one’s head into an iron wall. The headache is just not worth it.

But I came across this link (shared  by Goodereader) in my feed. It’s hard to tell if its supposed to be parody or not…

http://goodereader.com/blog/commentary/self-published-authors-are-destroying-literature/

WOW! The arrogance. I wonder if this person knows, they probably wouldn’t be writing for a website called Goodereader without self-published authors… Becuse the rise of Kindle (E.reading) went hand-in-hand with self-publishing.

It’s not the mainstream publishers who made the Kindle hot, it’s all those cheap reads put out by the illiterate rube authors this guy is bashing that lit the fuse. Had the mainline publishers got their way, they would have killed the Kindle. Ever look at the price difference between a NY published book and a ‘self-published’ book? The NY publishers want us addicted to paper. It’s why they jack up the price of an ebook compared to its hard copy… and mind you, the paper version is not cheap these days.

Look. I do this because I want to tell stories which mean something to ME. Sure I like selling books as well, but you might have noticed I really don’t go around shouting “buy my books”. I hardly, if ever go to writing groups/pages on Facebook though I’m part of many.

The only places I hawk myself are this blog, or Donna Yates Pinterest authors board. I also know some authors can be really gung-ho about pushing their wares – But that also applies to so-called “real” authors as well. I follow more than a few mainstream writers pages, they don’t mind plugging themselves.

I do wonder if this person who wrote this commentary for Goodereader has heard of Twilight, or its countless knockoffs? Junk like that fills bookstore shelves. I wouldn’t exactly call it ‘literature’ in the way this guy means the word. How is that not having an adverse effect on ‘literature’? If anything, mainstream junk like that does more to kill good writing than anything some mostly unknown writer publishing on Kindle or Smashwords does.

You know why? Recuse the publisher and agent handling the publishing of these many Twilight knockoffs are probably throwing some otherwise great books into the slush pile, for one reason only – The Twilight stuff is easier to sell. And the only people who can be blamed for that are those who consume it.

No one will ever turn back the clock – Mmm well maybe Iran, with an EMP blast. But short of that, places like Kindle and Smashwords are here to stay.

If you get annoyed at an author (and thats what they are) pushing themselves. Kindly ask them to maybe not be so aggressive. OR don’t follow them.

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FREE Poetry Book

Star-Fire Poetic Collection.

Dark fire cast,

Flame of burning blast-furnace of my hearts core.

 

Where there should be light shadows reign!

I feel rage, in that moment I am alive.

 

Flames fueled, not by hate – no love sets this pyre aflame.

What can I do to still it? Do I wish to extinguish this blaze?

 

No the conflagration drives me on!!!

Dark fire cast on my soul,

A shadow reigns over its light!

 

On Smashwords, download it here.

 

 

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Smashwords: Read An Ebook Week 3-9th

Image via CrunchBase

The Smashwords, Read AnEbook Week is on.

All books are now listed as half-off with this code: REW50.

And my books can be found Here:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/284822

 

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Will Brian Griffin Discover E-Publishing?

Brian Griffin (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There’s not very much that I, and Brian Griffin agree on. In fact, Glenn Quagmire once summoned up very nicely why Brian is a pretty annoying creature all around. Not that doing so ever knocked Brian off his elitist pedestal.

However recently Brian Griffin, after his book: Faster Than the Speed of Love, was de-shelved for not selling, destined to become pulp, and his life long dreams of being a successful, bestselling author were crushed, he realized that the publishing houses print a lot of junk – so he went out and proved it, by writing a self-help book in six hours, titled  Wish It, Want It, Do It, in the episode called “Brian Writes a Bestseller” .

When I saw this I went WOW! Finally people are getting it.

Now of course the Family Guy episode followed its usual pattern of setting Brian up for a fall. He treated baby Stewie pretty bad during the episode, and I could have done without the vile Bill Maher, or the airy Arianna Huffington being provided (more of) a soap box. They are of course Seth MAcFarlane political ilk, so it’s not that huge of a surprise, it’s just annoying.

What I don’t get, why has Brian Griffin not discovered e-publishing? The episode even alluded to Amazon, but not Kindle, or ebooks of any sort. Brian being the forward thinker he’s supposed to be, should jump all over Kindle. I actually have a theory as to why this is. Were I to hazard a guess, in Seth MAcFarlane’s over educated/Hollywood bubble, ebooks, and e-publishing, are just not ‘the real thing’.

It would be interesting if Brian finally took that next step in his rocky writing career, and it was depicted in a way that was not a farce, or shown to have a huge down side to it. Come on Seth MAcFarlane, you claim to be a champion of the little guy, give Brian, the author a break, let him discover e-publishing, and be good at it!

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Update: Free Ebooks/Smashwords Summer Sale

English: A Picture of a eBook Español: Foto de eBook Беларуская: Фотаздымак электроннай кнігі Русский: Фотография электронной книги (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Update: All my books, but one, now have a FREE coupon code, for the Smashwords Summer Sale. Go take a look, find something for your ereader!

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/Falcanian

 

 

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Hey, Lets Get Us Some New Gatekeepers…

St. Louis GateKeepers (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I am going to refrain from linking to it, or naming it, as I am pretty sure, it’s a bad idea.

I just ran across a link to a website on Facebook, in my newsfeed, which claims to ‘endorse, and vet Indie books’. Look I know on paper, that might seem like a very good idea, but it’s not – for all sorts of reasons. To begin with, a monster like that, is sure to become entrenched within the independent book community, even come to demand of itself to be seen as the beginning and end of what is considered ‘the standard’ for what should be allowed to be published. Secondly, I think the presumption does a disservice to would be writers, or up and coming authors, end up boxing them out, just in the same manner Big Six NY publishers have done.

Its easy enough to see such a group begin to demand that sites like Smashwords, Lulu… or Amazon insist that their published works begin to carry their vetting sites mark of approval. Actually, I don’t think Mark Coker at Smashwords would ever allow such a thing to take place, Amazon however – they already have lots of power, and seem to sway toward being control freaks.

Trust me, if these  ’standards’ existed before, there never would be any rising indie authors. Most, if not all would fall short and be discouraged. The beauty, the power of indie authorship, is in its Wild West nature.

No one vets, or seems to seek to vet, indie music, movies, or painters – those artists are allowed to put forward their work with no (or very little) feeling of guilt for doing so, sometimes even praise for daring to do it provides their work more value. But a book! how dare a writer dare to walk about beyond the gatekeepers. Even among our own, we keep pushing the impulse to regulate, as if a bad book someway kills us all. Trust me, it won’t. There’s no reason the same sort of openness among graphic artists, and indie bands should not me allowed to go forward among indie authors. Well, unless we foolishly begin to regulate ourselves – as if what we turn out has an impact on the health and safety of our fellow human beings. Bad writing, or novels won’t scar anyone, sometimes even ‘classics’ emerge from out of total cheese.

I just see the seed being planted, to replace the old system, with exactly what the new one came along to rip down. And it makes no sense to me whatsoever.