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I was just reading a blog over at the Huffington Post by the ex-head of Harper Collins (I don't remember all his titles) but he was essentially snarking about how everyone else's troubles are minor and insignificant compared to his issue, which is, of course, that he lost his job as a book publisher, because no one is reading paper books anymore and that digital books are lower class things.
In the same meme, the people in my writer's group, who are considerably older than I am, had the same reaction as the former publisher. When I first explained to them my business model for my site, each of them used to say, "Oh, well, that's nice. Maybe a REAL publisher will see your site and take interest in your writing and you'll really get a book published!"
I tried not to laugh, because there aren't a ton of publishers that would have taken a risk on my stuff even if the paper book publishing industry weren't having troubles (incest, anyone? massive scifi/horror yaoi erotica novels, anyone?). I also tried not to smack my head against the wall, because they couldn't seem to grasp that my books ARE being published by ME, only they will be ONLINE and I get to control things like artwork, music, audio casts of the books, manga, etc. The one thing that people can even say about book publishers today, that they have marketing departments which an individual author doesn't have, isn't all that big a deal anymore either. I have my own marketing company (now if only they would get off their asses ... but that's another post!).
Essentially, guys like this person at Harper Collins used to be the gatekeepers of what did and did not get published based on some marketing model out there that used to say a certain type of book will never be profitable so forgetaboutit! And first time authors, please! Don't even bother to apply! Don't you know that you need to have a book published in order to get a book published? So while part of me felt some sympathy for him for losing his job as I would for anyone (despite his definite over-the-top woe is me meme and belittling everyone else), another part of me took satisfaction in the fact that people like him don't get to control what people read anymore. I write the kinds of books I want to read. I'm sure that there are a few hardy souls out there that would like them, too. Now I get to find out myself if that's the case.
Oh, and one last thing about the writer's group: last night I showed them the covers for my books and read them a few chapters from two of the novels. One of the women, who is probably my harshest critic and who I know does not like the type of writing I do (genre, yaoi, horror, scifi, etc.), wrote four words on the front of her copy of my novels: "Took My Breath Away."
And that, takes my breath away.
In the same meme, the people in my writer's group, who are considerably older than I am, had the same reaction as the former publisher. When I first explained to them my business model for my site, each of them used to say, "Oh, well, that's nice. Maybe a REAL publisher will see your site and take interest in your writing and you'll really get a book published!"
I tried not to laugh, because there aren't a ton of publishers that would have taken a risk on my stuff even if the paper book publishing industry weren't having troubles (incest, anyone? massive scifi/horror yaoi erotica novels, anyone?). I also tried not to smack my head against the wall, because they couldn't seem to grasp that my books ARE being published by ME, only they will be ONLINE and I get to control things like artwork, music, audio casts of the books, manga, etc. The one thing that people can even say about book publishers today, that they have marketing departments which an individual author doesn't have, isn't all that big a deal anymore either. I have my own marketing company (now if only they would get off their asses ... but that's another post!).
Essentially, guys like this person at Harper Collins used to be the gatekeepers of what did and did not get published based on some marketing model out there that used to say a certain type of book will never be profitable so forgetaboutit! And first time authors, please! Don't even bother to apply! Don't you know that you need to have a book published in order to get a book published? So while part of me felt some sympathy for him for losing his job as I would for anyone (despite his definite over-the-top woe is me meme and belittling everyone else), another part of me took satisfaction in the fact that people like him don't get to control what people read anymore. I write the kinds of books I want to read. I'm sure that there are a few hardy souls out there that would like them, too. Now I get to find out myself if that's the case.
Oh, and one last thing about the writer's group: last night I showed them the covers for my books and read them a few chapters from two of the novels. One of the women, who is probably my harshest critic and who I know does not like the type of writing I do (genre, yaoi, horror, scifi, etc.), wrote four words on the front of her copy of my novels: "Took My Breath Away."
And that, takes my breath away.
