The Psychology Of Self-Publishing – A Sad Letter to Self Publishers

There is no easy way to put this. I say this because I believe I am in a good position to make this observation – most of you self publishers should consider giving up. Point Blank. And the reason why is because you don't have the talent and/or intestinal fortitude to attain the desired level of being a professional writer. As an exception, I leave out those self-publishers who don't care – they just want a dozen or so copies to be sold and are self-satisfied with that, and those precious few who actually have the skills and talent.

I am not being cruel. I am being objective and I am being ultimately kind. I also say this knowing full well that for those precious few of you who in fact have what it takes, will often be undiscovered or have to go to hell and back to finally get recognition. That's life, and it's full of unjust shit.

Recognition. This is the concept, above all, that has the highest importance in this discussion.

The people who recognize self publishers the most are other self-publishers. I don't know the figures, but I believe there's over two-hundred thousand of you buggers. Many of you are bitter, vocal, even articulate – and can't write for nuts. Not that you would admit it, nor, for that matter, even KNOW it.

You see, you have a collective – an amorphous, Internet-based super-group made up of thousands of blogs, FB networks, Twitter networks and the like. And collectively, you ASSUME that your members are fair to great writers, and that the publishers, and multinational publishing and distributing companies are all the enemy, and certainly the fault of why each individual among the hundreds of thousands of you, have failed to get the agent, the publishing contract, the Times Best Seller. What makes it worse is that you grasp for any piece of evidence that (correlated or not, contextually correct or not) substantiates your claims/beliefs. Konrath is one such source, and grows his readership and dollars by taking on an unofficial thought-leader role in this mess. I like Konrath, I like what he writes, but I have a poor opinion of how his views just reinforce (intentionally or not) the ignorant self-publishing masses (most of you). This psychological effect has also spawned a totally new industry of companies, consultants and bloggists who make money encouraging you. SHEESH, that is where the rottenness of the industry really exists.

Some of you get a few sales, often by serendipity, and with the help of Amazon's zero-cost schemes – good for Amazon, could possibly get a toe-up for you, but for the majority it just adds to the deep illusion that you have what it takes to be professional writers. Then, as part of this psychology, if you get a bad review by an unbiased reviewer, then it's because the reviewer is a predator (presumably from the same gene pool as the evil publishers, editors, agents). The truth is much more simple – there are good, professional reviewers, editors, agents and publishers out there, who don't just want to make a living, but also want to gain recognition from those who count (readers generally, the genre-industry groups, etc) and want their authors to be recognized. Agents and publishers WANT good authors, because it makes them money, and many of them get a kick out of it. Yes, there are also predators out there, but don't stop people from swimming in the ocean because a shark might swim by.

Recognition. That's the key. A very small number of self-published writers have made it big, and ALMOST ALL of this select group ended up joining traditional publishing groups. That's because they got RECOGNITION by people who really know what they are talking about and have done it collectively, professionally, for millions of years.

Most importantly, you need to get an unbiased view of your work – this is mainly found along the traditional path. Most of you, instead, just by-pass this critical learning/experience curve and find yourselves in a big bubble where all you get is the praise, the 5-star reviews, the interviews etc, from the rest of you.

Sorry, I just had to spell it out. If you are a self-publisher, that's okay. But don't succumb to the psychology of the collective. Keep writing, join good critic groups, write short fiction and SELL them to recognized periodicals, ezines, anthologies etc. Keep looking for good people in the industry who will recognize your talent and skills, if you have it, and help you climb the ladder and gain the recognition you deserve – if you deserve it.

Get real.
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Market News: scifi short story, Whistle In The Wind

Happy to announce that my historical scifi piece, Whistle In The Wind, set in post WWII Netherlands and Germany, has been accepted by Another Sky Press' Alien Sky Anthology. Pleased with this in part because it is quirky, only touching on scifi in terms of total words, and also because there is a tinge of my father's background involved.

Patience in the Career of a Writer

Patience is a tough concept in this day and age. I'm 51 years old and I observed the 'I want it now' cultural underflow hitting my world in the Eighties, I think. I'm even a victim of it – there are times when I stupidly buy the dvd I really wanted on release, knowing I might not watch it for six months – and hey, the dvd is going to invariably be cheaper in six months. I really wanted to finish a particular home improvement project and even though I don't have to complete it today, I take the extra expense and time of going to the relevant shops to buy that component. etc etc.

I can't afford to take that mentality with writing. I can't, not at every level. I will give in to that extra push to write whats bubbling in me, at heavy cost to health and sleeplessness – but that's more the creative urge than any other serious root cause. What I'm talking about is the need to climb the vocational ladder of authorship. I'm talking about getting recognized by one's peers. Being a member of the SFWA. Making a semi-pro living, leading to pro living from the craft. Aside from ridding oneself of impatience so that one doesn't go round the twist, the critical reason to learn patience is to avoid the mental and physical pitfalls of being in a state of impatience.

Self-publishing is a good example. While I acknowledge and have respect for some self-publishers making a go of it, and those very few who actually succeed (by any reasonable definition), I can't help but feel that many of the self-published authors are simply impatient. They want the success that they have so eagerly and unhealthily (in relative terms) wanted. And they settle for less to gain that rung on the ladder. Perhaps for some this is the right way to go, as this is their peak or they are satisfied with the rung, but for others, I am sure it isn't.

Short fiction is a more measurable environment to analyze the topic. There are elite publications/epublications, there are medium level, and there are lots of low. How long does it take to make one's first 'pro sale'? I read a number of prominent/established short fiction writers' blogs and almost all of them talk about the usual apprenticeship taking ten years. Yes. TEN YEARS. This is presumably from the point in time when a conscious, mature decision was made to actively achieve a pro sale. That requires patience. I believe Jay and others will tell you that this isn't a situation of wasting one's time – it is a situation of learning, growing, and achieving narrative that at each step-point in one's growth was not imagined in previous iterations. I'm not saying it will take, say, you, ten years to get there. What I'm saying, however, is that if it takes ten, or fifteen, or whatever, years, then you will grow from the experience, and you must, aside from the eagerness and love of the craft, have patience.

A subtlety of this topic, which in fact contributed to the motivation to write it, was a link by Jay Lake to a most interesting blog by Jim van Pelt, on the relationship between 'hard work' and 'achievement'. He says that there are important synergies, but they are not proportional. He makes the wise observation that it is the experience of the process that ultimately will be the reward.

I have witnessed many incidents where friends and acquaintances in their early writing careers, make some poor decisions. In hindsight, I believe that many of them were caused by impatience – not the classic human frailty kind, but resultant from a lot of frustration with rejection, and exacerbated by the very thing that makes them writers – their creative urge. I have even lost friends because of their impatience.

All I can say is be patient (and smart).
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A week’s break and new hair

Since last week my wife, daughter and I have been relaxing at Broadbeach, The Gold Coast (in Queensland, Australia). A few setbacks – some bad weather, Erin had an awful stomach bug, which transferred eventually to my wife and me, but it has been very good. We have two more days, and then we fly back to Melbourne.

A highlight for Erin – and much of our itinerary is for her – was going to Whitewater World. Below are a few photos of our Cabana there, also something I have been thinking about for a long time – changing my hair style to a simple 'No 2' all around. Glad I did, with the hot weather at the Gold Coast, but also just seems to work for me at my age, and my relative baldness.
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More On The Pros And Cons Of Editing

Not terribly long ago I wrote a long blog entry on what I thought were some of the positives and negatives of being an author. It was rather philosophical, stating unequivocally that the upsides outweighed the downsides – in terms of the negatives, I was referring to two classes of situation – people who are friends and acquaintances who want 'editor time', and those who have become friends, who want to control you (intentionally or otherwise).

I was having a conversation today with some family, and I was suddenly struck with what I think is a universalism, and which sheds a tiny bit more light on the second class of downside of being an editor. In a nutshell, a distant family member of mine is losing his battle with an awful condition, and a good friend of his has performed a carer function – albeit informally. While never foreseen, a clash occurred when the said 'carer' wanted more powers and information (financial, medical) to help. In my mind the intentions were philanthropic, but standing back it was, and is, wrong. This person with the affliction had family who were rightly entitled to provide these more important roles and they gladly gave it.

Experiencing this discussion it dawned on me that it hit close to the mark on what it means to be an editor and having strong friends and acquaintances. Or almost any other profession or important role – hence the universality.

Regardless of formality, there are services that people give to other people. Sometimes there is a strong acquaintanceship or friendship involved, or developed. This is fine but the person giving the service must be wary. The reason why is because friendship and love are hard to define and even with good will, people are people and they want to be more involved. Before you know it, the involvement goes beyond the pale and people get hurt – especially when there is friendship or love involved. This situation was classic with the example I gave above, but it also happens in the professional field all too often – and exacerbated when relationships are formed virtually.

I have experienced, as an editor, authors dictating to me what I should do. I have the authority to exercise my role and I have the training – no one else does in the business relationships I have. Then it gets worse – because in the minds of the individuals concerned they are in the right and because they are 'friends' or the like, there is compulsion to be 'reasonable'. As editor, I have to draw the line on occasion, for many varied reasons – and suddenly I hurt the individuals concerned. In hindsight, it was inevitable. From day one it was going to happen.

What's the answer; what's the universal approach? Not sure really, but I can say be careful who you befriend within professional (or serious-role) relationships, beyond professional courtesy. At the same time, don't separate yourself completely. Life has risks. But do not, I repeat, do not befriend willy-nilly. A friendship, like a marriage, can be just great, but suddenly out of the blue someone, usually unwittingly, steps over the line, and then there is a lot of discord, and nervous energy spent.
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