Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Open Mouth Insert Book!
I have been an avid Stephen
King fan for many years. His books have always managed to engage my imagination. I entered the worlds he created with ease. Despite
all his success, there was a time when publishers failed to realize his worth. It’s
hard to believe he endured years of rejection letters. Despite the rejection, he
kept writing. Stephen invested in his dream until others were willing to. Then,
Carrie changed everything for Stephen
King. The manuscript made it through the almost impenetrable doors of
traditional publishing. Even if you are not a fan of his work, you have to
admire his determination.
Now imagine if your favorite
author openly bashed self-published authors. It is an unfortunate occurrence. Once
an author reaches a certain level of success many people look up to them. Yet,
there is ample ‘self-published author bashing’ occurring. It is not wise to offend the people who look up to
you. Reach out and give words of encouragement. It is important to remember
that self-published authors are consumers who buy, read and recommend traditionally
published books.
Many traditionally published
authors decide to self publish series when their publishers end them. It’s a
smart move and I applaud them for taking the initiative. They realize the value
of keeping their readers happy. Books have errors whether they are self
published or traditionally published! If you disagree, think back to your education. Many textbooks meant to educate us had and
will continue to have errors.
“Every book you pick up has its
own lesson or lessons, and quite often the bad books have more to teach than
the good ones.”- Stephen King. Keep
writing, perfect your craft and do not let anyone kill your passion. Glory does not always come from the mouth of
others, sometimes it comes from knowing you are determined to succeed.
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THANK YOU for posting this. All of it, IMHO, is absolutely true. It amazes me that authors would bash each other at all, but to make it a fistfight between the published and the unpublished or indie truly saddens me. What's next? Sneeches with "stars upon thars?" Thank you for your well-written and compassionate perspective.
ReplyDeleteYour welcome Ilana. It amazed me too and it inspired me to write this article. :)
ReplyDeleteI gather you saw Sue Grafton's recent bashing interview. It was a horrible read, and i can only wonder how many fans she offended.
ReplyDeleteI did not read the article but after seeing your comment I did. I wrote this article because I've seen negative comments on social media, etc and felt it was necessary to tackle the topic. Thanks for stopping by.
DeleteVery encouraging to me, an author with one self-published novel. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHi Theresa,
DeleteI'm glad you found this article helpful. We should encourage not discourage one another. Happy writing.
"Reach out and give words of encouragement. It is important to remember that self-published authors are consumers who buy, read and recommend traditionally published books."
ReplyDeleteMila-Absolutely! Traditionally published writers really do need to take a moment and think about this truth before engaging in outright bashing. There are definitely good and bad books, good and bad writers, no matter which kind of publishing you look at. I'm a firm believer that being supportive of other writers, no matter how they choose to publish, only serves to help the writing profession as a whole. Thanks for writing such an encouraging post!