E-Published, Print-Published, Unpublished–The Effort Deserves Respect

There are some individuals (and yes, groups and segments, as well) of the writing world/authorial collective who do not view e-publication as a legitimate enterprise.  The mindset of such is that nothing short of traditional print on paper is worthy of acknowledgment or—tell me it ain’t so, Joe!—of even being read!  After all, how can pixels compare to ink blots?  How can the potential of being accessible to the entire world on Internet possibly compare to being accessible on metal shelves in a book store or library to a finite number of people?  [I  audaciously believe that a goodly number of folks who "surf" on Internet have a better chance of discovering/stumbling upon/perusing ebook sites than folks afoot have of entering a book store or library if they do not, under normal circumstances, select to enter such establishments.]

It’s true that in most e-publish situations the writer will not garner a huge monetary compensation for their efforts, at least not early on.  After all, the e-pub route doesn’t (as pointed out in a recent RWR editorial that was for all purposes rather critical of e-publishing) offer advances against future sales.  E-pubbed folks, instead, get a piece of the action in royalties given at higher percentages than the average print-pubbed.  T’is true, most ebooks, which tend to sell at lower prices than the print-books (well hey, paper and manual distribution are costly factors) don’t gain as much for the author (unless it is an already known and established author with a fan base, and oft times one whose book is already print-published as well).  However, if the book of a not-yet-established author picks up enough readers, and that author is prolific, in time that writer could earn a comfortable amount.  A few such authors have managed to earn admirable amounts quickly because their work has attracted buzz/fans/happy readers.   In several cases, authors who could not previously manage to obtain a contract with a print publisher, did so after their ebooks become popular.  Others may not earn much for some time, but later—via perseverance and excellent writing—begin to gain a fan base that supports their ebook work.  And yet others may never make much off their ebooks because either their work just doesn’t gain any fans, or they never manage to hook into the marketing strategy necessary to draw attention to it. 

No matter the resultant success—or lack thereof—my personal opinion is that the worth of a writer’s efforts should not be disregarded based on the mode of publication.  There are plenty of print-published authors that have not lasted beyond a book or two published due to either an inability to gain a readership, or to changes in the publishing house that no longer wants their particular style or genre or subject matter.  There are some writers who have had a number of books published that, in my humble opinion (and this is a matter of personal taste, which we are allowed to have) should not be published.  Being published is a matter of timing, talent, perseverance, and a sizable dollop of luck.  Some deserving writers may never find a fit with an editor or publishing house, but these days the potential for self-publishing is not to be sneezed at. 

The point to it—which I touched on in my earlier blog “To EBook or Not to EBook, That is the Question”—is that what  all writers and publishers strive to generate are good stories, fun reads, escapism in the form of romance, mystery, thrills, horror, sex, fantasy, or whatever your preference.  Everyone wants to make a profit, of course, particularly publishers, and every author would love that as an end result of their long effort.  But the method of presentation itself  (print or digital) should not be important when it comes to respecting those efforts.  The writing, creativity, and imagination—ergo the work of an author—should never be considered of lesser quality for the sake of how it is eventually published.  I speak of the ’sneer factor’, the ‘judgement issue’, the ‘down the nose dynamic’  that tends to creep into attitudes…ah, did I mention the comments by the President of RWA that indicated e-published writers are not serious authors because they aren’t making a specific amount of cash flow from their work.

Geezzz–and here I thought that the hours…and hours…and hours of work required to develop a story, research the details, draft the story, rewrite/edit the story, try to market, sell and promote the book (if/when sold) is a totally  serious effort!  Did I miss something?  Misunderstand the concept/definition/meaning of serious?   I’ve never been comfortable with the attitude of the large established writing organizations that base acceptance on the cash flow generated by an author’s work and on specific ‘qualifying’ markets.  RWA tends to suffer from that unpleasant attitude, as does the Writers Guild of America and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.  S’not that I don’t agree with the idea of aspiring to success and standards of excellence, but there is a rather elitist quality to standards that disallow the participation of so many persons striving for success.  At least RWA allows you to join and learn the craft whether you’re published or not, with published writers helping the unpublished writers.  That’s the best way to develop writers and books for future generations.  Still, wouldn’t it be nice if e-publishing in this technologically advancing world was accepted with grace by an otherwise generous organization?  The Writers Guild and SFFW, however, don’t even allow one to join them in order to learn…a somewhat self defeating approach…but as a e-published author with a very small sales history I suppose my opinion is, well, unworthy of consideration.  

Ah, well, that is a whole other subject to be left for another time.

In this blog, I would ask that everyone in the authorial collective—be you a writer, publisher, or reader—take a hard look at your own attitude, and when judging the value of a written work don’t base that judgement on the method of publication.  Base it, rather, on the quality of the work (which you are free to develop from your own perspective), and the effort you know went into its creation.  Respect is a mind-set derived from logic cooked with a pinch of kindness and a little dab of generosity.  A very easy meal to make and swallow…

Peace, fellow writers.  Keep up the effort.           

And if you don’t already have an eBook Reader, check here (eBook Reader Central).  You may find one you like; it will open up a whole new wealth of stories to read/collect/enjoy.

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~ by sherrigodsey on July 12, 2009.