Wed 3 Feb 2010
Self-Publishing in the Age of Self-Publishing
Posted by Aaron Polson under advice
[5] Comments
![aaronpicture[1]](http://www.everydayfiction.com/flashfictionblog/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/aaronpicture1.gif "aaronpicture[1]")
Remember when Lars Ulrich of Metallica went “crazy train” over Napster? Now most musicians purposefully give away mp3s of their music. Funny how times change.
I don’t mind giving away some of my stories. (Flash Fiction Fridays, duh.)
But I won’t self-publish a novel. Not yet. And I’m glad I didn’t start handing out short stories on my blog when I started writing.
When you self publish (be it POD or traditional or what-ever), you eliminate competition. Yes, competition sucks sometimes. Yes, the system has inherent “unfairness”. Yes, there is a bit of nepotism out there. And name? Man, once you have one, you can write your ticket. Have you ever read an anthology and felt the strongest stories came from “unknowns” while the best-sellers punted? It happens. Too much, in my opinion.
But competition breeds a better story. It makes writing better. It’s made me work harder; I know that much. And yes, competition brings rejection (or losses, however you want to frame it). Yesterday, it brought three to me: one from a long-time short list, another from a pro market, and a third from a market that just decided to close, bang. I hated “writing” for a couple of hours yesterday, but I’ll keep writing. It’s what I do. And “unfairness” is just another excuse.
I’ve learned to cherish the challenge that writing brings. I don’t love competition, but I love what it’s done to me. I love chiseling away at a story because I know it isn’t good enough, not yet. I want them all to be that story, the one readers want to share. Wouldn’t have happened without competition. It wouldn’t have happened if I gave up. There would be no thrill, no joy if I self-published from “go”.
So I won’t self-publish a novel. Not yet. But I don’t mind sharing bits and pieces; I know I need to in today’s writing world (remember the Metallica lesson?) Flash fiction = free mp3s, right?
Reprinted from The Other Aaron which appeared on January 19, 2010.
Aaron Polson currently resides in Lawrence, Kansas with his wife, two sons and a tattooed rabbit, enjoying every mood swing in the Midwest weather. His flash fiction has appeared in Every Day Fiction, 10Flash, Northern Haunts, Everyday Weirdness, and on various bathroom walls. Stop by his blog and read the free Friday flash.
Aaron! Now this really hits home. The world of publishing is changing on a daily (hourly???) basis. What does an emerging writer do? I guess we each have to decide how to manage all the options: what we’re willing to give vs. sell in order to build that elusive fanbase.
Yes to all your comments, Aaron. Competition, the lure of short stories, teasers on your blogsite. Esp. the “internal competition” to write better stories. I just replaced a submission with an improved version for the first time.
“But I don’t mind sharing bits and pieces; I know I need to in today’s writing world (remember the Metallica lesson?)”
Why do you need to?
What lesson did Metallica learn? Napster got buried legally and was resurrected as a for-pay subscription service when the brand was auctioned off.
If your writing is good enough to be published, why give it away? If you’re writing stuff to give away, wouldn’t you be better spending the time working on something else?
I put everything I write on my blog and like 99% of the writing on people’s blogs it’s not very good. How the hell am I supposed to learn from competition when I haven’t even learned where all the commas go yet? My writing costs nothing to read because that’s precisely what it’s worth now.
“And I’m glad I didn’t start handing out short stories on my blog when I started writing.”
Why?
“But competition breeds a better story. It makes writing better.”
How? Evolution is a messy, inefficient process that takes a really long time, and that’s what you’re advocating. Lots of writers, working in isolation to see whose secret project wins.
And none of this has anything to do with writing novels. None of those New York agents are trawling the #fridayflash tag on Twitter on a Friday night. They’re snorting cocaine off the nubile young bodies of fresh-faced MFA graduates.
Aaron, I couldn’t agree more.
At this point, nobody is going to “win” the debate on which route is better. All I bring is anecdotal experience; experience which tells me there is no such thing as a natural born writer. Getting your writing foundation set, learning about POV shifts, adjective overkill, echos, plots and clichés…all that should be done at one level. But to see if you’ve got stuff other people want to read, you need to put yourself out there, be willing to be judged by metrics other than your own, and realize setback are part of progress.
Self publishing probably works okay for established writers who, as you say, have name recognition and established credentials. Self publishing probably hurts writers who are still in the learning stages. Life is not a like a six year old’s soccer tournament where everyone gets a trophy no matter who wins.
–John
Interesting post, if only because I’m currently trying to find some kind of middle ground in this area. Ever since I started taking writing seriously, I’ve had a policy of publishing no fiction at all on my website (although there are loads of links to pieces published elsewhere), for precisely the reasons that you cite. I need my work to be validated by someone else to know if it has any merit. I’ve only ever broken this rule once, for a topical piece that I forgot to submit anywhere in time to coincide with the event in question.
BUT …
That said, I’m also in the throes of a self-publishing experiment (described elsewhere in this very blog), where I’m serialising a novel (Mrs Darcy vs The Aliens) in an attempt to gain an audience, with the ultimate goal being a “proper” publication. I thought long and hard about doing this, but in many ways I wish I’d gone for it earlier.
What are the risks? The worst that can happen is that I make a fool of myself by publishing something that’s patently rubbish – but enough people whose opinions I respect seem to be enjoying it, so I’m no longer concerned about that. Does it count as prior publication? Yes, but I can always take the whole thing down in the event of a publishing deal – or (radical thought) does it really matter? If you’ve enjoyed reading something on-line, I reckon there’s a fair chance that you might want to buy a physical version of it as well.
The important distinction is that I don’t view self-publishing in this case as an end in itself. It’s a means to a different end. And if that turns out not to happen, there’s always merchandising …