Writing is a bit like creating a recipe. If you don't get all the ingredients just right you can go from bland to rocket-hot in minutes.
There are 'fusses' on the internets right now because some folk, like a Mr.Howey, think self-publishing is the only way to go and others say, oh no, it must be traditional. But there is no 'must' about it. It is whatever suits you, the author. At the moment there isn't a right or a wrong way because publishing is changing.
For me, I see nothing wrong with self-publishing at all, if you have the time and drive to do it. I don't have the hours or dedication needed to sit on the internet and promote and I notice such promotional 'companies' springing up like Easter bunnies. For sure there is a definite need for them, but finding a good one is a bit like finding that wonderful editor.
As for traditional. Many people still find it the way to go, simply because it still holds the clout behind it. When you are trying to poke your head above the grass to get noticed between all the other blades, then, yes, you could certainly wish for a publisher's marketing budget and your book in a store.
My own story is a little different. I was asked for my novel by a small press, but, as I have said before, small means small and it is often like being self-published except that I had a wonderful editor who also did all the formatting, which would have probably sent me screaming to Hell asking for entry rather than press another goddamned button. TechnophobesRus.
All I can say is that money isn't everything. It helps enormously and I wish I could give up my day job, but I have a hungry horse who, you know, likes his noms and his shoes and his worming paste and his jabs....
At the same time, like every author, I want to be read. So I am always left with this conundrum of how much I should shout and how much I should just lets things mosey along.
Yet I still say that good writing *is* the recipe for success. Getting that balance between tension, conflict, plot, characters and especially sentence structure. it is all a balance.
What kind of experiences do you have?
Today's picture - somewhere in Afghanistan - Richard Curnow.
There are 'fusses' on the internets right now because some folk, like a Mr.Howey, think self-publishing is the only way to go and others say, oh no, it must be traditional. But there is no 'must' about it. It is whatever suits you, the author. At the moment there isn't a right or a wrong way because publishing is changing.
For me, I see nothing wrong with self-publishing at all, if you have the time and drive to do it. I don't have the hours or dedication needed to sit on the internet and promote and I notice such promotional 'companies' springing up like Easter bunnies. For sure there is a definite need for them, but finding a good one is a bit like finding that wonderful editor.
As for traditional. Many people still find it the way to go, simply because it still holds the clout behind it. When you are trying to poke your head above the grass to get noticed between all the other blades, then, yes, you could certainly wish for a publisher's marketing budget and your book in a store.
My own story is a little different. I was asked for my novel by a small press, but, as I have said before, small means small and it is often like being self-published except that I had a wonderful editor who also did all the formatting, which would have probably sent me screaming to Hell asking for entry rather than press another goddamned button. TechnophobesRus.
All I can say is that money isn't everything. It helps enormously and I wish I could give up my day job, but I have a hungry horse who, you know, likes his noms and his shoes and his worming paste and his jabs....
At the same time, like every author, I want to be read. So I am always left with this conundrum of how much I should shout and how much I should just lets things mosey along.
Yet I still say that good writing *is* the recipe for success. Getting that balance between tension, conflict, plot, characters and especially sentence structure. it is all a balance.
What kind of experiences do you have?
Today's picture - somewhere in Afghanistan - Richard Curnow.
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