Okay, so I've been hearing about this article that some chick wrote for the HuffPo. Now, I didn't read it in its entirety. Frankly, the only parts of it I did read were in a post by another author who took time out of his busy schedule to fisk her.
Apparently, this person got her undies in a wad over people who write fast or publish lots or whatever. According to her, writing a book should take years and should be labored over like Hercules cleaning stables or some such rot. And if you write in quantity, your books will obviously be of lesser quality. (She should take a look at Asimov. I've heard he averaged 8-9 books a year. But then again, he wrote... science fiction... :gasp: which should never be confused with literature. Right? :smirk:)
Specifically, her bad number was four books a year. Heh. Just so happens, my plan is to put out four books a year. What a coinkydink. She says writers should maybe MAYBE put out one book a year. To truly savor the experience and give the readers something drawn from our souls with a pen-shaped hypodermic.
:eyeroll:
She also totally shits on self-publishing and calls us all hacks. (Even though she, in fact, is a self-published author. Self-hatred is such a sad thing.) :shrug: I've been called worse by better people.
Yeah, thanks for the advice, chicky-poo, but I'll let the market tell me whether I'm a hack. So far, sales are telling me I write well and the reviews ain't bad neither. And readers are telling me - in person, in FB message, in reviews - they want sequels to the books I already have out, and they want them NOW. They're willing to wait 6 months, maybe, but they don't have to like it. And there's plenty to distract them while I'm dragging my feet, so I'd better get cracking.
In other news, I read an article recently that talked about how ebook sales are falling and so is the sky. I reserved judgment until the real facts came out over at Author Earnings. Turns out ebook sales overall are hunky-dory - when you add in indie books, of course. Traditionally published ebook sales are off. Natch. And since the same companies that own the big dogs own the media outlets reporting the 'news', they're going to spin it their own way.
Again, the market pretty much tells you what you need to know, if you're willing to listen. Readers are still reading. They're just reading less-expensive, but still quality, independent books rather than shell out double or triple for a traditionally published book. I can live with that.
One thing that particularly tickled me about the AE report is they refer to people like me as being in the "Shadow Industry". Makes me feel all mysterious and stealthy.
Only The Shadow knows how satisfying self-publishing is. ;o)
I'm right here in the shadows with you. As for that other stuff, besides being a hybrid author (oh noes I self-pub! And wrote for a small independent press. And write for a NY Big 5) I also write in a mostly universally disparaged genre. Romance. Oh horrors! *flail* Except romance is a billion dollar entity in an industry that's taking monetary hits overall. When all other book sales fall off, romance remains steady if not growing. Huh. How 'bout them apples.
ReplyDeleteI'm just smile and carry on, listening to my readers, and my bank account. Thank you very much. Now, as one of YOUR readers, get to writing, woman!!!!
I learned a new word from your blog today! How nice. If someone is a hack writer, it doesn't matter how long they take on a book. It's likely still going to be a hack job, unless they find a really good, really patient editor.
ReplyDeleteAsimov is a bit of a special case. He wrote tons of books, on all kinds of different subjects, not just science fiction. The words just poured out of him, and into a typewriter. Yes. Even when word processors became usable (something that will happen to Word any decade now) he still stuck to the typewriter.
As for the rest of us, well, I never think about how many books a year, or years per book that an author puts out. I just think about if i want to buy this particular arrangement of words.