Quote:
Originally Posted by nekokami
If you think editors are useless intermediaries, why don't you stick with fan fiction, or read the slush pile at Baen? The professional authors I know all regard editors as a critical part of the creative process. (You do realize that when I say "editor" I'm not talking about someone who corrects spelling and punctuation, right?)
Sure, there are some inefficiencies in the system as it stands right now. Yes, if you buy a pbook you're paying for manual labor, and if you buy the ebook you shouldn't have to pay for that. But do you think typesetting just happens at the magic wave of a wand? Or are you happy enough with plain txt files with line and page breaks in odd places?
Maybe I shouldn't assume. Perhaps the people who don't want to pay publishers really would be happy with work that was never handled by an editor, never proofed or professionally typeset. Perhaps the people who argue that "authors would write anyway" would be happy enough with the kind of work authors are able to turn out in their spare time between one (or sometimes two) "day jobs," authors who are never able to concentrate on polishing the craft of their writing.
I know where I stand. I'd rather read works by authors who are able to devote their full time to writing. In my experience, the writing is better. Same for professional editing, copyediting, and typesetting. Perhaps these are luxuries I can afford because I'm in my 40s with a professional job, and most people, or at least most younger people, can't spare income to contribute to such niceties. I don't know.
I started this thread thinking that the darknet was by and large harmless to book authors, because most people who actually read the books they download would care enough to compensate the author by buying a book eventually. I'd like to think the folks here who seem to argue that "ideas should be free" and "publishers are greedy thieves" are a minority. But I admit I'm starting to wonder.
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I stopped reading fiction a long time ago. Judging back at the money I spent on them, I would have been fine with just the bare author's work - after all, that's why I'm buying the book. If I'm, for example, buying a new home, I'm primarily interested in the house, not the lavishly and meticulously arranged garden nor the half a dozen real estate specialists to counsel me - after all, who knows my needs best?
The same thing is here. The main part of the product has been supplanted by cosmetic face-lifts. An author can release his work without proofreading or editor involvement - can the publisher release a book without the author's creative work?