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I think it's hilarious that mass media thinks something needs to be "taken seriously."
I was a journalist, and I know writing about Locke, Hocking, EL James, etc, are essentially "lottery winner" stories. Notice they are never about the actual craft, subject matter, skill level, or even really the stories themselves, only about the money. Our community paper always had to write about the stupid fool who won $10,000 in the lottery (despite spending priobably $25,000 on tickets to win) because I guess lottery winners are supposed to be special. And the stories were always dull. Basically mindless escapism. "What's your secret, ma'am?" "Well, I just keep buyin' tickets and then one day I won."
But to me, lottery winners are still idiots. Just because you win doesn't mean you weren't foolish to buy a ticket. You're still a fool, just a fool with a little money (likely going back into more tickets, as lottery winners of ALL sorts--authors, athletes, celebs, lottery-ticket winners--tend to go broke).
Not to say indie authors who get lucky are "idiots" by any means. In many cases, they deserve it as much as anyone, but it is still largely luck of time and talent coinciding, no matter how they or others might spin it with their "How I sold a Million!" secrets they are happy to sell you.
It's not that serious. It's just some words. I know plenty of authors doing just fine without being taken seriously.
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