Damage Control Dept:
http://louisvilleky.com/2012/08/more...indie-writers/
Grafton says:
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I came into the business in the 1960′s with the publication of Keziah Dane…1967 and The Lolly-Madonna War in 1969. In those days, a writer’s only hope for a writing career was to be accepted by a traditional New York publisher. I wrote three novels that were routinely rejected before I stuck them in a drawer. The fourth full-length novel I wrote, I submitted to what was then called The Anglo-American Book Award contest, which I did not win. I did receive an offer from a British publisher for 375 pounds (roughly 375 dollars in those days) pounds for the publication of Keziah Dane. On the advice of an old war horse screen writer in Santa Barbara, I used that offer to acquire an American agent who then found me an American publisher. The subsequent novel I wrote was deemed too violent for American audiences and it was published in England only. The sixth and seventh full-length novels I wrote were never published and the eighth was ‘A’ IS FOR ALIBI.
I report this in some detail because as a result I have five unpublished novels still packed away in cardboard boxes, assuming I could lay hands on them which I’m not sure I can. In the ’60′s and 70′s, self-publishing was done through vanity presses which were not highly thought of. Like mystery novels, self-publishing was dismissed as second rate…a non-starter if you were serious about a so-called literary career. It was in this context that I tossed out that ill-fated comment about self-publishing being as good as admitting a writer was ‘too lazy to do the hard work.’
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A bit more relevant; an actual mea-culpa of sorts...
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I don’t mean to sound defensive here…though of course I do.
I don’t understand the mechanics of e-publishing and I still don’t understand how you can earn money thereby but I realize now that many indie writers are doing well financially and netting themselves greater visibility than I had any reason to believe.
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She means well:
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When I’m asked for advice I warn many writers about the charlatans lurking out there. I warn about the risk of being taken in by those who promise more than they actually deliver and do so at a writers expense.
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Oooohhhh, the ironic potential in *that* quote.
The places I could take that one!
But I'm trying to be on my best behavior on this thread so I'll swallow the snark.
(Hmm, not bad tasting at that... but not too filling; I'll probably be hungry again in an hour.)
