Quote:
Originally Posted by pwalker8
I can see why I haven't heard of him, post apocalyptic novels aren't really my cup of tea, but hey, I'm glad that he's had such success. Still doesn't really put him in Scalzi's category outside the indie fan base. That's not a put down, a number of authors have made good money writing Star Wars, Star Trek, et al novels and are quite well known in that specific group of people.
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Why would you not say, of Scalzi, "Still really doesn't put him in Howey's category outside the traditional publishing fan base". There is an unstated presumption implicit in your statement. That Indie is some small less worthy niche market. Which of course is not true. In fact, I'm sure there are huge numbers of people who do not read or care about Science Fiction who have heard of neither.
The purpose usually served in dividing Science Fiction or any other Genre (or even the whole market) between Indie and Traditionally published books is to claim that one is better than the other. I don't subscribe to this view. I just want to read a good book. Unfortunately at the moment the distinction is hard to avoid, as the titles with ridiculously high prices scream at me "I'm traditionally published. I'm three times the price, but three times better quality. Buy me. I'm worth it!" Well, ah, no, you're not.
In so far as I can discern that traditional publishers have any long term strategy, this is it. Don't compete with Indie's. After all, does Rolls Royce compete with Ford? Differentiate their books on quality and charge a higher price. IMHO this is doomed to failure, since it is based on a myth. The myth that because a book is traditionally published it must be of better quality than a comparable Indie published book. If this is the best they can do the long term outlook for traditional publishers seems bleak indeed. They need a realistic vision for the future and they need it yesterday. Time is running out.