Quote:
Originally Posted by Elfwreck
Well, no, actually. Many authors, perhaps even most, need the editing, promotion, and distribution services. Even allowing for how limited those have become, they provide some value; the publisher should get some of the income for having bothered with the slushpiles and deciding "this one is worth reading." (Anyone who thinks otherwise should head over to Smashwords and just read whatever's free; if you run out, you can visit fanfiction.net; there's a couple-million stories of, erm, variable quality. Almost half a million Harry Potter stories alone--who needs the next book?)
I dunno that I think those services are worth 85-93% of the list price (in fact, I'm pretty sure I think they're not), but they're worth *something.*
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I'd fully agree if there wasn't so much dirge actually published that is badly written, in need of editing and is sold merely on the back of celebrity and name recognition. Their 'worth-reading' is usually what is most sellable, not by any stretch of the imagination what is 'best written' or even 'most compelling'.
By way of example, the Waterstones in Manchester UK. I searched for Ray Bradbury, undoubtedly one of the best writers of the last couple centuries. There were maybe five or six copies of his books. But I could pick up any of the Laurell K Hamilton drivel in stacks, or maybe a biography of Katie Price (a Tango-orange, implanted bimbo with the IQ of a potato).