tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20796627.post7076845382770763659..comments2024-03-17T02:12:53.713-05:00Comments on POD People: I Write; Therefore, I am ... What? by c.anne.gardnerveingloryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03709708573358649383noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20796627.post-14074927811284637422009-12-05T12:05:22.848-06:002009-12-05T12:05:22.848-06:00There are no dates on these comments, but reading ...There are no dates on these comments, but reading back (on Dec. 5, 09) I come across as being kind of bratty. Victoria Strauss has been a lot more self-publishing friendly over time. And her transformation is one of the major signals to me that self-publishing is gaining legitimacy and here to stay.Henry Baumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07152826970185134084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20796627.post-88443494039777666492009-06-24T18:26:42.877-05:002009-06-24T18:26:42.877-05:00Hey Cheryl, awesome post! Totally agreed, indepen...Hey Cheryl, awesome post! Totally agreed, independent is pretty easy to define, IMO.<br /><br />IMO the reason people get so up in arms about the indie author label (and maybe I shouldn't say it, but you know me... so you know I will...) is because it makes us all look less like dog turds.<br /><br />Self-published has come to be about equivalent to just about any derogatory term you can think of. I read a book published by Avon recently that I hated, but I didn't throw it down in disgust and say: "I'm never reading another Avon book again!" No, I just decided not to read that "author" anymore.<br /><br />Why *I* as an indie author should be judged on the merit of anybody else's work but my own, I'll never know.<br /><br />But I do feel that the more cachet we have based on 'indie author' and the more of us putting out work that isn't like a polished dog turd, the more threatening "some" trad published authors find it. (Though certainly not all of them, and likely not even most of them.)<br /><br />For some reason I think "some" trad pubbed authors or more usually "some" unpubbed writers who want to be trad pubbed think me choosing to go indie is somehow a judgment against what they're doing as if it's invalid.<br /><br />I think trad publishing is totally valid, and hard as hell to succeed in. If you get a NY publishing contract that is great! But I'm just not doing it that way. And when a lot of people stand up and say that, some find that threatening, especially when we have a cooler label for ourselves.<br /><br />It was okay as long as people could call us "vanity published" or even "self published" but when we started standing up and saying: "No, I don't believe I like that label, I'm an indie... that's when the fallout started."<br /><br />Because we forgot our place.<br /><br />Silly us.Zoe Wintershttp://zoewinters.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20796627.post-2473842462447988402009-05-09T10:26:00.000-05:002009-05-09T10:26:00.000-05:00I agree MCM. If an author is trying to hide behind...I agree MCM. If an author is trying to hide behind the "Indie" title, they are really just fooling themselves, as Indie is synonymous with Self-Publishing. <br /><br />Independent is Independent no matter what you call it. I might own my own imprint and do everything except, print, warehouse, and distribute my books, but even if I paid for more services, I would still be Independent from the Established Publishing Business Model. <br /><br />And yes, Chris, Subsidiary presses who scam their authors into thinking they are an Established Traditional Publisher are nothing more than preditors. <br /><br />If you are Independent, be out and proud about it. Indie is Indie for a reason.Cheryl Anne Gardnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12564041914501542048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20796627.post-76142938556564298342009-05-08T16:47:00.000-05:002009-05-08T16:47:00.000-05:00I know P.A. sucks - but they're one place. And th...I know P.A. sucks - but they're one place. And the criticism is that all subsidy publishers are scamming people out of their money.Henry Baumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09222144871856444411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20796627.post-22462910087407615412009-05-08T16:42:00.000-05:002009-05-08T16:42:00.000-05:00Henry Baum - Lulu isn't the problem. Publish Amer...Henry Baum - Lulu isn't the problem. Publish America is (allegedly) the problem.Chris Gerribhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09484367221527860100noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20796627.post-70038582245170314852009-05-08T14:58:00.000-05:002009-05-08T14:58:00.000-05:00I'm of the opinion if an author is so ignorant to ...I'm of the opinion if an author is so ignorant to not understand that self-publishing is self-publishing then that's their problem, not the service's. I mean, who goes to Lulu and thinks that they're actually being traditionally published? It's naive to the extreme.Henry Baumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09222144871856444411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20796627.post-68879067801755869142009-05-08T14:43:00.000-05:002009-05-08T14:43:00.000-05:00I think Victoria's point is that certain POD outfi...I think Victoria's point is that certain POD outfits appear to be deliberately misleading their authors. <br /><br />I also think, and I see it in some of the review requests we get here, that many "indie" authors aren't very clued into the whole self-published thing.Chris Gerribhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09484367221527860100noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20796627.post-54639524084051830282009-05-08T13:25:00.000-05:002009-05-08T13:25:00.000-05:00Thanks for this. Victoria Strauss shows a continu...Thanks for this. Victoria Strauss shows a continual contempt for self-publishers and I think it's because she wants to believe that she's been stamped a better writer because she's made it through the gate. I really think it's a power trip. <br /><br />Seriously, this issue doesn't matter. I think self-published writer's calling themselves "published author" is pretty weak, but with self-publishing's stigma fading, it really is becoming a new type of independent publishing.Henry Baumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09222144871856444411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20796627.post-90724711087504514212009-05-08T11:59:00.000-05:002009-05-08T11:59:00.000-05:00I'm guessing "indie author" is an attempt (conscio...I'm guessing "indie author" is an attempt (consciously or not) by self-publishers to distance themselves from the negative connotations of their label. I've used it a few times myself (without even thinking about it), but I can appreciate why it bothers some people so much. It's like you're trying to deny your heritage, making yourself out be better than those that came before. It's silly, in the end, because they're largely synonymous.<br /><br />I think I will call myself a "literary turnip" on my new business cards. It has a nice ring to it...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20796627.post-18017626070029652702009-05-08T09:06:00.000-05:002009-05-08T09:06:00.000-05:00I have a theory on that, but I won't utter it in p...I have a theory on that, but I won't utter it in public for fear of being strung up by my toes, stripped of my flesh, and the set on fire for heresy.Cheryl Anne Gardnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12564041914501542048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20796627.post-59375104930774229502009-05-08T08:28:00.000-05:002009-05-08T08:28:00.000-05:00I have the same reaction when I was reading the en...I have the same reaction when I was reading the entry on Author's Beware. What's the point? We're not supposed to use "traditional publishing", self-published authors can't call themselves "indie"... so? Like you, I wonder, why do these non-indie/self-pubbed/whatever authors care so much over a matter of labeling and semantics?Hot Sauce Reviewshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00335068352580267799noreply@blogger.com