BEA 2010: The Changing DIY Ethos

BookExpo America 2010: The Changing DIY Ethos by Rachel Deahl May 24, 2010

J.A. Konrath is, arguably, the current “it” boy of self-publishing. So who better to help kick off the new DIY conference at BEA? At one of the break out panels during the show’s inaugural DIY Conference Marketplace, Konrath put it out there succinctly and quickly. After telling the long and winding road he took to becoming a traditional author—it included an agent, 10 books over a 12-year period, and over 500 rejection letters—he said there’s a word for writers who don’t give up: “published.” Konrath, who came to self-publishing after a frustrating turn with an established house, added this: “It’s 2010 now, and my story is archaic. Technology allows us all to get published.” Read Full Article Here

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Despite his Trad Publishing background and successes, I do like Konrath's closing statement as it applies to traditional publishing and self-publishing: “Don’t publish sh*t,” he said. The quickest way to fail, even in self-publishing, as Konrath explained, is giving the audience bad content. If they buy it, even if they buy it cheaply, and they hate it, they won’t come back.

Now hating the content is an entirely subjective thing. I have disliked some very well written books because I didn't like the content. I am not a Konrath reader because I don't like the content or the genre. I don't read traditional romance either purely because of the content not the writing. It's a personal taste thing, so let's not make that mistake. Shit means badly edited and badly written regardless of the "content." Every Self-published writer needs to know how to make that distinction. If you can't, then you shouldn't be publishing in the first place.

Cheryl Anne Gardner