Please, Please, Please.

A few weeks ago I received an email from a writer I don't know, asking me to buy their e-book. Actually, when I re-read the wording, they were begging me to buy it. Only $2.99 for five stories. And please let them know what I think.

I checked out this writer, and discovered on their blog that all of these stories had been rejected everywhere. And so the writer decided all those editors were completely wrong, and that these are fantastic stories, and not only does everyone deserve to read them but we should have to pay for them.

I did consider replying and asking whether this writer had purchased any of my work. I also considered asking them why I should pay $2.99 for five stories that had been rejected everywhere, probably hadn't been through an editor, and from someone who needed to go begging for customers. Especially since I can buy an issue of Asimov's or Analog for the same price. Not only have those stories been selected by a team of staff, but they've been put through an editing process. Oh, and they include more than just five stories as well.

In the end I deleted the email and ignored it.

But again, this is the reason I don't self publish.  I'm not against it in some cases, but there's just so much average stuff out there. Even the good stuff finds it hard to break through the flood of whitenoise.

And if the fact I was being begged wasn't enough of a deterrent, then spelling  and grammatical errors in the blurb isn't going to win me over.

My Own Collection?

I've recently had a number of people suggest that it's time I compile an anthology of my own stories and publish them on Amazon, or Smashwords or whatever.

Anyone who knows me will no doubt be aware that I am quite averse to self-publishing my stories anytime soon. I recently had the opportunity to read a couple of self-published stories and was generally underwhelmed by them. As I've stated before, I recognise that traditional publishing values are shifting rapidly and the future world of e-books is wide open, but there's still too much white-noise out there at the moment. How we end up filtering this and finding the gems is yet to be determined.

Amazon reviews are of limited value. Some of the stories I read had been given a number of 4 and 5 stars, but were actually poorly written. (To be fair, I have also found one or two that were pretty good.) I believe that it's wise to reach a certain standard before inflicting your work on others. For me, that standard is a couple of professional sales and regular appearances in semi-pro markets. I'm working at building a reputation, and editors and respected publishers are the benchmarks in reaching that goal.

If others will invest time, effort and money in regularly publishing my stories, then perhaps it will be time to put together a collection. But in the meantime, I'll let the editors judge my work. After all, people keep telling me writers are rarely the best judges of their own writing.

It's All White Noise To Me.

It's no secret that I have made a conscious decision not to self-publish. And I've also made it very clear that others may do as they choose. There is no one path for writers, no single road that leads to success. I know this is something I've posted about before, but this subject reared its head again in a discussion earlier this week.

I'm not against self-publishing per se. But I do think it's far too easy nowadays.

From time to time, writers ask me to read their self-published work. Even to pay for it. Then they tell me they made their story available because it had been rejected everywhere.

Hmmm, so you want me to pay for a multi-rejected story. A story that is probably flawed and lacking. Let's see, for a couple of dollars more I can buy a pro-mag that has up to ten stories by pro-writers that have been selected and polished by a pro-editor.

That's not to say there isn't some great self-published work out there. There are some very capable writers who self-publish older work, or upload stories as a promotional tool. And even unknown writers who release the occasional gem, but these are exceptions and rarities.

But there's loads of sub-standard work out there, too much white noise. I choose not to add to it until I have reached a self-imposed standard.

And I already have far too many books to read without downloading more from amid the static.

Self Publishing.

I recently became involved in a discussion on self-publishing, and so I thought I'd try to articulate my thoughts here on how it relates to me.

I'm certainly not ready to self publish. Before I do I want to be able to maintain a consistently high standard and since I'm not yet selling regularly to semi-pro markets and above....

I know a couple of people who sub stories all around to different markets, and then once it's been rejected everywhere, they self publish. My thoughts are that if the story has been rejected everywhere, then there's probably something fundamentally wrong with the story. Writers (myself included) are notorious for not seeing faults in their own work.

Some of these writers suggest that a couple of bucks is a fair price for their short stories - the ones that have been rejected by all the major markets. I respectfully disagree. Not when I can pick up an anthology like this as an e-book for $8.48. Twenty eight stories, by some name writers, all of which have been through a quality-control gatekeeper and a decent editing to within an inch of their lives.

I've also been disappointed by virtually all the self-published work I've read. Usually they're not particularly good and the lack of proper editing gets in the way.

Of course I'm not referring to work that has been previously published and the rights have now reverted to the author. That is a different matter, and it's an excellent way to keep works available. And I'm not referring to writers who have honed their craft and built their reputation to the point where there is some assurance of quality.

I've been advised that self publishing even a bad story won't harm your reputation, and at the very least you'll make a few bucks. Again I disagree. There are a few writers out there whose work I avoid, based on a sub-standard piece of work. Give your readers some credit for intelligence. And a memory.

If you want to self-publish, then great. Go ahead. It's just not for me. Not yet. I still want to build my craft to the point where editors regularly want to buy my work.

Can You Judge A Book By Its Cover?

I recently broke one of my own rules.  I couldn’t help it – I was tricked into it.

Many years ago, after a couple of bad experiences, I decided I would never again buy self-published books - unless it was recommended to me by someone whose judgement I trust.  The last of those books I read actually had a page of editor's notes published in the middle of the novel – quite bizarre. But mostly the ones I’d read (I’d picked them up second-hand) were poorly written, unimaginative and, frankly, boring.  There’s a reason publishers apparently rejected those manuscripts.

Over the past few years I’ve read about some of these self-publishers, and how much it costs the writer to get his work published.  Very expensive, and lots of promises about how they’ll sell millions of them. Ultimately, they generally blame the writer for poor sales, charge even more money, then own the copyright for ridiculously long periods.  Every professional writer I’ve ever met has warned people away from self-publishing through these companies.

There have, of course, been exceptions. I believe Matthew Reilly self-published his first novel. But generally if your manuscript is good enough to sell, someone will pick it up.  Sure, you might have to persevere but publishers are in the business to make a profit. And money should always flow down to the writer, not from the writer up.

But I was tricked. The writer was friendly and confident, the cover was well designed and looked far superior to other self-publications I’d seen, it was on an imprint I didn’t recognise and the blurb read well. I figured it was a new small local press – and I’m always happy to support them. But then I opened the pages.  Blah! What a mistake! They guy can’t construct narrative or dialogue, it sorely needed an editor to lose all the commas that packed every sentence and the characters were unimaginative and cliched.

You have to be realistic about your own abilities.  Just because your Mum says it’s good, or you won a gold star for it in school, doesn’t make you Stephen King. If several publishers turns it down there’s probably a good reason beyond “they just don’t get me.”

As for me, that book is gone – and I’m now going to tackle one of the books I bought at Vampirefest.