Tag Archive | traditional publishing

Is Traditional Publishing Still the Gatekeeper of Quality Books?

May29

Okay, I’m going to ask you to do something next to impossible for a moment here.  I’m going to ask you to think about publishing … got it?  Thinking about publishing? … and then I’m going to ask you to remove Indie publishing from your thoughts for a moment.  Alright?  Stick it right over there to the side.  You can pick it up later.  Just for a minute we’re not talking about Indie publishing at all.

Ah!

So.  Traditional publishing.  Also called Legacy publishing these days.  Not that long ago Traditional publishing was the only game in town.  For those who don’t know how the publishing world works, once upon a time a writer would write something, then they would pitch it to an agent.  After enough pitches and query letters, blood, sweat, and tears, an agent would sign the writer.  Then the agent would take the book, maybe sprucing it up a little, maybe not depending on the agent, and attempt to sell it to a publisher.  This process took a while.  If a publisher liked the book then they would buy it.  Then, after editing, cover design, and marketing prep work, the book would be printed and appear at your local bookstore.

So why does the process take so long?  Why are there so many levels and so many steps involved?

Because the aim of Traditional publishing has always been to produce the best possible books of the highest quality and greatest literary merit.

*insert screeching record sound here*

Wait a minute.  Is that true?  Does Traditional publishing produce the best work?

One of the very first explanations about the agent/publisher process that I can remember being given was all about the concept of agents and publishers being “The Gatekeepers” of the book world.  The process, it was explained to me, was put into place so that someone could monitor the quality of work being marketed to consumers.  The “Big Six” publishing companies were seen as the pinnacle of this gatekeeping process.  The implication was that if it was published by a Big Six publisher, it was Quality.

I think the first test of this theory that I came across, at least that I can remember, was a romance novel called By A Lady.  No offense to the author, but … wow.  Granted, the book has an intriguing concept, time-travel romance with Jane Austen as a secondary character, but it was so poorly executed and twisted the limits of credibility so painfully that, alas, it became something of a joke amongst a group of friends of mine.

And yet while my friends laughed and scoffed, I cried a little bit.  Some Traditional publisher had bought that book and published it.  Ouch.

Since then I’ve been much more aware of all things related to publishing.  Especially as I’ve published myself.  I’ve been involved in countless formal and informal discussions with writer friends about poor editing and disappointing offerings by incredibly well-known authors.  Several people have made the statement that while the earlier Cat Who… books are wonderful, the later ones aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on.  And I’m sure you can think of half a dozen other Traditionally published books that fell far short of the mark.

And yet they were published.  Even though they were terrible.

But there it is, that claim that the agents and publishers of Traditional/Legacy publishing are the Gatekeepers of Quality.

Yeah, I don’t buy it anymore.

The fact of the matter is, it has never been about quality in Traditional publishing.  It’s been about selling.  The system of Traditional publishing is set up to find books that will sell.  Granted, quality is a major factor in what makes a book sell.  But for every The Help there is an answering Fifty Shades of Gray.  For every Harry Potter there is a Twilight.  They all have their fans and their detractors.  And they were all published by Traditional publishers because someone thought they would sell.  And they did.

But does that still give the Traditional publishing industry the right to claim to be The Gatekeepers?

When I hear the term “gatekeeper” I think of a security guard manning his post at a giant iron gate that leads to a fabulous mansion.  Everyone wants to get into the mansion.  The mansion is cool.  Outside the gates are a million hungry souls waving manuscripts.  But only a few get in.  Why do they get in?  Well, some walk up to the gate and tell the security guard a compelling story.  But others, perhaps more than people want to admit, are let through because they know somebody.  I know of two authors who were published because they knew somebody.  And reviews of their books are not good.  I couldn’t make it past three chapters of one, and I wanted to like that book so badly.

So, back to the original question.  Is Traditional publishing still the gatekeeper of quality books?

My answer?  No.  They were never the gatekeepers of quality books to begin with.  They were and are the judges of marketable content.  And quite frequently they’ve been wrong.  They’ve also been right.  It’s a subjective business.  Any publisher is going to win some and lose some.

But as for me, as a reader and a writer, I’m kind of grateful that there’s a new game in town and that the Traditional publishing monopoly has been broken.

I’m dying to know what other people think here.  Who is The Gatekeeper these days?

Team Indie

Sep13

We’re on the cusp of a brave new world, folks!  You’ve heard about the changes, read the blogs and articles, tracked the success stories and stats.  Indie Publishing is here to stay.  Thank you so much Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, etc.  But most of all, I would like to give a great big huge thank you to New York and the Traditional Publishing racket.  Without you this never would have been possible.

That’s it.  I’m coming out.  After giving it careful consideration, weighing my options, sending out bunches of submissions, attending conferences, reading those blogs and testimonials, and most importantly writing for the past 26 years and completing 8 novels, I, Merry Farmer, am issuing the following definitive statement:  I’m going to be an exclusively Indie Author.

Why?

Ah!  The answer to that question is at the very heart of who I am and what I want from this world.

Indie Publishing is the most suitable option for me.  It fits my personality and my goals for my life and my writing.  Because for me writing is not about fame or money, book deals or prestige.  For me, writing is about love.  Once upon a time, many years ago, before Indie Pub was a thing, I remember saying to my friend that I didn’t really care so much if I was ever published as long as I could give my stories to a few people to read and they liked them.  Sharing my novels is a way of sharing myself.

Okay, maybe that makes me a hippie-dippie Writer, and maybe there’s an element out there who doesn’t take something as emotionally based as my approach seriously.  I can definitely see some people out there thinking that if you don’t have the drive or ambition or patience to grab the bull that is Traditional Publishing by the horns then you’re an untalented hack.  Maybe there’s a correlation in some minds that says if you can’t stay the course and send out hundreds of submissions until you beat some poor agent and then editor into submission to be traditionally published then you’re just not that good.

Balderdash, I say!

Here is my biggest problem with the world of traditional publishing.  It’s just so dang subjective!  Okay, yes, I know there are such things as good writing and bad writing.  Frankly, I’ve seen some really, REALLY bad writing between the pages of a book that I wasted money buying in a bookstore.  I’ve seen some dreadful novels that somehow won awards.  And I’ve read some wonderful things by friends and fellow Writers who couldn’t get the publishing industry to take notice.  This has always bothered me.  No, to say it bothers me is an understatement.  It pisses me off.

Which brings me to the other reason I’m firmly on Team Indie.

No, not that Indie ... although he makes a good mascot for the cause

I won’t say I have a problem with authority, but I have a problem with authority.  I don’t feel the need to thumb my nose at them or to fight the Man or anything, but I also don’t feel intimidated by authority.  Not even my bosses at work.  Maybe it’s my aristocratic roots.  Maybe it’s because I was raised as a poor kid in a town of rich people who ran everything but were still complete jerks.  I only see someone as an authority, in a position of superiority to me, if they prove that they are worthy of my respect.  And frankly, when I hear publishers talk about the hundreds of manuscripts they reject every day while rolling their eyes, and when I hear them say they can’t give feedback on every submission they get (not even one sentence? really?) it irks me.  I have tried for years and years, really I have, but I just can’t convince myself that respect is a two-way street in this industry.  The people at the top are very happy on their pedestals looking down at the struggling masses in distain.  And dude, that’s just not right!  I have never wanted to be published so badly that I was willing to subject myself to that subtle form of bullying.

Okay, maybe it’s not my aristocratic roots.  Maybe it’s my smoldering proletariat roots.

Indie Publishing makes me weep with joy and relief because it is the true test of a Writer’s mettle.  Direct to consumer, baby.  Forget the middle man.  Let the proletariat be the judge!  If you’ve written something genuinely good that people want to read, people will read it.  You don’t have to get anyone in New York City’s permission for those people to read it.  And if your baby sucks like a Hoover, then you can hold your head up high and say “Those ignorant f@#%ers!  People are such ignoramuses!  They don’t see quality prose when it’s right in front of their face!”  Of course you’d be wrong, but you don’t have to grow a stack of rejection letters pointing it out.  You can continue on, safe in the assurance of your own superiority, content that you came, you saw, you distributed your work as best you could, and it’s everyone else’s fault.

Of course, if you’re savvy and care about writing the best book possible, Team Indie means that you can pour your blood, sweat, and tears into your work, hire a freelance editor, own your baby, and set it free into the world with the knowledge that you have CREATED and nobody could stop you from declaring it to the world.  Did I mention hiring a freelance editor?  Because that’s important.  The only people who I have unwavering respect for in the industry thus far are the brave few professional editors who may very well be swimming against the big fish stream by offering their services to we, the new generation of Writers.  Sure, they’re doing it to make extra money, but I can’t help but feel that at this stage of the game it’s just a little bit of a leap of faith for them.  I also can’t help but feel that these freelance editors are the ones who will be in the best position in years to come as Team Indie becomes loud enough to make Team Trad nervous.

So there you have it, folks.  I carry the banner for Team Indie and I carry it proudly.  Because my goal is not to be Nora Roberts.  My goal is to be Merry Farmer, to share my enthusiasm for the stories in my head and heart, and to do it on my terms.  That’s all.

 

P.S. Since crafting this blog post I have decided that I would also like to support the Team Indie cause by becoming a Freelance Editor myself.  Please check out the Freelance Editing Services tab at the top of my blog page for details.