Diary of a Mad Editor

Archive for September 6th, 2007

In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is King

I have this nasty habit of lurking in discussion forums. I rarely participate in discussions anymore, but I do enjoy lurking. I consider it a form of anthropology — observing idiots in the natural habitat so to speak. Because, let’s face it: discussion forums are a magnet for idiots. The other day, I was lurking on this publishing site. I encountered an old nemesis of mine (someone who has long claimed to be a writer and editor but who has never demonstrated a talent for either vocation) engaged in a discussion with this young wannabe writer. It was clear that neither of these individuals knew diddly dick about the business of writing or publishing, yet were spouting misinformation like a couple of experts. Their collective ignorance about copyright law and distribution astounded me considering that they had both self-published at least one on-demand title. And their mutual belief that their collective shit didn’t stink just made my skin crawl. It got me thinking about the state of publishing.

The big media conglomerates are not interested in art but in mass-produced profit-generating product with cross-over potential. Talent has nothing to do with any of it. It’s a business model that works — for their shareholders if not for the public at large. Then, of course, we have the small press which, in theory, is mostly interested in art and cultivating talent. New technologies such as the advent of the Internet and On-Demand publishing have allowed the small press greater access to an audience than ever before. In general, I applaud this. Unfortunately, it’s also allowed a lot of no-talent dumbasses to drink from the same watering hole –hence the two wankers on the aforementioned discussion forum chatting about the publishing biz as if they had one damn clue. The Internet is ablaze with so-called experts –individuals who think because they managed to throw-up a hastily put together ezine on freewebs or know how to use Microsoft Word, they are publishers when in truth the real thing is so much more involved than that.

I don’t suppose this is a trend that will stop anytime soon, so the only thing I can say is, “Caveat Emptor.” Let the buyer beware. If you are a young writer just starting out be careful because there are no short cuts to fame and glory. Just because someone tells you he’s a publisher or agent or big time writer doesn’t mean he is or that he knows any more than you do. Check out his bone fides. Ask around. He may be what he says he is and he may be a fraud — just some clown running a medicine show on your punk ass.