Diary of a Mad Editor

“ . . . people who have been making and selling books for a long time. . . . want the Web triumphalists to give a little credit to the enormous time, effort and expense they put into nurturing, editing and promoting writers.” — James Rainey, LA Times

Imagine you’re this 300-pound teenager who dreams about becoming a cheerleader. So, you start working-out daily, popping apidexin like it’s candy — not to mention all the dance classes and cheer practice. Then, just as you get your shit together, lose the weight and whatnot, your school decides to shut down the cheerleading program.

That’s kind of what it felt like to be a writer in those years just before the Internet came along. Before eBooks. Before blogs. Before print-on-demand. You write and write and practice and read and write some more. Then, just as you feel ready to take on the bad brave publishing world, you find that the ones who hold the keys to the kingdom aren’t letting you in. And those that hold the keys think that because they get to decide who gets published and promoted makes them valuable. That is, until the Internet and eBooks, and blogs and on-demand printing come along. Because all of those sad sack wannabe writers jumped on the digital bandwagon first. They didn’t have a choice. And they made it work for them. So now those that held the keys to the grand old publishing houses have come to discover that their property isn’t worth as much and they’re pissed become the new real estate exists in a place they don’t control, and it galls them.

They want credit, says columnist James Rainey in his current piece on Goodreads founder Otis Chandler? Credit? For what? They didn’t promote, edit or nurture most of the writers who’ve made a home for themselves in this digital playground. And if some of their writers are starting to jump ship, maybe they should understand that writers aren’t property and writers aren’t loyal to institutions — only their own writing.