Here's a question I have. When writers who are building a fan base, or writers who already have a fan base, start inundating them with "e-book" shorts, novelettes, novellas, co-written novels, shorts into novellas, unrated or "director's cut" versions of previously released works (even when the original works were only released a few weeks before), might we start to see sign of fan fatigue?
The key to making money as a self-published author is volume, there's no doubt about it, but how much volume is too much? At what point does it all just become noise?
And a step further, David, at what point does the growing canon of the individual e-pubbed author become entwined with the rubbish of thousands of other e-pubbed authors, all throwing their darts at the same bullseye, and become completely unintelligible to the reader with $2.99 burning a hole in his Kindle account.
ReplyDeleteThe proof of carefully selected novels from even one source being bestsellers is set: Oprah. Like her or not, she picked quality books, her choices became respected and readers by the millions bought a book every month or two because Oprah said so.
In the e-book world, the sludgy, sloggy, self-published e-book world, when will the fat lady sing?
Modern e-publishing: Look at me! I'm a writer! The publishers missed a juggernaut when they rejected me, those buffoons. I have a website and Facebook and Twitter accounts and I had a cover designed for five hundred bucks so it has to be good and I'm going to toss out a novel--well, at least a novella (if I get tired)--every couple of months for virtual "shelf space" and I can get 70% per book at $3 each. So, I'm going to guest blog a couple of times, and if you buy my book, I'll buy your book, and let's all get our checks at the end of the month and eat at Buffalo Wild Wings. We're writers! No one can take that away from us. Especially since I own the entire rights to my e-books. Forever! And freedom is priceless, let me tell you!
ReplyDeleteThere will be many who come out and try to make a quick buck with dross, but the marketplace will weed them out quickly enough.
ReplyDeleteThere will also be gems that never would've been discovered otherwise.
I'm sure the old publishing houses overlooked many writers who might've been brilliant. Geniuses. Bestsellers! Those writers gave up trying for whatever reason, and that's sad. But the traditional publishing houses also found writers who weren't quite ready to be published and got them ready by pairing them with brilliant editors--Harper Lee comes to mind.
Although I agree with all you've written, I do't think the marketplace will weed out the dross (good word). Why? There are 3.5 billion people on this earth, and darn it all if half of them don;t have some story to tell. I think the e-book rubbish pile is only now just getting going, in fact. Needle and the haystack. Princess and the pea.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy your posts on Konrath's blog...point, counterpoint. I was there once. You'll see others with our "bent" on it come and go from the blog. Once you realize your comments mean little to nothing to those on JAK blog, you'll bow out and start writing the horror sci-fi novel that's buried within you, realizing that, even if no one reads it, you'll get more satisfaction than trying to turn the church of pulp e-fiction.
Enjoy.
I've been trying to figure out the same thing. As a reader, there does come a point when I tune someone's writing out. I've been much more hesitant to show my writing lately. I think I've only done it once or twice in the last several months.
ReplyDeleteThanks coolkayaker.
ReplyDeleteAnd Domey, don't hesitate to show your work. It doesn't sound like you're adding to the noise.