The more I read about the attitudes of people siding with Amazon, the more frustrated I get. If you want QUALITY entertainment then you need to pay for it! Too many Americans in the last 10-15 years have developed the mindset that the WORLD exists to entertain them for FREE! You know what? The world really doesnt exist for that reason. People complain that the publishers (and even authors) make too much money. Maybe that is true for some of the mega-stars. I would definitely agree that its true when people like Bill OReilly writes a book about Jesus every other month and rakes in $20 million dollars for his own spin on Christian apologetics. But generally authors arent making $20 million per book. Only celebrities who then become authors make that sort of money. Authors who become celebrities do not. And yet if they did, this isnt about THEM. Its about the mid-lister who makes a living writing, but isnt in any sense financially wealthy. THEY are the ones who are going to suffer -- along with new writers like Brian McClellan author of Promise of Blood. (A book I didnt care for but I HOPE he makes a solid living doing what he loves!) Its about some of my favorite writers like Carrie Vaughn and Bree Despain, who arent mega-stars that can afford to have their pre-order and buy buttons pulled from Amazon. I also scratch my head when I hear people (especially self-published authors) ask well, what do publishers DO anyway? What do they do? They employ hundreds of people. A minimum of 5 to 6 work on each and every book you see in a bookstore. Publishers have acquisition editors, content editors, copy editors, proof readers, art designers, type setters, computer software experts (for e-books) marketers, publicists, and dozens of other people that are involved to bring a SINGLE book into existence. Some people claim that all of these people are unnecessary in our day and age, what with the ease of self publishing. But I guarantee you, you will NOT find a self published hardcover edition of a 1000 page book with magnificent cover art, beautiful typesetting on archival paper, art work, maps, etc. These books cost a LOT of money to produce because everyone involved makes their living doing these things. Yes, there are TERRIFIC self published books out there! There are HIGH quality self published materials in book, comic, art, and many other forms. I am NOT trashing the hard working self published writer who works their butt off to produce quality stories and quality materials. But anything of quality has undergone the same rigorous process that a publisher will put a book through. And if an author has put the time, blood, sweat, and hard work into making a project the BEST it can possibly be, these people DESERVE to be compensated. The idea that we entitled Americans can just get all our entertainment for FREE or for less than it cost to actually produce the work is egocentric bull crap! As a friend of mine once heard at a writers conference: writing is like prostitution. You dont give it away for free! The same goes for ANY art form. Artists are not the trash of society. Artists are the people who lift us up when we are down. They are the people who inspire us. Make us question our cherished beliefs. Artists are one of the things that makes life worth living. This goes for both traditionally published and self published authors. You WILL find poor quality in both. But when the quality is high, we should pay for it! Im not happy with Amazon. Yes, it is a battle between giant corporations. But the answer is NOT for every author to just flock over to CreateSpace. IMO this is precisely what they want. And of course, the moment that were to happen, theyd be like those big evil NY Houses -- deciding who and what gets promoted. We need competition, if not for the sake of the art itself, for the sake of good story telling that is readily available EVERYWHERE. Not through a single vendor. My rant for the day.
Posted on: Thu, 05 Jun 2014 18:09:34 +0000
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