"So you're a new writer huh? Wow, good fuckin' luck. You're gonna need it."
Sue Grafton is the latest in what's basically a handful of dinosaur writers who try to crap on indie and self-published authors. The famous "Alphabet"author believes that if you are self-publishing you are not willing to put in the hard work required to be published by one of the antiquated Big Six publishers. In other words, you're not willing to be a slave.
I've put in the hard work and earned hundreds of thousands in advances from the Big Six. I've also put in the hard work and earned hundreds of thousands in real sales from indie and small publishers. I've put in the hard work and just recently self-published my first book: Permanence, a literary thriller/novella that was first published traditionally by a small press back in 1995 and went nowhere fast. Now it's doing very well and sold more in the first week in e-book format than it did in its entirety as a small press offering.
I put in the hard work everyday. I write up to 2,500 words per day. It often leaves me exhausted. It gets in the way of my spending time with family and friends, and I am often alone. I work even when I travel. And I travel a lot. But I make sacrifices in order to put that word count out day in and day out. Its because of those sacrifices that I make sure never to attach myself to only one kind of publishing. Be with a major, an indie or via my own Bear Media label.
V is for Vincent but it's also for Victorious.
S is for Sue and for Simply so arrogant some poor young writer out there will no doubt listen to her garbage and end up never publishing a single book. Not because it isn't good but because Sue said no to publishing with anyone but the money changers on the hill in NYC.
Don't allow other authors, critics, editors, agents, or anyone else dissuade you from your dream. R is for Readers. Let the readers of the world decide if you have what it takes to be a great writer. They're your audience after all. You will live and die with them. Not with Sue Grafton.
Wise words.
ReplyDeleteI remember reading that Sue was crapped on (so I guess she feels the need to send the crap to the next writer). Plus she finally wrote something that was so popular that she could give the publishers a finger. Only ... maybe that isn't actually true. Maybe she is afraid of the good writers coming up through the indie ranks?
ReplyDeleteI know that you can give her a run for her money.
gan to share words of motivation
ReplyDeleteNegative-minded people always see difficulty in every opportunity, while successful people are always looking for opportunity in every difficulty.
gan may be accepted me Greetings and wait behind the visit: D
Good comments...That's why I refer to Grafton as a dinosaur...
ReplyDeleteYou know Vince,
ReplyDeletethis is an interesting debate. I always aimed for success with my own stuff (as anybody right in their mind would), but there is that treshold where you get so successful, your life change and you become a commodity, you start to hammer one book a year and nobody has the balls to tell you it sucks. I think Sue Grafton's mysteries are inane and irrelevant. But you know, she appeals to a certain demographic who doesn't bother reading unless there's a new Grafton or a new Patterson around.
I know you won't be like this even with the huge T&M deal starting to pay off, because you've clawed your way out of the abyss with your bare hands. But to know that kind of success is better than you have known failure. Allows you to gauge the weight of your words when you go out and say stupid things like she did. I consider my Kindle and my paperbacks pile to be some kind of alternate universes. Lately, I spent my best time in front of that little piece of plastic.
The dinosaurs are dying. It may not be a comet this time, but you can appreciate the slow downfall.
Well said, Ben...
ReplyDeleteCheers
Vince