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Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Racism Against the Indie Author

No, this post isn’t about minority Indie authors. Or, black peeps versus white peeps. It’s all about some of the snobbery I’ve been reading out there on other’s blogs toward the Indie peeps (I won’t mention YOUR names…maybe one BIG ONE). Not to mention, some of the snide remarks I’ve heard in writing seminars about ‘em like ‘the Indie authors will die’ and ‘it’s a fad’. ***My finger is wagging at you guys****

The biggest misconception out there is that all Indies are crap writers.

Tell that to Stephanie Meyers and Amanda Hockings. These two began their publishing journey as Indies who were picked up later by an agent or publisher.

Well…just to let you know, it took me one hundred pages to get me hooked into Twilight. The writing was terribly poor. Sentence structure issues. Bad word habits. Lots of telling. Little showing. To be honest, it was torture. But because I was stuck on an airplane for three hours that’s how I managed to get through Stephanie’s word-desert and fell in love with her story-telling. I actually read the whole series, reading each book in seven days.

As for Amanda Hockings, I’ve only read reviews and they’re not real sparkly ones either but there are a lot of somebodies out there that love her.

One of the goals I made for 2011 was to read and review only Indies. That’s what I’ve been doing so far folks.

To be honest, I’ve come across one crap Indie author so far. Several months back I posted a sad, sad book review. I was sorely disappointed in her book. You should be able to find it somewhere on my side bar. I believe it’s labeled ‘Crash and Burn’.

But for someone to post that they will refuse to read and review an Indie is awful. Really guys? There are diamonds out there. Why are you guys letting a few bad apples who don’t follow editing protocol spoil it for those who do?

This blogger made my heart vomit when I learned she/he refuses to read and review Indies: All Things Urban Fantasy. Yup. You can read what they’ll actually review and it ain’t Indie stuff.

But I do know this gal will over at Karleen Tauszik. Every week she checks the Indie’s best seller’s list for a top seller. Reads their book, does a review, and follows with an interview of that particular author.

One more thing before I end this rant. There are famous authors out there who crash and burn in some of the novels they’ve spit out. When I read those books, I think WTF? I could’ve written crap like that, too. The only problem is they’re famous, I’m not. Whatever. Crap can still be written by the famous as well. It’s not like they’re the GOD/GODDESS of novel writing because they’re not. I could give a list of famous books and authors that make my eyes glaze over and torture the poo out of me but I’ll save it for another time.

So now that I’ve written my mind and how I feel about snobbery, how do the rest of you feel about all this blah-blah toward the Indie authors?

 

Later in the ink all,

Shelly

26 comments:

  1. The narrow-minded thinking of that blogger who doesn't review Indies will not help sell books, or create the type of atmosphere we need in this economy where bookstores are closing and every positive post or credible review adds integrity to our world of creativity and the pool of artists and writers who depend on those posts. That blog is a thumbs down for me and Shelly thanks for pointing it out!

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  2. I know I've lost patience with at least one big name writer whose work has really steeply declined in recent years.

    I've heard of Amanda Hocking, of course, but I haven't read any of her work.

    I imagine that part of Stephanie Meyers' success has been through coming in at just the right time.

    I have not, as of yet, heard of Karleen Tauszik's site. I'll have to give it a look.

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  3. Being conventionally published doesn't always mean the book is good, just as being indie doesn't make a book bad. A lot of great books get turned down in New York every day, often because the manuscript doesn't fit their list, crosses genres so that the marketing chimps don't know what to do with them (this happens way too often), or the editorial committee can't agree on it.

    I know who you're talking about, William.

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  4. @ To everyone: I couldn't agree more.

    Sir Wills: I fixed the link issue. Thanks for notifying me.

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  5. Yay-hoo, Shelly. Telling it like it is.

    I have to say that the idea of not looking at an indie author for whatever reason, is very bias, indeed. I won a book a few weeks--or maybe it was a few months ago. I got through the first chapter--I had to put it down. The writing was poor, there was no editor on board here--this was an Avon/HarperCollins imprint.

    We are at the point in time where Indie writers will predominate and somehow things will settle maybe, I hope, in the next 5-10 years, and the bias may become less and less. There are gems out there. A lot of well known authors did self-publish first.

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  6. I imagine Stephanie Meyers and Amanda Hocking laugh all the way to the bank and could care less what literary snobs think. I think it is interesting that indie authors get treated like lepers in the publishing industry. I wonder, do indie musicians get treated this way too? Do local artists get snubbed by more well known painters? I would really like to know. After all, art is art, it is an individual expression.

    I have read Meyers and Hocking both. I can honestly say I enjoyed their writing better than Stephen King's works. I did start reading Hocking's "My Blood Approves" and felt like she didn't develop the story well enough. I didn't finish that series. I read her Trylle series and my main complaint with that is the lack of editing.

    Really, with most indie books out there, I think the main problem is lack of editing. I include myself in that group. I edited my first book instead of letting someone else edit it. That was a mistake. I need someone else with fresh eyes reading my work, someone who will be brutally honest if I have left a gaping hole in the plot line as well.

    But then again I have read books published by big name publishing companies which have missed several typos. Some traditionally published authors leave gaping holes in their plot lines as well. Sometimes when I'm reading a traditionally published book I get the feeling that the publisher told the author make sure you put some (insert a politically correct topic of the day here) into your book. Things get "thrown into" a plot that just don't seem to belong in the story, usually a politically charged issue of the day. I think to myself, where did that come from, can we just get back to the story and forget all the hype?

    I think I am starting to prefer the honesty of indie authors and I think they are here to stay whether or not the publishing snobs like it or not.

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  7. @Lorelei and Sherri: It's kind of like being told because we're black we have to ride in the back of the bus or we can't drink from certain water fountains or use certain restrooms.

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  8. I totally agree with you. Obviously famous writers weren't always famous. They had to start somewhere and coming from someone who isn't a writer, but loves books and reading a good story, when I am reading, I'm not editing the book. I'm enjoying the story and the characters, not looking for sentence structure. I think this same thing happens in other areas, as well. Music, Art, anything creative and outside "the box" seems to be eyed with skepticism. I personally prefer what isn't in the main stream.

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  9. @Heather: I beleive peeps who don't write are not looking at sentence structure, they have no clue. I'm enjoying an author right now. I'm into the book even though there are major grammital errors. But the story is GREAT! If anything I fault the publisher for being so careless with this writer's work and not polishing it correctly.

    When one is in the business of writing, you can't help but see the faults but you can still enjoy the work.

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  10. Whoever said indie publishing is a fad, I would call the N-world--naive. Companies like Amazon are making a killing off indie authors, and with technology making it so easy to publish, more traditional authors will indie publish, too. It's only a matter of time.

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  11. I think it's generally a good time to be an indie author. I'm sure there's still resistance.

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  12. I did a post on Jen Daiker's blog, Unedited, earlier this week, and quite a few people make remarks in the comments about how many indie authors there are out there who are fabulous writers.

    I think it's going to get harder to wade through what's good and what's not, BUT I've read some INCREDIBLY fabulous indie books.

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  13. It's very narrow minded for someone to only read and review traditionally published authors. As you said, there are a lot of diamonds out there. Some may be a little rough, but still wonderful stories, and stories that need to be told. I know mine are rough, but if one can look past that, I've got some great stories to tell. Oh, note to self...remind me not to go to that website.

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  14. @Tonja: I believe the resistance is coming from the publishing companies for one and some of the famous authors.

    @Jolene: Everyone has the right to their own opinion. Some of the Indies I've read are great storytellers but need lots of polishing like Stephanie Meyers. And then there are those who are way out in left feild with plots and grammar.

    @Beth: I hope there won't be an all out war declared against the Indies.

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  15. Hey Shelly! I've never read Stephanie Meyers or Amanda Hocking and I never will...it's not because they're indie..it's because the vampire craze doesn't interest me at all..and if a book is just plain poorly written, I can never get past that to continue reading..I always think to myself, WTF? How did this get published?! I know what you mean though..just because something's popular, it doesn't mean it's good. They are so many examples of that..but, that being said, I really and truly believe that there is a place for everything, and there are a lot of people who love those books, and I would never take that away from the fans..also, I think Indie published stuff is the way of the future..eventually I think most writers will be published this way..the times they are 'a changing! Great post Shelly!

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  16. @Eve: No problem. Bad grammar never stops me from reading a great story. But if there are plot and believability issues plus bad grammar then I'll stop.

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  17. I have asked this before and I will ask it again because no one has yet answered my question, WHAT is an Indie writer? It may be a stupid question, but hey, I may write but that does not mean I am fluent in all the "Writers Shop Talk"

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  18. Seems to me some incredible talent is being ignored either because of snobbery or lack of a great editor. I've read some awesome short stories/novels that needed tightening up and mistakes corrected BUT I was hooked nevertheless.

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  19. Everyone needs to start somewhere and I think as writers we should support fellow writers--Indie or not. :)
    Nutschell
    www.thewritingnut.com

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  20. I Googled this once and amazing how many famous authors started out the Indie way. Hopefully that's the case with many of us here in Blogdom. Followed!

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  21. Thanks for the rant. I think we need to keep ranting. Indie authors are courageous no matter how good (or not) their books are and I am so glad that creatives are taking back the world instead of waiting around for someone else to tell them whether or not what they have to say has value.

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  22. Hear hear! I have a friend who vowed a few months ago that she would never read an indie book. Well, since then she has and she loved it. Now she's actually thinking of going indie herself.

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  23. @Siv: An Indie Author is someone who is hanging 10 out in the world of the published w/o an agent or an author.

    @Ellie: The talent out there abounds. Right now, I'm reading a great book by MIke Saxton, 7Scorpians. It's a great story and I'm hooked. Are there problems, yes. But, I'm hooked.

    @Nut: I agree with you 100%.

    @Stephen: You're right. So many pushed their stuff out there on thier own. I just wished I would've been ready sooner. And thank you for the follow.

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  24. @Destiny: I plan on keeping the ranting on.

    @Donna: There are diamonds out there. And even the bad apples have some diamonds but they need to pull their heads out of thier arses and get with the program.

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Let me know what you think.