Of course we were pleased to receive a Book of the Year Award from ForeWord Magazine for A Dream Across Time at Book Expo but a close second in terms of pleasure was that the Editor's Choice Award for Fiction was a POD! Totally cool. Along comes Fay Freimuth with A Multitude of Mercies with a touching, beautifully written story and scoops up a great award. She had shopped the book forever and couldn't get any takers. So, she did it in POD. Good for her.
We wasted years on agents and the search for a publisher. Oh yes, we got an agent at one point who did nothing discernible except sop up our time when we could have been going toward our goal of getting our first book out there. At Book Expo last year we learned what we suspected which was that most agents in the books really aren't looking for anyone. That information reinforced the rightness of our going the self publishing route.
Now everytime we see someone surface with a good book and see them recognized it feels like a thumb in the eye of the publishing industry. A deserved one. Yes, I know I should be more generous since the industry is in flux. But when you get so frustrated, you stop feeling generous. When we had a major publisher for one of our nonfiction books I learned that they were willing to admit that they didn't know what sold and they were really in the dark throwing darts. Win some lose some. There is, of course, much more to that story but I think I made the point.
As so many of us struggle with our craft and getting our books out there, the frustration, at least for me, gets focused on issues of attitude. I have an intense dislike of arrogance which is what many of us confront when we try to deal with the big six and many of their long term resource allies. You know who they are. They won't even look at you if you are self published or anything other than being from the major publishers. And all too often they don't want to have anything to do with you if you aren't "literature". I have a whole rant about "literature".
So, along comes Fay Freimuth and wins big. Take that people. Watch your backsides. We are coming.
We wasted years on agents and the search for a publisher. Oh yes, we got an agent at one point who did nothing discernible except sop up our time when we could have been going toward our goal of getting our first book out there. At Book Expo last year we learned what we suspected which was that most agents in the books really aren't looking for anyone. That information reinforced the rightness of our going the self publishing route.
Now everytime we see someone surface with a good book and see them recognized it feels like a thumb in the eye of the publishing industry. A deserved one. Yes, I know I should be more generous since the industry is in flux. But when you get so frustrated, you stop feeling generous. When we had a major publisher for one of our nonfiction books I learned that they were willing to admit that they didn't know what sold and they were really in the dark throwing darts. Win some lose some. There is, of course, much more to that story but I think I made the point.
As so many of us struggle with our craft and getting our books out there, the frustration, at least for me, gets focused on issues of attitude. I have an intense dislike of arrogance which is what many of us confront when we try to deal with the big six and many of their long term resource allies. You know who they are. They won't even look at you if you are self published or anything other than being from the major publishers. And all too often they don't want to have anything to do with you if you aren't "literature". I have a whole rant about "literature".
So, along comes Fay Freimuth and wins big. Take that people. Watch your backsides. We are coming.
posted by Roger | 8:40 AM
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