images.jpgE-reads takes a look at Cory Doctorow, Seth Godin and J. A. Konrath in a fascinating article. Here’s a snippet:

For authors, the lesson to be learned from these examples is that you must distinguish between writing and publishing your writing and weigh the goals and satisfactions of those two vastly different processes. In this age of instant gratification and entitlement the idea of long, uncompensated apprenticeships seems to be a relic of another age, But the rigors of artistic achievement are no different from those of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance or the Age of Enlightenment. Talent and hard work will out, but they must be leavened over time.

Publishers too have a lot to learn from the efforts of these authors, particularly from Cory Doctorow who had more and fresher ideas than an army of old-line publishers. A review of his Publishers Weekly articles detailing his innovations will generously reward every editor young or old.

2 COMMENTS

  1. Articles like these make me shake my head and wonder if the spelling of ‘hypocrisy’ has been changed. Can folks actually blame authors for jumping into a fray that for the longest time publishing houses would not dare sully their hands with?

    Professional publishing houses have, from time to time, produced honest-to-God trash, and even allowed good writing to go to print littered with errors. Are they oblivious? No, but it’s interesting to watch publishing cronies whine about self-publishing authors while their umbrella companies writhe under crushing overhead… and look, someone has just downloaded the 5 millionth copy of a popular thriller on 4shared… for free. I think the publishing industry has bigger fish to fry.

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